Movement for PLO reform faces opposition from Ramallah leadership

Daoud Kuttab

Jun 11, 2024

Palestinians wave their national flags, and banners bearing the image of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghuti with a slogan demanding his release and referring to him as the "symbol of freedom", during a celebration marking the 57th anniversary of Fatah movement's foundation, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 30, 2021. — ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images

This is an excerpt from Palestine Briefing, Al-Monitor's weekly newsletter covering the big stories of the week in Palestine. To get Palestine Briefing in your inbox, sign up here.

Israel's war in Gaza appears to have triggered a major effort at reform within the PLO. Palestinian nationalists, who have generally opposed President Mahmoud Abbas, have been meeting and talking reform for some time, but now they have recently come out with a statement and a mechanism that appears to have legs. The effort has caused enough concerns in Ramallah that the PLO’s Executive Committee and the Central Committee of Fatah, both controlled by Abbas, are attacking the effort and calling it a regionally funded conspiracy.

Supporters of the effort are set to meet in Ramallah June 12 to continue discussions.

The current process started in February when the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), founded and headed by Azmi Bishara, and the Institute of Palestinian Studies held the second annual Palestine Forum in Doha Feb. 10-12, 2024.