Palestinian National Charter

The Palestinian National Charter, sometimes called the Palestinian National Covenant and transliterated from Arabic script as al-Mithaq al-Watani al-Filastini, states the aims of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PLO claims to represent the interests of the Palestinian people in and around Israel, a claim that the United Nations recognizes. The charter is part constitution, part “declaration of independence,” and part political manifesto.

An earlier charter, which formed the PLO, was adopted on May 28, 1964. Attached to that document was another referred to variously as the Basic Constitution, Basic Law, or Fundamental Law, which outlined the structure of the PLO. On July 17, 1968, however, the charter was extensively amended as a result of the Six-Day War (June 5–10, 1967) between Israel and the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. As a consequence of this war, in which Israel prevailed by launching preemptive surprise attacks against massed Arab forces, Israel made several territorial gains, including the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan. The revised charter's emphasis is on the “liberation” of the Palestinian people and the assertion that the Jewish state of Israel is illegitimate, a declaration that many observers interpret to mean that the PLO was calling for the destruction of Israel.