Organization
The PLO has a nominal legislative body, the Palestinian National Council (PNC), but most actual political power and decisions are controlled by the PLO Executive Committee, made up of 18 people elected by the PNC. The PLO incorporates a range of generally secular ideologies of different Palestinian movements committed to the struggle for Palestinian independence and liberation, hence the name of the organization. The Palestine Liberation Organization is considered by the Arab League and by the United Nations to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and holds a permanent observer seat in the United Nations General Assembly. It has been widely criticized, however, over the lack of Hamas presence in the Organization, even after Hamas won almost two-thirds of the seats in the 2006 legislative council elections.
Yasser Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen).
Initially, as an armed guerrilla organization, the PLO was responsible for terrorist activities performed against Israel in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1988, however, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the right of return to land occupied by Palestinians prior to 1948, as well as the right to continue armed struggle until the end of "The Zionist Entity." In 1996, the PLO nullified the articles of the PLO's Charter, or parts of it, which called for the destruction of Israel and for armed resistance.
Other institutions are the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) which consists of 124 members from the PLO Executive Committee, PNC, PLC and other Palestinian organizations. The PCC makes policy decisions when PNC is not in session, acting as a link between the PNC and the PLO-EC. The PCC is elected by the PNC and chaired by the PNC speaker.
Read more about this topic: Palestine Liberation Organization
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