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The Fundamental Law was also amended, making it more democratic, electing the entire Executive Committee by the PNC, instead of just the Chairman, separating the post of the Speaker of the PNC from the Chairman of the Executive Committee and affirmed the authority of the Executive Committee over the army. Later, (Hirst, 2003, p.&nbsp;427) a promised Charter amendment based on [[Fatah]] doctrine "that all Jews <nowiki>[without date restriction]</nowiki>...were to be entitled to Palestinian citizenship" failed due to doctrinal quarrels over the meaning of the precise nature of the proposed Democratic State.
The Fundamental Law was also amended, making it more democratic, electing the entire Executive Committee by the PNC, instead of just the Chairman, separating the post of the Speaker of the PNC from the Chairman of the Executive Committee and affirmed the authority of the Executive Committee over the army. Later, (Hirst, 2003, p.&nbsp;427) a promised Charter amendment based on [[Fatah]] doctrine "that all Jews <nowiki>[without date restriction]</nowiki>...were to be entitled to Palestinian citizenship" failed due to doctrinal quarrels over the meaning of the precise nature of the proposed Democratic State.

==Text of the Palestinian National Charter==
The following is the complete and unabridged text of the Palestinian National Covenant, as published officially in English by the PLO*, based largely on the text adopted earlier in 1964. Where subtleties in the original Arabic are important, the Arabic word has been inserted in parentheses.<ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Text of the 1968 Charter:'''

'''Article 1''': Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 2''': Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 3''': The Palestinian Arab people possess the legal right to their homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving the liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and entirely of their own accord and will.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 4''': The Palestinian identity is a genuine, essential, and inherent characteristic; it is transmitted from parents to children. The Zionist occupation and the dispersal of the Palestinian Arab people, through the disasters which befell them, do not make them lose their Palestinian identity and their membership in the Palestinian community, nor do they negate them.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 5''': The Palestinians are those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted from it or have stayed there. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father - whether inside Palestine or outside it - is also a Palestinian.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 6''': The Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion will be considered Palestinians.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 7''': That there is a Palestinian community and that it has material, spiritual, and historical connection with Palestine are indisputable facts. It is a national duty to bring up individual Palestinians in an Arab revolutionary manner. All means of information and education must be adopted in order to acquaint the Palestinian with his country in the most profound manner, both spiritual and material, that is possible. He must be prepared for the armed struggle and ready to sacrifice his wealth and his life in order to win back his homeland and bring about its liberation.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 8''': The phase in their history, through which the Palestinian people are now living, is that of national (watani) struggle for the liberation of Palestine. Thus the conflicts among the Palestinian national forces are secondary, and should be ended for the sake of the basic conflict that exists between the forces of Zionism and of imperialism on the one hand, and the Palestinian Arab people on the other. On this basis the Palestinian masses, regardless of whether they are residing in the national homeland or in diaspora (mahajir) constitute - both their organizations and the individuals - one national front working for the retrieval of Palestine and its liberation through armed struggle.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 9''': Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it . They also assert their right to normal life in Palestine and to exercise their right to self-determination and sovereignty over it.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 10''': Commando action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution. It also requires the achieving of unity for the national (watani) struggle among the different groupings of the Palestinian people, and between the Palestinian people and the Arab masses, so as to secure the continuation of the revolution, its escalation, and victory.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 11''': The Palestinians will have three mottoes: national (wataniyya) unity, national (qawmiyya) mobilization, and liberation.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 12''': The Palestinian people believe in Arab unity. In order to contribute their share toward the attainment of that objective, however, they must, at the present stage of their struggle, safeguard their Palestinian identity and develop their consciousness of that identity, and oppose any plan that may dissolve or impair it.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 13''': Arab unity and the liberation of Palestine are two complementary objectives, the attainment of either of which facilitates the attainment of the other. Thus, Arab unity leads to the liberation of Palestine, the liberation of Palestine leads to Arab unity; and work toward the realization of one objective proceeds side by side with work toward the realization of the other.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 14''': The destiny of the Arab nation, and indeed Arab existence itself, depend upon the destiny of the Palestine cause. From this interdependence springs the Arab nation's pursuit of, and striving for, the liberation of Palestine. The people of Palestine play the role of the vanguard in the realization of this sacred (qawmi) goal.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 15''': The liberation of Palestine, from an Arab viewpoint, is a national (qawmi) duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine. Absolute responsibility for this falls upon the Arab nation - peoples and governments - with the Arab people of Palestine in the vanguard. Accordingly, the Arab nation must mobilize all its military, human, moral, and spiritual capabilities to participate actively with the Palestinian people in the liberation of Palestine. It must, particularly in the phase of the armed Palestinian revolution, offer and furnish the Palestinian people with all possible help, and material and human support, and make available to them the means and opportunities that will enable them to continue to carry out their leading role in the armed revolution, until they liberate their homeland.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 16''': The liberation of Palestine, from a spiritual point of view, will provide the Holy Land with an atmosphere of safety and tranquility, which in turn will safeguard the country's religious sanctuaries and guarantee freedom of worship and of visit to all, without discrimination of race, color, language, or religion. Accordingly, the people of Palestine look to all spiritual forces in the world for support.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 17''': The liberation of Palestine, from a human point of view, will restore to the Palestinian individual his dignity, pride, and freedom. Accordingly the Palestinian Arab people look forward to the support of all those who believe in the dignity of man and his freedom in the world.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 18''': The liberation of Palestine, from an international point of view, is a defensive action necessitated by the demands of self-defense. Accordingly the Palestinian people, desirous as they are of the friendship of all people, look to freedom-loving, and peace-loving states for support in order to restore their legitimate rights in Palestine, to re-establish peace and security in the country, and to enable its people to exercise national sovereignty and freedom.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 19''': The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time, because they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and to their natural right in their homeland, and inconsistent with the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the right to self-determination.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 20''': The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 21''': The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine and reject all proposals aiming at the liquidation of the Palestinian problem, or its internationalization.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 22''': Zionism is a political movement organically associated with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action for liberation and to progressive movements in the world. It is racist and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist, and colonial in its aims, and fascist in its methods. Israel is the instrument of the Zionist movement, and geographical base for world imperialism placed strategically in the midst of the Arab homeland to combat the hopes of the Arab nation for liberation, unity, and progress. Israel is a constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look for the support of all the progressive and peaceful forces and urge them all, irrespective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the Palestinian people all aid and support in their just struggle for the liberation of their homeland.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 23''': The demand of security and peace, as well as the demand of right and justice, require all states to consider Zionism an illegitimate movement, to outlaw its existence, and to ban its operations, in order that friendly relations among peoples may be preserved, and the loyalty of citizens to their respective homelands safeguarded.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 24''': The Palestinian people believe in the principles of justice, freedom, sovereignty, self-determination, human dignity, and in the right of all peoples to exercise them.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 25''': For the realization of the goals of this Charter and its principles, the Palestine Liberation Organization will perform its role in the liberation of Palestine in accordance with the Constitution of this Organization.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 26''': The Palestine Liberation Organization, representative of the Palestinian revolutionary forces, is responsible for the Palestinian Arab people's movement in its struggle - to retrieve its homeland, liberate and return to it and exercise the right to self-determination in it - in all military, political, and financial fields and also for whatever may be required by the Palestine case on the inter-Arab and international levels.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 27''': The Palestine Liberation Organization shall cooperate with all Arab states, each according to its potentialities; and will adopt a neutral policy among them in the light of the requirements of the war of liberation; and on this basis it shall not interfere in the internal affairs of any Arab state.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 28''': The Palestinian Arab people assert the genuineness and independence of their national (wataniyya) revolution and reject all forms of intervention, trusteeship, and subordination.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 29''': The Palestinian people possess the fundamental and genuine legal right to liberate and retrieve their homeland. The Palestinian people determine their attitude toward all states and forces on the basis of the stands they adopt vis-a-vis to the Palestinian revolution to fulfill the aims of the Palestinian people.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 30''': Fighters and carriers of arms in the war of liberation are the nucleus of the popular army which will be the protective force for the gains of the Palestinian Arab people.

'''Article 31''': The Organization shall have a flag, an oath of allegiance, and an anthem. All this shall be decided upon in accordance with a special regulation.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 32''': Regulations, which shall be known as the Constitution of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, shall be annexed to this Charter. It will lay down the manner in which the Organization, and its organs and institutions, shall be constituted; the respective competence of each; and the requirements of its obligation under the Charter.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>

'''Article 33''': This Charter shall not be amended save by [vote of] a majority of two-thirds of the total membership of the National Congress of the Palestine Liberation Organization [taken] at a special session convened for that purpose.<ref>English rendition as published in Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement; Leila S. Kadi (ed.), Palestine Research Centre, Beirut, December 1969, pp.137-141.</ref><ref>http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22573.htm</ref>


==Events before 1998==
==Events before 1998==

Revision as of 16:49, 12 July 2016

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The Palestinian National Covenant or Palestinian National Charter (Arabic: الميثاق الوطني الفلسطيني; transliterated: al-Mithaq al-Watani al-Filastini) is the covenant or charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Covenant is an ideological paper, written in the early days of the PLO.

The first version was adopted on 28 May 1964. In 1968 it was replaced by a comprehensively revised version.[1] In April 1996, a large number of articles, which were inconsistent with the Oslo Accords, were wholly or partially nullified.[2][3]

History

Following a 1963 Draft Constitution the first version of the Charter was written by Ahmad Shukeiri, the first chairman of the PLO, using the slightly different name al-Mithaq al-Qawmi al-Filastini, meant to reflect its origins in Nasser's Pan-Arabism.[4] The first official English translation rendered al-Mithaq as "covenant", while later versions have tended to use "charter." (The word changed in 1968 in the Arabic name is translated as "national" in either English translation.)

The Palestinian National Charter was adopted on 28 May 1964,[5] establishing the Palestine Liberation Organization, in (east) Jerusalem along with another document, variously known as the Basic Constitution, Basic Law or Fundamental Law of the PLO, based on an earlier Draft Constitution. The Charter is concerned mainly with the aims of the Palestine Liberation Organization, while the Fundamental Law is more concerned with the structure and procedures of the organization.

The Charter was extensively amended, with seven new articles, in 1968 in the wake of the Six Day War and given its current name.[6] Compared to its predecessor, it focused more on the independent national identity and vanguard role of the Palestinian people, led by the PLO, in their "liberation of their homeland" by armed struggle. Article 7 of the earlier document was changed from "Jews of Palestinian origin are considered Palestinians ..." to being restricted only to those "who had resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion." The final article providing that it can only be amended by a vote of a two-thirds majority of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) at a special session convened for that purpose was left unchanged.

The Fundamental Law was also amended, making it more democratic, electing the entire Executive Committee by the PNC, instead of just the Chairman, separating the post of the Speaker of the PNC from the Chairman of the Executive Committee and affirmed the authority of the Executive Committee over the army. Later, (Hirst, 2003, p. 427) a promised Charter amendment based on Fatah doctrine "that all Jews [without date restriction]...were to be entitled to Palestinian citizenship" failed due to doctrinal quarrels over the meaning of the precise nature of the proposed Democratic State.

Events before 1998

"Palestine, with its boundaries at the time of the British Mandate"

Israel has always strongly objected to the Charter, which describes the establishment of the state of Israel as "entirely illegal" (Art. 19), considers Palestine, with its original Mandate borders, as the indivisible homeland of the Arab Palestinian people (1-2), urges the elimination of Zionism in Palestine and worldwide (Art. 15), and strongly urges the "liberation" of Palestine throughout by ethnic cleansing of Jewish presence.

On 14 December 1988, following an outcry from his 13 December General Assembly speech, Yasser Arafat called a press conference in Geneva to clarify his earlier statement by specifically mentioning the right of all parties concerned in the Middle East conflict to exist in peace and security, including the State of Palestine, Israel, and their neighbours. He also renounced terrorism.[7]

Israel dismissed these statements of moderation from Arafat and the PNC resolution in Algiers, 1988 (which had been sufficient to open a dialogue with the United States) as "deceptive propaganda exercises" because (among other objections), "the PLO Covenant has not changed." (Shlaim, p. 466) In May 1989, Arafat, in a statement later criticized by Edward Said as being beyond his authority, and properly a matter for the PNC, told a French TV interviewer "C'est caduc", meaning that it, the Charter, was null and void. (transcript in Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Winter, 1990), pp. 133–188)

In August 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin insisted on changes to the Charter as part of the Oslo Accords. Following Yasser Arafat's commitment to "submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval" the changes to the Charter confirming that "those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist, and the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the commitments of this letter are now inoperative and no longer valid"[8] in the September 9, 1993 letters of mutual recognition, the PNC met in Gaza and voted on 24 April 1996. The decision was adopted by a vote of: 504 in favor, 54 against, and 14 abstentions. The official English translation used by Israel, the PLO and the United States reads:

A. The Palestinian National Charter is hereby amended by canceling the articles that are contrary to the letters exchanged between the P.L.O. and the Government of Israel 9–10 September 1993. B. Assigns its legal committee with the task of redrafting the Palestinian National Charter in order to present it to the first session of the Palestinian Central Council."[9]

At one time the text of the Charter at the official website of the Palestinian National Authority appended these amendments to the text of the 1968 charter; the redrafting process referred to in the second amendment still remains uncompleted.[10]

An earlier version of the above translation is still available on the website of Palestinian American Council. The relevant text reads:

The PNC held a special session on April 24, 1996 and listened to the report made by the legal committee, reviewed the current political conditions, which the Palestinian people and the Arab nations encounter, and so the PNC decided: "Depending on the Independence Declaration and the political statement adopted by the PNC in its 19th session in Gaza on November 11, 1988 which stressed resolving conflicts by peaceful means and adopting the principle of two states, the PNC decides to:

First: Amend the articles in the National charter that contradict with the letters exchanged between the PLO and the government of Israel on Sept. 9-10, 1993.

Second: The PNC authorizes the Legal Committee to draft a new charter to be presented at the first meeting to be held by the Central Council."[11]

This earlier version had appeared on the Palestine Minister of Information's website. Many commentators noted that the text only indicated a decision to amend the charter, not an actual amendment. Official Palestinian websites have since replaced the vague translation with the concrete version quoted above.

Yitzhak Rabin said in a speech to the Knesset on 5 October 1995, at the time of the ratification of the Oslo II Interim Agreement: "The Palestinian Authority has not up until now honoured its commitment to change the Palestinian Covenant ... I view these changes as a supreme test of the Palestinian Authority's willingness and ability, and the changes required will be an important and serious touchstone vis-à-vis the continued implementation of the agreement as a whole".[12]

When this government was replaced by Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud government, the issue again became even more controversial, with Israel's demand for greater clarity and precision eventually expressed in the Wye River Memorandum. (See below, Events of 1998)

Events of 1998 and after

Clauses regarding Israel

Yasser Arafat wrote letters to President Clinton and Prime Minister Blair in January 1998 explicitly listing the articles of the Charter referred to in the PNC's 1996 vote. While this was seen as progress in some quarters, other Palestinian officials contended that the Charter had not yet been amended, and there were also reportedly discrepancies between the two letters.

The operative language of Arafat's letter to Clinton reads:

The Palestine National Council's resolution, in accordance with Article 33 of the Covenant, is a comprehensive amendment of the Covenant. All of the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the P.L.O. commitment to recognize and live in peace side by side with Israel are no longer in effect. As a result, Articles 6–10, 15, 19–23, and 30 have been nullified, and the parts in Articles 1–5, 11–14, 16–18, 25–27 and 29 that are inconsistent with the above mentioned commitments have also been nullified.[2][3]

The articles identified by Arafat as nullified call for Palestinian unity in armed struggle, deny the legitimacy of the establishment of Israel, deny the existence of a Jewish people with a historical or religious connection to Palestine, and label Zionism a racist, imperialist, fanatic, fascist, aggressive, colonialist political movement that must be eliminated from the Middle East for the sake of world peace.

Observers who had previously been skeptical of Palestinian claims that the Charter had been amended continued to voice doubts. In an attempt to end the confusion, the Wye River Memorandum included the following provision:

The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Central Council will reaffirm the letter of 22 January 1998 from PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat to President Clinton concerning the nullification of the Palestinian National Charter provisions that are inconsistent with the letters exchanged between the PLO and the Government of Israel on 9–10 September 1993. PLO Chairman Arafat, the Speaker of the Palestine National Council, and the Speaker of the Palestinian Council will invite the members of the PNC, as well as the members of the Central Council, the Council, and the Palestinian Heads of Ministries to a meeting to be addressed by President Clinton to reaffirm their support for the peace process and the aforementioned decisions of the Executive Committee and the Central Council.

These commitments were kept, leading President Clinton to declare to the assembled Palestinian officials on 14 December 1998 at Gaza:

I thank you for your rejection—fully, finally and forever—of the passages in the Palestinian Charter calling for the destruction of Israel. For they were the ideological underpinnings of a struggle renounced at Oslo. By revoking them once and for all, you have sent, I say again, a powerful message not to the government, but to the people of Israel. You will touch people on the street there. You will reach their hearts there.

Like President Clinton, Israel and the Likud party now formally agreed that the objectionable clauses of the charter had been abrogated, in official statements and statements by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Sharon, Defense Minister Mordechai and Trade and Industry Minister Sharansky.[13][14][15][16] With official Israeli objections to the Charter disappearing henceforward from lists of Palestinian violations of agreements,[17] the international legal controversy ended.

Despite President Clinton's optimism, the events of 1998 did not entirely resolve the controversy of the Charter. A June 1999 report by the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Information on the status of the Charter made no mention of the 1998 events and leading Palestinians continue to state that the Charter has not yet been amended.[citation needed]

In 2001 the first draft of a constitution authorized by the PLO's Central Committee, calling for a respect for borders, human and civil rights as defined under international law appeared.[18]

Regarding PLO reform

In March 2005 representatives of 13 Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP and DFLP,[19] adopted a 6 paragraph declaration known as the "Cairo Declaration".[20][21] The declaration envisions a reform of the PLO to include all the Palestinian powers and factions.[21]

In order to implement these reforms it was decided to form a committee made up of the PNC Chairman, the members of the Executive Committee, the secretaries general of all Palestinian factions and independent national personalities.[21] The PLO-EC Chairman is tasked to convene this committee.[21]

In the subsequent years, the agreement was several times reconfirmed, but as of 2015 there have not been taken concrete steps.

Israeli views

Although the PNC met in Gaza on 24 April 1996, it did not revoke or change the covenant, but only issued a statement saying that it had become aged, and that an undefined part of it would be rewritten at an undetermined date in the future. While the English language press release stated that the PLO Covenant was "hereby amended", the Arabic version of Yassir Arafat's letter on this declaration stated:

It has been decided upon: 1. Changing the Palestine National Charter by canceling the articles that are contrary to the letters exchanged between the PLO and the Government of Israel, on 9 and 10 September 1993. 2. The PNC will appoint a legal committee with the task of redrafting the National Charter. The Charter will be presented to the first meeting of the Central Council.

The New York Times and others [22][23] quoted similarly language (the ambiguous phrase decides to amend is quoted instead of hereby amended):

Formally, the resolution adopted by the council consisted of two simple clauses. The first declared that the council "decides to amend the Palestinian National Covenant by canceling clauses which contradict the letters exchanged between the P.L.O. and the Israeli Government." The second ordered a new charter to be drafted within six months.[24]

"Peace Watch", an Israeli organization declaring itself to be "an apolitical, independent Israeli organization monitoring bilateral compliance with the Israel-PLO accords"[25] issued the following statement:

The decision fails to meet the obligations laid out in the Oslo accords in two respects. First, the actual amendment of the Covenant has been left for a future date. As of now, the old Covenant, in its original form, remains the governing document of the PLO, and will continue in this status until the amendments are actually approved... There is a sharp difference between calling for something to change and actually implementing the changes. Second, the decision does not specify which clauses will be amended.

Palestinian views

Reportedly, an internal PLO document from the Research and Thought Department of Fatah stated that changing the Covenant would have been "suicide for the PLO" and continued:

The text of the Palestinian National Covenant remains as it was and no changes whatsoever were made to it. This has caused it to be frozen, not annulled. The drafting of the new National Covenant will take into account the extent of Israeli fulfillment of its previous and coming obligations... evil and corrupt acts are expected from the Israeli side... The fact that the PNC did not hold a special session to make changes and amendments in the text of the National Covenant at this stage... was done to defend the new Covenant from being influenced by the current Israeli dictatorship.[26][27]

In January 1998, before the second Gaza meeting, Faisal Hamdi Husseini, head of the legal committee appointed by the PNC, stated "There has been a decision to change the Covenant. The change has not yet been carried out".[28] The AP reported that:

In a surprise development, the PLO's Executive Committee decided to take no action on amending articles in its charter... Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abd Rabbo gave no reason why the committee failed to act on the charter.[29]

UNISPAL, citing AFP and Reuters reported that:

The PLO Executive Committee, meeting in Ramallah, took no action on amending articles in the Palestinian charter which Israel views as seeking its destruction. The PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told reporters the committee had only “reviewed” a letter PA President Arafat had given to President Clinton, listing the charter clauses annulled by the PNC.[30]

PLO spokesman Marwan Kanafani was videotaped telling reporters, "This is not an amendment. This is a license to start a new charter."[31][32]

In 2009, Fatah officials, among them Azzam al-Ahmad and Nabil Shaath, confirmed that the Charter would remain unchanged.[33][34][35]

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Works related to Constitution of Palestine at Wikisource

References

  1. ^ The Palestinian National Charter: Resolutions of the Palestine National Council July 1-17, 1968, on Avalon
  2. ^ a b Letter From President Yasser Arafat to President Clinton, 13 January 1998
  3. ^ a b Template:Wayback (May 4, 1996), Palestinian National Authority (archived from the original on 2006-06-24)
  4. ^ Template:Wayback in Template:Wayback
  5. ^ Helena Cobban, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation(Cambridge University Press, 1984) p.30
  6. ^ The Middle East 1916-2001 : A Documentary Record, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School.
  7. ^ Arafat Clarifies Statement to Satisfy U.S. Conditions for Dialogue (December 14, 1988), Jewish Virtual Library.
  8. ^ Israel-PLO Recognition - Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat - Sept 9- 1993, israel ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  9. ^ Template:Wayback
  10. ^ PLO Charter http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/plo_Charter.asp PLO Charter. Retrieved June 2016. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)[dead link]
  11. ^ The Palestinian Charter, Palestinian American Council.
  12. ^ Letter dated 27 July 1998 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, United Nations General Assembly.
  13. ^ Wye River Memorandum: Status of Implementation (February 1, 1999), Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  14. ^ Israeli Reactions to the PNC Vote in Gaza (December 14, 1998), Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  15. ^ Palestinian Authority has yet to honor all of its Wye commitments (December 15, 1998), Likoed Nederland.
  16. ^ Press Conf PM Netanyahu and FM Sharon - Erez (15 December 1998), Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  17. ^ Major Palestinian Violations of Agreements- October 2000 (11 October 2000), Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  18. ^ The DRAFT Of the Palestinian Constitution (2001), pcpsr.org.
  19. ^ PFLP and DFLP urge Abbas to preserve the Cairo declaration, honour the call for PLO reform. Maan News Agency, 20 July 2007
  20. ^ 2005 Cairo Declaration. Palestine Media Center]
  21. ^ a b c d 2005 Cairo Declaration. Miftah
  22. ^ Chiu, Michael. PLO in `vote of the century'. The Standard, April 26, 1996
  23. ^ Binder, Leonard. Ethnic conflict and international politics in the Middle East. University Press of Florida, 1999
  24. ^ Schemann, Serge. P.L.O. Ends Call For Destruction Of Jewish State. New York Times, April 25, 1996
  25. ^ "Peace Watch: PLO Charter Wasn't Changed". iris.org.il.
  26. ^ Internal PLO Document:Covenant Frozen, Not Annulled (26 May 1996), IRIS archives.
  27. ^ Appendix II : Discussion of the Interim Agreement (IA) in Making Oslo Work, by Max Singer and Michael Eichenwald.
  28. ^ YEARBOOK OF THE UNITED NATIONS 1998 VOL. 52. (Chapter VI: Middle East)
  29. ^ Albright's Mission To Mideast To Tackle West Bank And Iraq. February 1, 1998. The Seattle Times
  30. ^ http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/CADAC7FDF329925C052565CC00717495 Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine: Monthly media monitoring review. January, 1998
  31. ^ PLO did not remove denial of Israel from charter , palwatch.org.
  32. ^ Karsh, Efraim. Arafat's War: The Man and His Struggle For Israeli Conquest. Page 81. Grove Press, 2003
  33. ^ Delegates gather for Fatah congress. 04 Aug 2009. Al-Jazeera.
  34. ^ Abbas maintains right to resistance. 05 Aug 2009. Al-Jazeera
  35. ^ Fatah congress to keep "armed struggle" option. Aug 3, 2009 . Reuters

Bibliography

External links

Documents

Analysis

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