Palestinian national conference calls for rebuilding PLO
Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, opened the conference on 17 February 2025
The New Arab reports on 19 February 2025:
The Palestinian National Conference, a grassroots initiative seeking broad-based Palestinian unity and renewed national action in the wake of the war in Gaza, concluded in Doha on Wednesday, reaffirming its commitment to rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
Delegates emphasised the need for a unified national leadership to confront political fragmentation and external pressures.
In its final statement, the conference declared itself a sustained popular movement advocating for dialogue, political pressure, and structural reform. It called for democratic elections among Palestinians inside and outside occupied territories to reestablish the PLO on inclusive foundations.
The conference convened under challenging circumstances, including the genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and political division within the Palestinian leadership. It was held in response to a February 2024 initiative calling for the formation of a unified leadership and a revitalized PLO.
Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, opened the conference on Monday by declaring that the initiative had represented an “unprecedented popular movement to restore Palestinian national unity and rebuild our national institutions on democratic foundations”.