The PLO: Critical appraisals from the inside

At the turn of the millennium, after decades of struggle, the
Palestinian Liberation Organization was in a shambles. In 2005, a
reconciliation conference held in Cairo seemed to offer some hope for
the revitalisation of the organisation, but Hamasʼs victory in the 2006
Palestinian Authority elections caught the PLO off-guard. Conflicts and
tensions exploded as the PLO tried to claw back the power it had lost.
Amid calls for the organisation to renew itself or make way for a new
group, the al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations convened a
conference in Beirut to discuss the PLO. Representatives of the PLOʼs
main factions joined leaders from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, as well as
activists and academics, to discuss what they could learn from the past,
and try to forge some consensus on how to take the Palestinian struggle
forward.

This volume documents the papers and debates presented at the
conference. Originally published in Arabic, the book provides a
fascinating window on Palestiniansʼ unique understandings of the history
of their struggle, and of the PLO. It offers an insiderʼs view on
issues such as national unity, the intricate nature of relations between
Palestinians in the diaspora and those in the Occupied Territory, the
fragmented nature of the Arab condition, as well as the impact of the
meddling by Arab nations and western powers in Palestinian affairs. For
anyone interested in Palestine, and in national liberation struggles
more broadly, this powerful collection provides an essential anthology
of key perspectives on the Palestinian struggle up to 2006. The book
offers readers a rare opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversations of
those intimately involved in searching for solutions to one of the
worldʼs most intractable conflicts.