Almost a year after the first intifada erupted on the streets of the occupied territories in December 1987, the exiled leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) watched in trepidation as a grassroots popular resistance movement unfolded before the world’s eyes. Demoralized on the heels of being chased out of Beirut to Tunis, the PLO found itself relegated to the sidelines as Palestinians launched general strikes, boycotts and mass demonstrations in an attempt to nonviolently “shake off” the Israeli occupation and oppression.
With all eyes on Palestine and the disproportionate violence with which Israel responded to the uprising, the PLO, pressured by the United States to reach some sort of settlement with Israel, sought to capitalize on the situation and seized the opportunity on Nov. 15, 1988, to declare, amid much celebration and fanfare, the independence of Palestine, without actually controlling any territory in Palestine.
