The PLO's situation is darker but that doesn't represent Palestinian prospects

Protest against US aid to Israel and for a free Palestine on May 15th, 2021 in San Francisco. Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash

As the situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories deteriorates, it’s worth looking at the long history of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The PLO has come a long way from that heady moment in January 1964 when an Arab summit meeting authorised its creation.

Let’s rewind to early February 2022. That was the moment a shrunken PLO was on display. It was a rare meeting of the PLO’s 124-member Central Committee. I use the words “on display” but for that you need someone to be watching. It’s a moot point if anyone, beyond close observers of the Arab world, even noticed that the PLO was having the first meeting in four years of its nominal governing body.

Hardly anyone was outraged that many of the key executive committee vacancies were filled with people loyal to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Much of the world is indifferent to the fact t…