Palestinian liberation organization

The Palestine LiberationOrganization PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization PLO hasbeen the embodiment of the Palestinian national movement.It is a broadnational front, or an umbrella organization, comprised of numerousorganizations of the resistance movement, political parties, popular organizations,and independent personalities and figures from all sectors of life. The ArabSummit in 1974 recognized the PLO as the sole and legitimaterepresentative of the Palestinian people and since then the PLO hasrepresented Palestine at the United Nations, the Movement of Non-AlignedCountries NAM , the Organization of the Islamic Conference OIC , and in manyother fora. In addition to its broad national and political goals, the PLO hasdealt with numerous tasks with regard to the life of the Palestinian people intheir main communities and throughout the world through the establishment ofseveral institutions in such realms as health, education and social services.As such, the PLO is more than a national liberation movement striving to achievethe national goals of the Palestinian people, including the establishment of aPalestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.The PLO was established in 1964 with Arabsupport.

At that time, the PLO was headed by Mr. Ahmed Al-Shukairy and, sincethen, has undergone significant changes in its composition, leading bodies,political orientation, and even the locales of its headquarters.

The leadingbodies of the PLO are the Palestine National Council PNC , the CentralCouncil, and the Executive Committee.

Political pluralism has remained adefining feature of the organization, as have democratic internal dialogue andattempts to reach decisions by consensus in its bodies, recognizing thepresence of many differing views and competing alliances throughout differentperiods.In 1968, the organization witnessed the beginning of the engagement ofthe Feda iyeen organizations armed struggle organizations ,particularly Fateh. In 1969, Yasser Arafat, leader of Fateh, became theChairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO and, in 1971, he became theGeneral Commander of the Palestine Forces.

His name has been synonymous withthe PLO and with the Palestinian national movement.Since the establishment of the PalestinianNational Authority PNA and the convening of general elections in January 1996in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, which were precededby the return of most Palestinian leaders to their homeland, the Authority srole and responsibilities continue to increase, in some ways at the expense ofthe PLO. In the Palestinian territory, as well as outside, Islamic groupsremain outside the PLO, which traditionally has not mixed religion andpolitics.In general, the current Palestinian situationis constantly changing and progressing towards the establishment of a state andthe building of a Palestinian democracy.

These changes will affect the PLO, butthere is no doubt that, at least for some time, the PLO will continue its roleas a very important Palestinian structure for the Palestinian people in theOccupied Territories, in the refugee camps, and throughout the world.Structure I. Palestine National CouncilThe PNC, which is the highest decision-makingbody of the PLO, is considered to be the parliament of all Palestinians insideand outside of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem.

The PNCnormally sets PLO policies, elects the Executive Committee and makes thenecessary changes in its own membership, as well as changes to the PalestineNational Charter a special meeting is required and to the Fundamental Law ofthe organization.

The PNC also elects a speaker, two deputies and a secretary,who make up the Bureau of the Council.The Council has its own standingcommittees for various aspects of its work, such as its legal and politicalcommittees. The composition of the PNC represents all sectors of thePalestinian community worldwide and includes numerous organizations of theresistance movement, political parties, popular organizations each of the aboveis represented by specific quotas and independent personalities and figuresfrom all sectors of life, including intellectuals, religious leaders andbusinessmen.

The current membership of the PNC stands at X, including all ofthe 88 elected members of the Palestine Legislative Council PLC .II. Central CouncilThe Central Council, which was established bythe PNC in 1973, is the second leading body of the PLO. The Council functionsas an intermediary body between the PNC and the Executive Committee.

Atpresent, the membership stands at 124, including 15 representatives of the PLC.The last meeting of the Central Council took place in Gaza on 10 December III. Executive CommitteeThe Executive Committee is the daily leadingbody of the PLO and it represents the organization at the international level.The Committee is elected by the members of PNC and it is responsible to thePNC. Its main function is to execute the policies and decisions set out by thePNC and the Central Council.

The Committee is also responsible for adopting abudget and for overseeing the functioning of the departments of the PLO, theresponsibilities of which are distributed among its members. Decisions of theCommittee are taken by a simple majority.Its membership stands at 18,including its Chairman.IV. Palestine National FundThe Fund is managed by a board of directors andby a chairman who is elected by the PNC and who automatically serves on theExecutive Committee.

The other members of the board are appointed by theExecutive Committee, with a maximum of 11 members.Revenues for the fund comefrom two sources - a fixed tax on the wages earned by all Palestinians livingin Arab countries and collected by those respective governments and fromfinancial contributions by Arab governments and peoples, an amount that in thepast was substantial.

V. Palestine Liberation ArmyThe Palestine Liberation Army PLA wasestablished as the official military branch of the PLO in 1964, in accordancewith the resolutions of the 1st Palestinian Conference the 1stPNC . At that time, three brigades were established Ein Jalut in Gazaand Egypt, Kadissiyah in Iraq, and Hiteen in Syria. In practice,those brigades were dominated by the general command of the armed forces oftheir respective host countries.

Over time, however, changes were made to thePLA s structure, including, for instance, the establishment in 1968 of commandounits in Gaza to fight against the Israeli occupation, known as Kuwatal-Tahrir Al-Sha biya Popular Liberation Troops . Recently, with theestablishment of the Palestine National Authority PNA , important parts ofthose brigades in Egypt and Jordan were absorbed into the PNA security forces.VI. Departments The Organization has established departmentsthat are responsible for several important spheres of work, each headed by amember of the Executive Committee.

The departments include the PoliticalDepartment, the Department of Returnees, the Department of Culture andInformation, and the Department of Popular Organizations. Of these, thePolitical Department is the largest. It directs and supervises the work ofPalestinian representation abroad, including Palestinian embassies, missionsand offices.The Political Department also represents the PLO and the State ofPalestine at international conferences, such as those of the Movement ofNon-Aligned Countries NAM and the Organization of the Islamic Conference OIC . For the addresses of all embassies look under the Directoryof Palestinian Embassies amp Missions for the addresses of all embassies .VII. PalestinianInstitutionsThe institutions of the PLO have achievedsignificant accomplishments through the myriad of social, economic and healthservices that they provide to Palestinian communities.

Among the most importantof these institutions are the following Palestine Red Crescent Society PRCS Established in 1968 in Jordan,the PRCS provides medical and health care to the Palestinian people.

The PRCSstarted out with only several small clinics and grew into a substantial medicalnetwork with hospitals and medical centers throughout the region.Palestinian Martyrs Works Society SAMED SAMED provided, throughoutan important period, the economic infrastructure of the Palestinian community.It had been established in 1970 originally to provide vocational training tothe children of Palestinian martyrs.

Sons of Martyrs This organization owns several important facilities inthe region that take care of the children of Palestinian martyrs.