{{Short description|Government of the State of Palestine}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{Infobox organization | name = Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization<br />{{nobold|اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية}} | formation = | logo = | logo_size = 80px | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | status = | purpose = Executive body of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]]<br />[[Government of the State of Palestine]] | num_members = | leader_title = [[Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization|Chairman]] | leader_name = [[Mahmoud Abbas]] | leader_title2 = Membership | leader_name2 = 16 members | key_people = | main_organ = | parent_organization = [[Palestinian National Council]] | num_staff = | website = | footnotes = | location = }}{{Politics of Palestine}}

The '''Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization''' ('''PLO EC'''; {{langx|ar|اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية|translit=al-Lajnah al-Tanfīdhīyah li-Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah}}) is the highest executive body of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO), and acts as the [[Palestinian government|government]] of the [[State of Palestine]].<ref name=middleeastmonitor>[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20576-abbas-confirms-resignation-from-plo-executive-committee ''Abbas confirms resignation from PLO Executive Committee''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910230353/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20576-abbas-confirms-resignation-from-plo-executive-committee |date=2015-09-10 }}. The Middle East Monitor, 24 August 2015</ref><ref name="GiE">{{Cite book|title=Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993|first1=Yezid|last1=Sayigh|edition=illustrated|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1999|page=624|isbn= 9780198296430}} <br />"The Palestinian National Council also empowered the central council to form a government-in-exile when appropriate, and the executive committee to perform the functions of government until such time as a government-in-exile was established."</ref><ref name="UN_ARES6719">[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/19862D03C564FA2C85257ACB004EE69B ''Status of Palestine in the United Nations''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012121039/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/19862D03C564FA2C85257ACB004EE69B |date=2015-10-12 }}. UNGA Resolution A/RES/67/19, 29-11-2012<br />"Taking into consideration that the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in accordance with a decision by the Palestine National Council, is entrusted with the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine"</ref>

The EC represents the organization internationally.<ref name="passia_plo-vs-pa">[http://www.passia.org/images/meetings/2014/oct/28/PA-PLO2.pdf ''PLO vs. PA''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102228/http://www.passia.org/images/meetings/2014/oct/28/PA-PLO2.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}. Passia, September 2014</ref> It represents the Palestinian people, supervises the various PLO bodies, executes the policies and decisions set of the [[Palestinian National Council]] (PNC) and the [[Palestinian Central Council]], and handles the PLO’s financial issues.<ref name="passia_plo-vs-pa" /> The EC meets in [[Palestine]] or abroad.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17989637.html The PLO Executive Committee is to hold a meeting on issues related to the Middle East peace process here Saturday, Palestinian Permanent Delegate to the Cairo-based Arab League Mohamed Sobeih said today.]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}<br>[http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7997109-abbas-i-will-face-aljazeera/image/61121669-palestinian-president-abbas-attends-a-plo-executive-committee-meeting-in-ramallah Palestinian President Abbas attends a PLO executive committee meeting in Ramallah] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120629145838/http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7997109-abbas-i-will-face-aljazeera/image/61121669-palestinian-president-abbas-attends-a-plo-executive-committee-meeting-in-ramallah |date=2012-06-29 }}</ref> The head of the EC (executive committee) is the [[Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization|Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee]] (sometimes called President), elected by the PNC. [[Mahmoud Abbas]] has been the chairman since the death of [[Yasser Arafat]] in November 2004.

Executive committee members hold special areas of responsibility, such as military matters, foreign affairs, finance and social affairs, making their role similar to that of ministers in a national government. Besides other functions, the executive committee is involved in the nomination of candidates for the PNC, and when elections to the PNC are not feasible, the executive committee may appoint PNC members.<ref name="passia_plo-vs-pa"/>

==Organization== [[Ahmad Shukeiri|Ahmad Al-Shuqeiry]] was the first Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee elected by the Palestinian National Council in 1964, and was succeeded in 1967 by [[Yahya Hammuda]]. In February 1969, [[Yasser Arafat]] was appointed leader of the PLO. He continued to be PLO leader (sometimes called chairman, sometimes president) until his death in November 2004. The EC appointed Mahmoud Abbas chairman within hours of Arafat's death.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA2 ''Abbas, Mahmud''], p.2. Philip Mattar, Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. Infobase Publishing, 2005</ref>

The [[quorum]] for legitimate decisions is 12 of the 18 members, according to the [[Palestinian National Covenant]], the constitution of the PLO.<ref name="DMER_25-08-2009">[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Palestinian+affairs.-a0207706170 ''Palestinian affairs'']. The Daily Middle East Reporter, 25 August 2009.</ref>

==Members== The executive committee currently has 16 members, elected by the Palestinian National Council, often as representatives of the [[PLO#Membership|PLO member factions]]. The head of the EC is the chairman, who since 2004 has been Mahmoud Abbas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Executive Committee (EC) |url=https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/executive_committee/ |access-date=11 October 2023 |website=[[European Council on Foreign Relations]]}}</ref>

On 27 August 2009, the PNC elected six new members to the EC to replace members who had died (including Yasser Arafat) since the last plenary PNC meeting in 1996. The vote took place in an extraordinary meeting, due to lack of the requisite PNC quorum.<ref name="DMER_25-08-2009"/> Among the six elected were [[Ahmed Qurei]] and [[Hanan Ashrawi]].<ref name="AFP_27-08-2009">[https://archive.today/20120629145754/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/PLO+picks+new+leaders+at+landmark+meeting-a01611977736 ''PLO picks new leaders at landmark meeting'']. AFP, 27 August 2009.</ref> Some Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, boycotted the PNC meeting. They called the PLO illegal and illegitimate, because they and other Palestinian factions were not represented in the organization,<ref name="AFP_27-08-2009"/> and was a violation of the [[Palestinian Cairo Declaration|Cairo]] and [[Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement|Mecca]] agreements and the [[Palestinian Prisoners' Document|National Conciliation Document]], which envisioned simultaneous elections for the Palestinian National Council and the Palestinian Authority.<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/08/2009826105648928211.html ''PLO holds poll amid criticism'']. Al Jazeera, 26 August 2009.</ref>

On 24 August 2015, Abbas said that he had resigned from the PLO’s executive committee along with ten other members,<ref name=middleeastmonitor/> though their resignations were subject to approval by the Palestinian National Council. The executive committee members who announced their resignation were to continue to hold their positions until the PNC meeting in April 2018.<ref name=maan_postponed>[https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767521 ''PNC chair confirms controversial session postponed'']. Ma'an News Agency, 9 September 2015</ref> One of them was [[Asad Abdul Rahman]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Asaad Abd al-Rahman|website=ecfr.eu |access-date=23 February 2024 |url=https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/asaad_abd_al_rahman/}}</ref>

===Current members=== The current members of the Executive Committee as of 7 November 2023 are:<ref>{{cite web |last1=European Council on Foreign Relations |title=Executive Committee (EC) |url=https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/executive_committee/ |website=Mapping Palestinian Politics |access-date=7 November 2023}}</ref>

# [[Mahmoud Abbas]] ([[Fatah]]) ([[Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization|Chairman]]) # [[Hussein al-Sheikh]] (Fatah) (Deputy Chairman) # [[Azzam al-Ahmad]] (Fatah) (Secretary-General) # [[Ziad Abu Amr]] (independent) # Faisal Aranaki ([[Arab Liberation Front]]) # Ahmad Abu Houli (independent) # Adnan al-Husayni (independent) # Ramzi Khoury (Fatah) # [[Ahmed Majdalani]] ([[Popular Struggle Front]]) # [[Mohammad Mustafa (politician)|Mohammad Mustafa]] (independent) # Ramzi Rabah ([[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]]) # [[Saleh Ra'fat]] ([[Palestinian Democratic Union]]) # [[Bassam as-Salhi|Bassam al-Salhi]] ([[Palestinian People’s Party]]) # Ahmad Bayyoud Tamimi (independent) # Wasel Abu Yousef ([[Palestinian Liberation Front]]) # Ali Abu Zuhri (independent)

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130513155856/http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/palestine/orgs1.htm PALESTINIAN ORGANISATIONS], al-bab.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Executive Committee Of The Palestine Liberation Organization}} [[Category:Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization| ]] [[Category:Executive committees of political parties|Palestine Liberation Organization]] [[Category:Government of Palestine]]