Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964, aiming at uniting decentralized Palestinian groups of people living in various territories. PLO positioned itself as “the temporary alternative of a country,” and a goal to establish a State of Palestine was one of the factors contributing to PLO’s international recognition (Shu and Hussain 2018, 2). Another factor was its direction to building peace in relationships with Israel, especially after the 1970s (Shu and Hussain 2018). Thus, creating a united institution allowed other states to negotiate with the PLO regarding international issues and the peace process instead of dealing with numerous Palestinian representatives in different territories.
However, PLO experienced a peak in popularity among Palestinians at the beginning of its existence. In particular, Palestinian people supported the idea of national self-determination and aspired to conquer Israel (Shu and Hussain 2018). People appreciated greater autonomy and centralized strategy to struggle against Israel and Israeli militant presence in Palestinian territories.
Furthermore, PLO began to lose local Palestinian appeal in the 1970s with its more frequent choice of peaceful direction in the relationships with Israel. Since, in the beginning, PLO was rather militant and assertive in protecting Palestinian interests, many local people did not appreciate its transformation to a more peaceful and negotiable direction (Shu and Hussain 2018). Many Palestinians considered Israeli politics as expansionist and viewed the peace negotiations as a continuation of expansion (Mousavi 2019). As a result, PLO has lost massive support among the Palestinian people.
Although it lost appeal among the Palestinian population, PLO remains active nowadays. In particular, it represents the State of Palestine in the United Nations, while the latter recognizes its legitimacy (Shu and Hussain 2018). However, Palestinians and even former PLO representatives have criticized the peace process and international negotiations induced by PLO (Mousavi 2019). Therefore, while PLO remains significant for the representation of the Palestinian population in the international arena, it does not obtain broad support in Palestine.
Reference List
Hamed Mousavi. 2019. “The Rise and Fall of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process”. World Sociopolitical Studies, 3, (1): 75-107.
Shu, Meng, and Aftab Hussain. 2018. “Transformation of the Palestine Liberation Organization: Goals and Means.” Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 12, (3): 342–53. Web.