Conference for Palestinians Abroad representatives to contact PLO over reforms

Representatives appointed by the Conference for Palestinians Abroad held in Istanbul last month are to contact the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation to discuss possible reforms of the umbrella body, it was revealed on Wednesday.

Speaking to Al-Resalah, the head of the representative committee of the conference, Anis Qasim, said that possible reform of the PLO would include the Palestinian National Council, the main PLO institutions, elections and agreement on the geographic distribution of the PLO members.

He pointed out that the conference committee will hold an initial meeting at the beginning of next month in Beirut to study what they have achieved and launch a timetable for their activities.

Last month, thousands of Palestinians from across the worldwide diaspora met in Istanbul and agreed on the formation of an executive committee to discuss mechanisms to make them part of the Palestinian national movement.

The conference also discussed the possibilities of reactivating the PLO. Palestinians living in the diaspora, either in refugee camps or elsewhere, are currently excluded from elections and other political activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, meaning that they have no say over the future of their country.

According to Qasim, the reason for the internal Palestinian division is the Oslo Accords, which guarantee security protection for the illegal Israeli Jewish settlers in occupied Palestine. He also said that the continuous security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli occupation is another reason for the split. If the Oslo Accords were cancelled, Qasim added, all the programmes of the Palestinian factions would be the same and there would be no internal division.