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For anyone interested in Palestine, and in national liberation struggles more broadly, AMEC’s powerful new book, The PLO: Critical appraisals from the inside, provides an essential anthology of key perspectives on the Palestinian struggle up to 2006. The book offers readers a rare opportunity to eavesdrop on the conversations of those intimately involved in searching for solutions to one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

At the turn of the millennium, after decades of struggle, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was in a shambles. In 2005, a reconciliation conference held in Cairo seemed to offer some hope for the revitalisation of the organisation, but Hamas’s victory in the 2006 Palestinian Authority elections caught the PLO off-guard. Conflicts and tensions exploded as the PLO tried to claw back the power it had lost. Amid calls for the organisation to renew itself or make way for a new group, the al-aytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations convened a conference in Beirut to discuss the PLO. Representatives of the PLO’s main factions joined leaders from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, as well as activists and academics, to discuss what they could learn from the past, and try to forge some consensus on how to take the Palestinian struggle forward.

Critical Appraisals from the Inside documents the papers and debates presented at the conference. Originally published in Arabic, the book provides a fascinating window on Palestinians’ unique understandings of the history of their struggle, and of the PLO. It offers an insider’s view on issues such as national unity, the intricate nature of relations between Palestinians in the diaspora and those in the Occupied Territory, the fragmented nature of the Arab condition, as well as the impact of the meddling by Arab nations and western powers in Palestinian affairs.

The book was originally published in Arabic by the Beirut-based Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, and was translated into English and republished by the Afro-Middle East Centre. It was edited by AMEC’s executive director, Na’eem Jeenah, and Al-Zaytouna Centre director, Mohsen Moh’d Saleh.

Contributing authors include:

Shafiq al-Hout

Usama Hamdan

Mohsen Moh’d Saleh

Nafez Abu Hasna

Muhammad Tayseer al-Khatib

Ahmad Said Nufal

Munir Shafiq

Saqr Abu Fakhr

Salman Abu-Sitta

Helmy Mousa

Mohammed Sayed Said

Abdullah al-Ashaal

Fathi Abu al-Ardat

Marwan Abdul Al

Anwar Abu Taha

Suhail al-Natour

The table of contents includes:

Introduction

            Mohsen Moh’d Saleh

The PLO’s journey from 1964 to 2006: An overview

            Shafiq al-Hout

The rise of Palestinian national consciousness in the PLO

            Nafez Abu Hasna

Towards an inclusive national charter

            Muhammad Tayseer al-Khatib

The Palestinian National Council: Restructuring for

fairer representation

            Mohsen Moh’d Saleh

Towards a healthy relationship between the PLO and

the Palestinian Authority

            Ahmad Said Nufal

The PLO and endeavours to forge Palestinian national unity

            Munir Shafiq

The PLO’s planning and research centres: Academic freedom

and academic research

            Saqr Abu Fakhr

The PLO’s handling of the refugee issue

            Salman Abu-Sitta

The PLO’s management of negotiations with Israel

            Helmy Mousa

The PLO’s perspective on Arab–Palestinian relations

            Mohammed Sayed Said

Towards a new kind of international diplomacy for the PLO

            Abdullah al-Ashaal

Rebuilding the PLO: Fatah’s perspective

            Fathi Abu al-Ardat

Rebuilding and reactivating the PLO: The Hamas perspective

            Usamah Hamdan

The PLO – present reality and future prospects:

The perspective of the Popular Front for the Liberation

of Palestine

            Marwan Abdul Al

Rebuilding the PLO: The perspective of the Palestinian

Islamic Jihad movement

            Anwar Abu Taha

Rebuilding the PLO: The perspective of the Democratic

Front for the Liberation of Palestine

            Suhail al-Natour

The book will soon be in bookshops. In the meanwhile, you may obtain your copy from the Afro-Middle East Centre. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By AlJazeera Centre for Studies

At the end of August 2012, Egypt's first civilian and first post-revolution president, Muhammad Mursi, completed his second month in office. The president, whose assumption of power sparked waves of doubt and ridicule, seems to have settled into his new job quite well after a tough run-off and a narrow electoral victory. In doing so, he has refuted all expectations of his quick fall and has reflected rare political statesmanship and great courage in decision-making. After his four brief trips outside the country, Mursi seems determined to revive Egyptian foreign policy.