B1. PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (PLO), PALESTINIAN CENTRAL COUNCIL STATEMENT, RAMALLAH, 5 MARCH 2015 (EXCERPTS)
Abstract: 

On 4–5 March, the PLO’s Central Council met in Ramallah to discuss relations with Israel. Potentially the most consequential of the 10 resolutions passed was one on ending Palestinian Authority (PA) security coordination with Israel, amid growing calls from Palestinians to abandon the policy. The demand became increasingly insistent as economic crisis gripped the West Bank in January after Israel began withholding monthly tax revenue it collects on behalf of the PA (see Quarterly Update in JPS 175). The final decision to enforce the resolution, however, rests with PA President Mahmoud Abbas. This resolution was interpreted by some commentators as a last-ditch effort to precipitate the resumption of negotiations with Israel that collapsed in April 2014.

In addition, the council called for a boycott of Israeli products and rejected the “Jewishness of the Israeli state.” Presented below are excerpts from the council’s official statement. The full text can be accessed at www.nad-plo.org.