Reality Check

The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) on Saturday, July 7 held its first meeting in the Gaza Strip since Hamas' coup.

According to the Maan News Agency, the conveners "condemned Israeli policies such as creating facts on the ground and separating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and Jerusalem."

They appear to be unaware that Hamas separated the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, affirming the reality that rather than being one country, the people living in those two areas are really very different.

They also "stressed that any conflict should solely be with the occupation, which concentrates its intensive military action in the northern provinces of the strip."

They appear to be unaware that Israel completely pulled out of the Gaza Strip about two years ago. It had been under the complete control of the Palestinian Authority until the Hamas coup. There is no occupation in the Gaza Strip.

The conveners also "urged Palestinians to remain united."

Finally, according to the Maan News Agency, "The PLO declared that it is the sole representative of the Palestinian people and that it represents Palestinians everywhere."

The Palestinian Arabs in the disputed territories rejected the PLO's main faction, Fatah, in free and democratic elections, overwhelmingly choosing Hamas, which is not part of the PLO.

It's somewhat ironic that for many years the PLO, with the backing of the Arab world and most of the world community, insisted the PLO was the sole representative of the Palestinian Arabs and pressured Israel to treat it as such, but once Israel finally did so the Palestinian Arabs themselves rejected the PLO.

The PLO clearly needs a reality check.