A liberation organization was established in the early summer of 1964. Since then it has gone through shifts of ideological direction as well as leadership changes. Change is expected again.

With support and encouragement from the Arab League, the Palestine Liberation Organization was established with the goal to liberate Palestine and to ensure the return of Palestinian refugees.

Palestinian delegates attending the official launching session at the Intercontinental Hotel on the Mount of Olives elected on June 10, 1964, Ahmad Shukeri as its first chairman. Since then the PLO has witnessed a successful bid by guerrilla fighters to take it over as well as attempts to split it, weaken it or diverge it from its publicly stated goal of being the arm of the liberation of Palestine.

After the naskeh (setback) of June 1967, Shukeri was replaced by Yehua Hammuda, but the real change to the organization occurred on Feb. 2, 1969. when the armed Palestinian movements led by Fatah decided to join the organization and basically take it over. Yasser Arafat became the chairman of its executive committee and remained so until his unexpected death in November 2004. His deputy Mahmoud Abbas has run the organization since.