PLO adopted a plan to seek membership of International Organisations

The central council of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on 27 April 2014 adopted a plan to seek membership of International Organisations. The Palestinian Liberation Organization has decided to press its bid for statehood for Palestine by signing on to 63 international UN conventions.

In addition, the PLO voted to ask the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly to condemn Israel for settlement construction, anti-Palestinian actions in Jerusalem, and harm to the status of churches and mosques, especially Al-Aqsa on Jerusalem's Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.

The 120-member Central Council also affirmed its absolute rejection of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

However, the council voted to leave the door open to resuming negotiations with Israel on the basis of international resolutions and on condition of an Israeli settlement freeze.

Analysis

The Palestine became an observer state member of the United Nations in 2013 with an overwhelming vote in favour of it. In November 2013, the Palestinians casted a UN General Assembly vote for the first time and claimed the moment as a new step in their quest for full recognition by the global body.

Most of the 193 members of the General Assembly applauded Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour as he voted for a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The Palestinian mission cannot vote on UN resolutions but, under UN rules, it and other observers such as the Vatican can vote in elections for judges on international courts.

Israel and the United States have lobbied strongly against UN recognition of the Palestinians, arguing that a separate state can only be achieved through direct bilateral negotiations to end the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel maintained its position that the Palestinian Authority is not a state and the Palestinian Authority failed to meet the criteria for statehood.