PLO+and+the+Intifada

In 1964, the Egyptians took the lead in forming the Palestine Liberation Organization (**PLO**) to represent the interest of the Palestinians. The PLO believed that only the Palestinian peoples had the right to create a state in Palestine. At the same time, a guerrilla movement called al-Fatah, headed by the PLO political leader **Yasir Arafat**, began to launch terrorist attacks on Israeli territory. Terrorist actions against Israel continued for decades.

During the early 80s, Palestinian Arabs, frustrated with failures to achieve self-rule became even more militant. The militancy led to a movement called the **intifada** ("uprising") among PLO supporters living inside Israel. The intifada was marked by protest throughout the nation. A second intifada began in September of 2000 and continued for over a year.

As the 90s began, US sponsored peace talks to discuss the Palestinian issue opened between Israel and some of it's Arab neighbors. In 1993, Israel and the PLO reached an agreement calling for Palestinian autonomy in certain areas of Israel. In return, the PLO recognized the Israeli state. Yasir Arafat became the head of the semi-independent area known as the Palestinian Authority. Progress in making this agreement work, however, has been very slow.