The Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC), and in collaboration with al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, has published the updated English version of the book: The PLO: Critical Appraisals From the Inside. The book was originally published in Arabic by al-Zaytouna Centre in 2007.
The updated English version has added an introduction chapter, written by Prof. Dr. Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, about the PLO during the period 2006–2011. The new book was edited by AMEC’s executive director, Na’eem Jeenah, and Al-Zaytouna Centre general manager, Mohsen Mohammad Saleh.
The Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC) has introduced the book as follows:
AMEC’s new book – The PLO: Critical appraisals from the inside
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-Zaytouna 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 Mohammad Saleh.
Contributing authors include:
Shafiq al-Hout
Usama Hamdan
Mohsen Mohammad Saleh
Nafez Abu Hasna
Muhammad Tayseer al-Khatib
Ahmad Said Nufal
Munir Shafiq
Saqr Abu Fakhr
Salman Abu-Sitta
Helmy Mousa
Mohammad 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 Mohammad 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 Mohammad 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 … Mohammad 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 [email protected].
>> For more info: AMEC’s new book – The PLO: Critical Appraisals From the Inside
>> “Introduction: PLO 2006-2011” 
(32 pages, 1.8 MB)
>> To purchase a copy from Amazon.com, click here
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