Revival of the PLO: Society

The revival of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) could provide a way to restore the representation of the Palestinian people in and outside of colonized Palestine, and support them in their ongoing struggle against the Israeli regime’s settler-colonial and apartheid occupation. It would first need to adopt several prerequisites.  

Prerequisites for Reviving the PLO

The structures of a revived PLO must be based on inclusive representation, credibility, and national legitimacy to politically represent Palestinians wherever they may be. It must be rebuilt through a democratic process that enables it to represent the entire spectrum of Palestinians, and a mechanism must be implemented to ensure that all representatives of Palestinian communities participate in renewed PLO institutions. This would ensure accountability for national representatives, including in division of power, as well as freedom of expression and association. The Palestinian National Council (PNC) would be held accountable through regular elections or other forms of democratic selection. Further, the PLO’s Executive Committee would be accountable before the new PNC, including in sources of funding. The forms and means of such accountability would need to be spelled out clearly in the PLO’s statute.

Furthermore, a revived PLO should be built on the legacy of secular Palestinian civil resistance movements, honoring the separation between political and religious institutions, and prioritizing pluralism. A commitment to preserving the secular, civic, and pluralistic character of the PLO should be stipulated in its National Charter. 

Social Implications of a Revived PLO 

Provided these steps are taken as part of the revival process, the PLO could play an active role in combating the distortive and fragmentary rhetoric surrounding Palestinian history, geography, national identity, heritage, and struggle for liberation, and promote unifying counternarratives. It may also support Palestinians everywhere in their efforts to do the same.

An effectively revived PLO could additionally promote the formation of trade unions, professional associations, and federations of women and youth, foster interdependence between them, and encourage their participation in national deliberations, specifically on strategies to resist settler colonialism, military occupation, poverty, siege, and racial discrimination. In this framework, the PLO would work to ensure the rights of each Palestinian community to adopt the resistance strategy they choose, so long as the strategy represents the community through consensus, and does not conflict with the PLO’s charter, the collective struggle for liberation, or the values of freedom, equality, justice, and human rights. 

Should the Palestinian Authority (PA) remain, the PLO must ensure that its institutions provide basic services (education, health, water and electricity, and infrastructure) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. This endeavor would require the reconfiguration of PA tasks in accordance with a new vision that makes it accountable to the PLO, and that prevents it from overtaking or marginalizing revived PLO institutions. Likewise, the PLO must prevent bureaucratic inflation across its institutions, thwart clientelism and rentierism, and reject the quota formulas in the formation of its leadership bodies, unions, and professional associations.

Conclusion

To successfully revive the PLO, the process must be democratic, representative, participatory, transparent, and inclusive. A revived PLO has the potential to foster self-determination and interdependence among the different subgroups of the Palestinian community. It could likewise promote secular resistance and honor each subgroups’ strategy for securing liberation, so long as the strategies align with the organization’s unifying vision. Provided that the aforementioned prerequisites are adopted, a revived PLO may pave the way for a more prosperous, equitable, and unified Palestinian society. 

Jamil Hilal is an independent Palestinian sociologist and writer, and has published many books and numerous articles on Palestinian society, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Middle...
(2022, November 21)
The PLO could play an active role in combating the distortive and fragmentary rhetoric surrounding Palestinian history, geography, national identity, heritage, and struggle for liberation, and promote unifying counternarratives.

Latest Analysis

 Politics
For two years, Israel has inflicted mass starvation, staggering death tolls, and relentless destruction on Gaza and its inhabitants. International efforts to recognize Israeli war crimes and halt the eradication of the Palestinian people continue to lag and fall short. On September 16, 2025, the UN Commission of Inquiry confirmed what Palestinians have identified since the outset: Israel is committing genocide. On September 29, US President Donald Trump unveiled a proposal that promises a ceasefire but subordinates Palestinians in Gaza to external governance, denies them self-determination, and entrenches Israeli control over the land. Framed as a peace initiative, the plan is in fact an attempt by the US to shield the Israeli regime from accountability, exemplifying Western complicity in the colonization of Palestine and the extermination of its people. In this context, Hamas’s agreement to release all Israeli captives signals its commitment to ending the ongoing violence, while simultaneously shifting the onus onto the Israeli regime and the Trump administration to clarify and operationalize their commitments to the ceasefire process. This Focus On gathers Al-Shabaka’s analyses from the past year, offering urgent context to understand the genocide and its regional impact. It traces the Israeli regime’s expansionist campaign across Gaza, the West Bank, and the wider region, exposing Western complicity not only in enabling its crimes but also in protecting it from justice. At the same time, it highlights initiatives that resist Israeli impunity while advancing accountability and genuine liberation.
 Politics
This policy memo shows how China’s “biased impartiality,” which privileges the Israeli regime, drives its strategic distancing from the genocide in Gaza. This position is not simply the result of US dominance over Israel-related affairs but a calculated decision to protect China’s long-term interests. By calling for Palestinian unity without exerting pressure on the Israeli government, Beijing shields its ties with the Zionist state under the guise of restraint. In addition, it deflects responsibility for stopping the genocide onto the UN Security Council, casting ceasefire, humanitarian access, and prisoner release as obligations for others in order to absolve itself of direct accountability.
Razan Shawamreh· Sep 16, 2025
 Politics
The erasure of Indigenous populations lies at the core of settler-colonial narratives. These narratives aim to deny existing geographies, communities, and histories to justify the displacement and replacement of one people by another. The Zionist project is no exception. Among Zionism’s founding myths is the claim that it “made the desert bloom” and that Tel Aviv, its crown jewel, arose from barren sand dunes—an uninhabitable void transformed by pioneering settlers. This framing obscures the fact that the colonial regime initially built Tel Aviv on the outskirts of Yaffa (Jaffa), a thriving Palestinian city with a rich cultural life and a booming orange trade. The “dunes” description projects emptiness and conceals the vibrant agricultural and social life that flourished in the area. By casting the land as uninhabitable until redeemed by settlers, this narrative helped justify dispossession and colonial expansion. This process intensified after 1948, when Tel Aviv absorbed the lands of ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages, including al-Sumayil, Salame, Shaykh Muwannis, and Abu Kabir, and ultimately extended into the city of Yaffa. This same settler-colonial discourse drives the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, where destruction is reframed through the narrative of “uninhabitability.” Gaza is increasingly depicted as a lifeless ruin—a framing that is far from neutral. This commentary contends that “uninhabitable” is a politically charged term that masks culpability, reproduces colonial erasure, and shapes policy and public perception in ways that profoundly affect Palestinian lives and futures. It examines the origins, function, and implications of this discourse within the logic of settler colonialism, calling for a radical shift in language from narratives that obscure violence to those affirming Palestinian presence, history, and sovereignty.
Abdalrahman Kittana· Aug 27, 2025
Skip to content