Ashrawi’s exit of the PLO sign of organization’s demise

Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi resigned from her post in the PLO’s Executive Committee, amid reports that she was frustrated over the lone decision-making process in the Palestinian organization.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committe member, Hanan Ashrawi arrives for a press conference on February 24, 2015 in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a day after a verdict of a New York court was issued finding the Palestinian leadership responsible for six deadly attacks in Jerusalem that killed Americans. In a verdict issued late on February 23, a US jury found the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and the PLO responsible for six attacks which killed 33 people and wounded more tha
PLO Executive Committe member Hanan Ashrawi arrives for a press conference, a day after a verdict of a New York court was issued finding the Palestinian leadership responsible for six deadly attacks in Jerusalem that killed Americans, Ramallah, the West Bank, Feb. 24, 2015. - Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images
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Daoud Kuttab
@daoudkuttab

The resignation of Hanan Ashrawi from the PLO’s Executive Committee appears to reflect the demise of a movement that has been hollowed out from the inside by the single rule of the 85-year-old Palestinian president who was elected in 2005 and whose leadership has not been publicly reconfirmed since.

Ashrawi articulated in her resignation letter and an accompanying cover letter that she held a Nov. 24 meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, during which she verbally declared her intention to leave the post. Both agreed to make the issue public at the end of the year, she said, adding that a written letter of resignation was delivered two days later, on Nov. 26.

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