The Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) was established in May 1964 by various groups including
Al Fatah, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The
PLO used terrorist tactics included murder, hijacking and bombing.
By 1969 Yasir Arafat had emerged as the
leader of the PLO.
On 5th September, 1972,
Palestinian guerrillas attacked the quarters of the Israeli team at
the Munich Olympics. Two athletes were killed and another nine were
taken hostage. An attempted rescue bid at an airport the nine hostages,
five terrorists and two Germans were killed.
A meeting of Arab states
at Rabat in October 1974 it was agreed that the PLO should take responsibility
for all Palestinians.
On 22nd March 1976 PLO
representatives in New York were allowed
to take part in the United Nations debate on
conditions in the Israeli-occupied west bank of the Jordan.
In the 1980s the PLO split
into several different factions with members of the organization living
in Tunisia, the Yemen, Syria and Jordan. Arafat remained leader and
in 1985 agreed to recognize the state of Israel
if Palestine was given back land that had been seized since 1948.
In 1993 Yasir
Arafat negotiated a peace agreement with Yitzhak
Rabin and Shimon Peres. This involved
Israelis withdrawing from Jericho and the Gaza Strip.
As a result the three men shared the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1994.
In 1995
Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian National Council with
88 per cent of the vote.
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