Yassser Arafat seeks to establish himself as…
November 1988 CE
Yassser Arafat seeks to establish himself as the only leader who can unite and speak for the Palestinians, and in mid-1988 he takes the diplomatic initiative.
At the nineteenth session of the PNC, held near Algiers, Algeria, from November 12 to 15, 1988, he succeeds in having the council issue a declaration of independence for a state of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Arafat proclaims the state (without defining its borders) on November 15.
The council votes overwhelmingly to accept UN Resolutions 242 and 338, calling for Israel to evacuate the occupied territories and for all countries in the region "to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries."
Does this imply PLO recognition of Israel's right to exist?
At first Arafat refuses to say, whereupon the United States denies him a visa to make a trip to the UN.
