HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.crs/crsiwsaaaao0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Order Code RS21235
June 10, 2002
The PLO and Its Factions
Kenneth Katzman
Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
During the current Palestinian uprising, several Palestinian factions apparently
linked in varying degrees to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have used
violence in an effort to force Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territory. There
is a debate over the degree to which PLO Chairman and Palestinian Authority President
Yasir Arafat is willing and able to prevent anti-Israel violence by these factions. This
report will be updated to reflect regional developments. See also: CRS Issue Brief
IB 92052, Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States.
Background on the PLO and Yasir Arafat
Yasir Arafat was born Mohammad Abd Ar-Raouf on August 24, 1929, in Jerusalem.
While studying in Egypt in 1944, he founded the League of Palestinian Students, and
later earned an engineering degree from King Fuad University in Egypt. Arafat served
in the Egyptian army as a demolition specialist during the 1956 Suez war between Egypt
and Britain, France, and Israel. In 1957, Arafat helped founded the Fatah (Conquest)
guerrilla organization, also known as the Palestine National Liberation Movement. The
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formally established in 1964, and Fatah
joined it in 1968, immediately becoming its dominant organization. In 1969, Arafat was
named PLO executive chairman. The Palestine National Council (PNC) is the highest
decisionmaking body of the PLO, and is considered to be the parliament of all
Palestinians inside and outside the occupied territories. The PNC sets PLO policies,
according to the website of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United
Nations.2 Arafat is also known as Abu Amar.
1 Although the PLO describes the PNC as a parliament, the PNC should not be confused with the
Palestine Legislative Council (PLC), the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, which
represents only the residents of the West Bank and Gaza. Elections for the PLC were held in
January 1996.
2 The website is located at: [http://www.palestine-un.org].
Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/crsiwsaaaao0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)