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PLO's Central Council revised agenda leaked

January 15, 2018 at 5:52 am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C), Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (7th L) and Palestinian chief negotiator, Saab Erikat (6th R) meet with the executive board members of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Ramallah, West Bank on February 13, 2017 [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]

On Sunday, Anadolu news agency obtained a Palestinian document containing agenda for the forthcoming meeting of the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The agenda has been approved by Political Committee of the PLO and its most important recommendations is to take actions against Israel under the auspices of the Security Council and the International Criminal Court.

The document included 21 recommendations, divided into four units, first, at the Arab and Islamic level; second at the level of the UN Security Council; the General Assembly and the International Criminal Court; third the relationship with Israel, and fourth at the domestic Palestinian level.

This document contained revised articles which differ from those previously circulated in the press.

A Palestinian leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Anadolu news agency this morning that the political committee of the organization had revised the recommendations, during its meeting last Thursday, following Arab and international pressures on the Palestinian leadership..

The previous document, which was exclusively published by Anadolu Agency, included important items such as the potential suspension of PLO recognition of Israel until it recognises the Palestinian State.

Read More: Hamas says will not attend PLO central council meeting

The new wording of the article, however,  says, “the PLO Executive Committee is called upon to suspend recognition of Israel until it recognizes the State of Palestine and to ask the countries of the world that have recognized Israel to formally request it to determine its borders. ”

At the international level, the amended version also includes a recommendation to implement the request for the full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations and to continue the work in order to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.

It also includes “providing referral on various issues (settlement – prisoners – aggression on Gaza) to the International Criminal Court.”

It also includes a recommendation to continue “joining international institutions, international pacts and organizations such as World Intellectual Property Organization, and the International Labour Organization”.

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As far as the relationship with Israel is concerned, the document contained an item that renews the Council’s decision – issued at its previous session in 2015 – to stop security coordination with Israel and which provides the following: “The Central Council renews its decision to stop all forms of security coordination and break away from the economic dependency relationship established in the Paris Economic Agreement, in order to achieve national economic independence. The Executive Committee of the PLO and the institutions of the State of Palestine are requested to start implementing this.”

During its meeting in Ramallah on March 2015, the Central Council decided to stop security coordination with Israel and recommended the restriction of political, economic, and security relations with it. However, nothing was implemented at the time.

Among other recommendations is “the Council’s affirmation of the transition from the stage of power to the stage of the State and the beginning of the embodiment of the independence of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.”

The document also recommended the international community to continue working with all the countries of the world “to boycott Israeli settlements and to thwart efforts to stop aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East”.

The US administration has recently threatened to stop funding for the UNRWA, which threatens the continuity of its work since it depends largely on US support.

The recommendations included a call for the adoption of the boycott and divestment of Israel (known as BDS) and a call for countries all over the world to impose sanctions on Israel.