Palestinian National Charter

Questions for Further Study

• 1.: Using this document, in conjunction with the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel and Gamal Abdel Nasser on the Nationalization of the Suez Canal, trace the history of the events that led to the writing of the Palestinian National Charter.
• 2.: Imagine that a friend tells you, in effect, that the entire Israel-Palestine conflict is confusing and that he or she does not understand what all the hostility and fighting is about. In three or four succinct sentences, explain to your friend the roots of the hostility and why it is ongoing.
• 3.: Why did the Palestinians revise their national charter in light of the outcome of the Six-Day War of 1967?
• 4.: The Palestinians regard themselves as an Arab people. What do you sense to be the attitude of other Arab states in the region to the PLO and its aims?
• 5.: The assertion is frequently made that displaced Palestinians live in “refugee camps,” a term that creates a picture of poverty and despair. Yet official data show that both the life expectancy and incomes of Palestinians are greater than those of people in most other Arab nations. How would you resolve this apparent inconsistency?