A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy

Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization is a collection of various organizations dedicated in one form or another to the advancement of rights for the Arab peoples of historic Palestine. Despite its formal unity, there has long been intense disagreement among its various factions over ultimate objectives, tactics, and affiliation with different Arab governments. For many years, the leading figure of the PLO was Yasser Arafat, head of the Fatah group, who believed the armed struggle was a means of building credibility for eventual negotiations with Israel and other participating nations. This put him at odds with more radical groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or later the Islamic Resistance Movement (also known as Hamas), which calls for a popular uprising to destroy the Jewish state. Following the peace process in the 1990s, the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist and formed the core of the Palestinian Authority to help govern a nascent Palestinian state. As the peace process broke down, many critics accused the PLO of becoming de facto collaborators with Israel’s occupation.