The Palestinian Declaration of Independence[1] was adopted by the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in Algiers on 15 November 1988. It unilaterally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Palestine but at that time the PLO had no control of any territory. Though since recognized by about 100 countries, no de facto independent Palestinian state has come into existence in the Palestinian territories since.
The declaration concerns the Palestine region, as defined by the British Mandate of Palestine, which includes the whole of Israel as well as the West Bank and the Gaza strip. It references the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine from 1947 (which also serves as the basis for Israel's declaration of independence) and "UN resolutions since 1947" in general.
It does not explicitly recognize the State of Israel. However, an acompanying document[2] that explicitly mentions UN Security Council Resolution 242 and Yasser Arafat's statements in Geneva a month later were accepted by the United States as sufficient to remove the ambiguities in the declaration.[3] Based on these statements, the declaration can be interpreted to have recognized Israel in its pre-1967 boundaries.
The declaration's take on the Jews is of particular importance[4]. It opens with the words "Palestine, the land of the three monotheistic faiths", arguing Jews are not a colonial people who came to a land it has no historical connection to, but rather anchors Jewish roots firmly in this historic land. Similarly, it notes that "The call went out from Temple, Church and Mosque that to praise the Creator, to celebrate compassion and peace was indeed the message of Palestine". This tone of shared monotheism which has a common message of peace is particularly striking when compared to anti-semitic discourse in various parts of the Arab world.
See also
Notes
Jerome Segal, The Missed Opportunity, Haaretz, 15/11/2005
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