Part 1 of Essay
Functioning as a Palestinian government, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964 as a political body representing the Palestinians in their efforts to reclaim their country from the Israelis. Originally an umbrella organization of refugee and military groups, it was ultimately joined by profess ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... the PLO was recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people". Subsequent to this, Arafat addressed the United Nations where the organization was given official observer status. In 1970 the PLO commandos fought a short but bloody war with the Jordanian army after which they were expelled from that country and settled in Lebanon. Little by little, they became a state within a state, and thus contributed to the disintegration of Lebanon after 1975. The aftermath of the Israe ....