What Palestinian state?THE UNILATERAL ANNOUNCEMENT by the PLO PLO abbr. Palestine Liberation Organization PLO Palestine Liberation Organization Noun 1. PLO of an independent Palestinian state The Palestinian state (Arabic (دولة فلسطين) is a proposed country. The proposed location includes the Gaza Strip and the autonomously controlled areas of the West Bank, currently controlled by the Palestinian National with "holy Jerusalem as its capital" was not coupled with any declaration recognizing the legitimacy of Israel. There has been a certain amount of motion in that direction, however. The Palestinian National Council The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and elects its Central Committee, which assumes leadership of the organization between its sessions. The Council normally meets every two years. (the Palestinian parliament in exile that met in Algiers last week) voted to make UN Resolution 242-which acknowledges "the sovereignty, territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that nation-states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states. Conversely it states that border changes imposed by force are acts of aggression. , and political independence of every state in the area"-the basis of discussion for a future international conference. Washington's reaction to this new initiative by Yasir Arafat was immediate and firm. The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. will not talk to the PLO until it a) unequivocally acknowledges Israel's right to exist, b) accepts UN resolutions 242 and 338, and c) renounces terrorism as a weapon. In Jerusalem, where Yitzhak Shamir had just 21 days in which to patch together a coalition government, the Palestinian gesture was denounced in advance-"It will change nothing in our country or in the territories," said Shamir the night before. In practical matters the PLO announcement of an independent Palestinian state will have about as much effect on how the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are governed as the UN announcement years back that Namibia would henceforth be a UN, not a South African, protectorate protectorate, in international law protectorate, in international law, a relationship in which one state surrenders part of its sovereignty to another. The subordinate state is called a protectorate. . Even so, new cards have been dealt in this most complex of diplomatic games. Just as the West Bank and Gaza demonstrations led to King Hussein's withdrawal of formal interest in those areas, so Hussein's withdrawal provided the impetus for the Algiers meeting, and from now on any negotiations on a permanent settlement of the forty-year-old Middle East crisis will have to take into account a Palestinian government-in-exile. In the Palestinian context, nowadays, Yasir Arafat is looked upon as a moderate. He'd be more convincing as a moderate if he would fire Abul Abbas from his executive committee. (Abul Abbas planned the Achille Lauro hijacking hijacking Crime of seizing possession or control of a vehicle from another by force or threat of force. Although by the late 20th century hijacking most frequently involved the seizure of an airplane and its forcible diversion to destinations chosen by the air pirates, when , during which a crippled American, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered.) But Arafat has taken a step, however small, toward realism. |
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