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PLO| NYT
The Palestinian Authority was created by the Gaza–Jericho Agreement, pursuant to the 1993 Oslo Accords. The Gaza–Jericho Agreement was signed on 4 May 1994 and included an Israeli withdrawal from the Jericho area and partially from the Gaza Strip, and detailed the creation of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Civil Police Force. The PA was envisioned as an interim organization to administer a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the Areas A and B in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a period of five years, during which final-status negotiations would take place. The Palestinian Central Council, itself acting on behalf of the Palestine National Council of the PLO, implemented this agreement in a meeting convened in Tunis from 10–11 October 1993, making the Palestinian Authority accountable to the PLO Executive Committee. The administrative responsibilities accorded to the PA were limited to civil matters and internal security and did not include external security or foreign affairs. Palestinians in the diaspora and inside Israel were not eligible to vote in elections for the offices of the Palestinian Authority. The PA was legally separate from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which continues to enjoy international recognition as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, representing them at the United Nations under the name "Palestine". General elections were held for its first legislative body, the Palestinian Legislative Council, on 20 January 1996. The expiration of the body's term was 4 May 1999, but elections were not held because of the "prevailing coercive situation". The UN has permitted the PLO to title its representative office to the UN as "The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations", and Palestine has started to re-title its name accordingly on postal stamps, official documents and passports, whilst it has instructed its diplomats to officially represent 'The State of Palestine', as opposed to the 'Palestine National Authority'. Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents". However, in a speech in 2016 president Abbas said that "The Palestinian Authority exists and it is here," and "The Palestinian Authority is one of our achievements and we won’t give it up." (WIKIPEDIA) |
