In reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization

The Palestinian debate over demands to reform the Palestine Liberation Organization, following the convening of the "Palestinian National Conference in the Qatari capital, Doha", is not a new matter in Palestinian history, as it sometimes took on escalating violent curves, sometimes closed-room discussions, and at other times with a demand curve that was popular in the media and in the form of protests and other things.

In my opinion, the problem is not in the demands, or in the conferences, or in the response and counter-response, but in the transformation of the organization from a means (i.e. a national front for liberation and the establishment of the state) to a goal. The Palestinians’ concept of reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization is based on quotas, “partnership,” and elections “which will not be achieved due to subjective and objective factors,” according to the documents of the reconciliation agreements between the Palestinian factions over the past twenty years, as two central elements.

The Declaration of Independence document shows that the goal of the Palestinian struggle is to establish a democratic state on the borders of June 4, 1967, which includes all Palestinians without detracting from the affiliation or the umbilical cord of the eternal relationship with the homeland and the legal bond with the state, while the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the “instrument,” remains a moral homeland for all Palestinians and its function is transformed from a political one concerned with political representation, which remains today, to the link or connection between the Palestinians in the diaspora and the state and its institutions. In this context, the National Council announced its decision in 1988 that the Executive Committee would temporarily carry out the duties of the government of the State of Palestine until its formation, and it is deposited as a document in the General Secretariat of the United Nations pursuant to a letter submitted by the representative of the PLO at the time, Zuhdi Tarazi.

The greatest transformation among the Palestinians occurred following the elevation of Palestine’s status to observer state in the United Nations by virtue of UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19 issued on 26 November 2012. A number of steps were taken to embody the process of transition from the “means” organization to the “target” state over the past thirteen years, namely:

* Replacing the name “Palestinian National Authority” with the State of Palestine in official Palestinian institutions, and then deleting the word “President of the National Authority” from the President’s signature on decisions, laws, decrees and presidential decisions and adding to them the words “President of the State of Palestine” and “President of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.”

• Issuing Decree-Law No. (1) of 2021 amending Decree-Law No. (1) of 2007 regarding general elections, which stipulated the election of the President of the State of Palestine by the Palestinian people, as Article 3 of the amended decision of 2021 stipulates “amending Article (2) of the original law, to become as follows: The President of the State of Palestine, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, shall issue a presidential decree, within a period of no less than three months before the date of the end of his term or the term of the Legislative Council, calling for presidential and legislative elections, or either of them, in the State of Palestine, and specifying the date of the vote, and this decree shall be published in the Official Gazette, and announced in local newspapers.”

• The decision of the Central Council at its thirty-first session held on February 6-8, 2022, stipulating “the necessity of continuing work to adapt the legal status of the institutions of the Palestinian state and its international relations in implementation of General Assembly Resolution No. 19/67 of 2012” regarding raising the status of Palestine to an observer state in the United Nations, and the necessity for the Central Council to exercise its constitutional powers and supervisory authority over the executive bodies of the organization, its agencies and institutions, and over the Palestinian National Authority and the work of unions, syndicates and associations in accordance with the laws regulating their work.

• The Palestinian President’s decision dated 4/11/2022, stipulating “placing the General Secretariat of the Legislative Council, its components, and all its facilities under the responsibility of the President of the National Council.”

• The Presidential Decree regarding the President of the State of Palestine and members of the Palestinian leadership’s visit to the Gaza Strip, issued on 8/21/2024, which tasked the committee formed pursuant to the decree in Clause Five of Article Three of the Decree with “developing mechanisms for tangible steps towards the embodiment of the State of Palestine, the Constitutional Declaration, and the Transitional Council.”

In my opinion, talking about reforming the vehicle in the presence of a state recognized by 140 countries, becomes like talking about reforming an old, dilapidated vehicle that is no longer important when a modern vehicle is present. In the best of cases, the reform is done in the direction of changing its method of operation or its tasks as a complementary tool that helps in the matter of the home “homeland”. The cost of reform here is greater than bringing about the required change represented by declaring the government of the State of Palestine in accordance with the decision of the National Council in 1988, and with the political will represented by the transformation from the institutions of the Palestinian Authority “the tool of the PLO in managing the government in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 according to the Oslo Agreement” to the institutions of the state.

This does not eliminate some people’s fears of this transition, for reasons related to the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which the Israeli government recognized in letters of recognition in August 1993 as representing the Palestinian people. However, this recognition no longer has any meaning after Israel destroyed all existing commitments in the signed agreements.