Declared 38 years ago, denied since: the Algiers Declaration remains a milestone in the Palestinian struggle

On 15 November, 1988, in Algiers, Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), stood before the Palestine National Council, the PLO’s parliament-in-exile, and proclaimed the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Drafted by the celebrated late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, the text claimed sovereignty over the territories Israel occupied in 1967 – the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Some 75 countries recognised the declaration within a month, and more than 90 had done so by early 1989, giving the Palestinian national movement unprecedented diplomatic momentum. Yet nearly four decades later, Palestinian statehood remains unrealised on the ground. This historic declaration did not emerge in a vacuum but rather after a long fight against Israeli occupation. Two distinct developments forced […]