This introduction does not intend to offer a detailed account of President Abbas’s role in founding the movement; rather, it aims to show a reality that Abbas realized earlier in time: that politics reaps what armed struggle sows, and that armed struggle is, at its core, political, albeit in a different form.

Understanding this principle, President Abbas pursued a course of political action to elevate the Palestinian cause in the international political arena.

Years of revolutionary action augmented this great leader's vision, which intertwined with the visions and political stances of many of his companions from the generation that produced legends such as: Abu Ammar, Abu Iyad, Abu Jihad, Khaled Al-Hasan, and others. They worked closely together to realize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

During its early years and following the second launch in 1967, the Palestinian liberation struggle made substantial gains. Its legitimacy was recognized by liberation movements around the world and by major world powers – such as China and the Soviet Union, who positioned themselves as allies of the liberation movement.

This chapter of Palestinian history was marked by revolutionary romanticism.

Here, we see the core of President Abbas – he is one of the foremost leaders who influenced the essence of Palestinian political thinking through practice and an individual who was also influenced by his contemporaries. It is from the thinking of Abbas and his peers that the notion of a Palestinian entity or state came into being as a right of the Palestinian people, alongside other inalienable rights, most notably the right of return and the right to self-determination.

The Advent of Political Realism

Following the October War of 1973, negotiations took place concerning Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it had captured in 1967, which included the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). As a result of the debates that took place, the Palestine Liberation Organization drafted an interim program that endorsed, for the first time, the idea of establishing a Palestinian Authority, which would be sovereign over the Palestinian territories when Israel withdrew.

President Abbas was one of the supporters of this program, which paved the way for the creation of a Palestinian state. From that point, political realism became increasingly dominant in the Palestinian struggle, developing incrementally alongside the mounting national struggle, both inside and outside the homeland.

President Abbas worked actively to gain recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as a legitimate liberation struggle by Arab and other states and by international institutions – particularly the United Nations and the permanent member states of the UN Security Council.

As the years passed, President Abbas led initiatives based in political realism. Most notable were his efforts during the 18th round of the Palestine National Council, which took place in a favorable atmosphere following the outbreak of the great national Intifada, with increasing international interest in the Palestinian cause. The slogan ‘Politics Reaps What Armed Struggle Sows’ materialized at this point. From the National Council emerged the first realistic peaceful initiative, founded on the Palestinian National Fundamental Principles and Objectives, which were initiated by the PNC at its independence round in 1988. Also resulting from the work of the National Council, Mahmoud Abbas commissioned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish to draft a Declaration of Independence for the State of Palestine. This historic declaration was announced by Yasser Arafat in Algeria.

In 1988, political realism successfully produced a peaceful Palestinian initiative based on the recognition of United Nations resolutions 242 and 338 supporting the principles of freedom, independence, and the creation of the Palestinian state. The road to statehood, constructed by costly sacrifices and paved with martyrs’ blood, became clearer, gained increasing recognition by the international community as well as recognition under international law. The search for means to help realize the state of Palestine had begun.

In this context, President Abbas, together with his fellow Palestinian leaders, was the architect of the Palestinian political process on this path. The door for dialogue with the United States was opened. Although that dialogue was mostly futile, it nevertheless served as a starting point for contact with a great power.

Political Negotiations

Political realism advanced toward the Madrid Conference and the ensuing negotiations. Initially, the Palestinian delegation participated in these negotiations as part of the Jordanian delegation; later, it participated independently.

A Palestinian delegation from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, appointed by the PLO, with Faisal Al-Husseini participating as the representative of Jerusalem, conducted negotiations in the United States. A delegation commissioned by the late President Abu Ammar and under the direct supervision of President Abbas participated in the back-channel negotiations in Oslo. While both of these negotiations were ultimately halted, they led to the Declaration of Principles, known as the Oslo Accords, in 1993. The Oslo Accords laid the foundation for the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority on Palestinian territory, marking a major step toward the realization of the Palestinian state and the fulfillment of other rights, including those of the refugees, Jerusalem, security, water, and borders.

Following the signing of the Oslo Accords and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, in the context of rising right-wing governments that were aligned with Israel’s Labor Party and opposed the Accords, Israel violated the Accords. This period was characterized by expanding extremist right-wing elements that obstructed the peace process, and Israel’s invasion of the West Bank in 2002 in its ‘Operation Defensive Shield’, in which it laid siege to the headquarters of President Yasser Arafat. As a further breach of the Accords, Israel began constructing the Separation Wall, continued to expand settlements, and promoted the Judaization of Jerusalem. All of these actions were committed by Israel while the international community looked on and neglected its responsibilities, and while the United States relinquished its role as an honest broker, contributing to the setback of the peace process that had been agreed upon in the Oslo Accords. Moreover, Hamas’s practices –especially, the coup it carried out in Gaza, in 2007 – also hindered the peace process outlined in the Oslo Accords.

The Political Program of President Abbas and Large-Scale International Support

When President Abbas ran for president following the death of leader Yasser Arafat, he introduced a political program that resonated across the international community, capturing global public opinion and putting Israel, which often protested the lack of a Palestinian peace partner, on the spot.

President Abbas has become internationally acknowledged for his ability to gain support for his political program worldwide, thus putting Israel in a tight position.

President Abbas’s political program substantiates his vision for establishing the State of Palestine and offers a fair solution to the refugee question on the basis of Resolution 194, in line with the terms of reference of the peace process, as exemplified by international resolutions, the Arab peace initiative, and the two-state solution. His program embraces Jerusalem as the capital of the independent Palestinian state and provides a just solution for sovereignty, security, water, and border-related questions.

During the term of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government, from 2006 to 2009, the international community approved President Abbas’s program, putting the peace negotiations back on track. However, the negotiations were stopped again when an extremist right-wing government was formed under Netanyahu. This extremist government obstructed the resumption of negotiations by expanding settlements, especially in occupied Jerusalem. It considered the issue of Jerusalem to be off limits and asked the Palestinian side to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, thus threatening the future of a million and a half Palestinians living inside the Green Line.

The new American administration, led by President Obama, sent positive signals when President Obama addressed the Arab and Islamic world in Cairo and appointed George Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East peace process. President Obama stated that among his priorities was a just solution to the Palestinian issue. He held that settlements were a real obstacle to peace and must be stopped immediately. As a result of these statements, AIPAC increased pressure on the Obama administration, rendering it unable or unwilling to demand that Israel stop settlement building, particularly in Jerusalem. The American administration’s backtracking on its position and its request that the Palestinian side return to the negotiating table with conditions that were not acceptable to the Palestinians came as a big shock to the Palestinians. The U.S. withdrew its demand that settlement building should stop in Jerusalem in a bid to make the Palestinians surrender to the status quo and accept a negotiating process that did not include the issue of Jerusalem.

Key Political Achievements

In light of this significant breach of trust and goodwill, the Palestinian leadership refused to return to negotiations. President Abbas took a historic stand, refusing Israel’s conditions for the resumption of talks and openly expressing disappointment over the position taken by the United States, which failed to assume its responsibilities under international law. The negotiation process thus reached an impasse. The Palestinian people waited for change in the international political arena to enable them to attain their rights through negotiations.

Reluctantly, the international community made some statements. The European Union issued a statement confirming that the June 4th borders constitute the real borders of the State of Palestine, that Jerusalem is part of the Occupied Territories, and that the EU does not recognize Israel’s claim to land that was expropriated by force. However, the European Union’s position still left some issues open to negotiation.

The march of President Abbas toward the creation of the State of Palestine has not abated, and the people of Palestine still have confidence in their leadership. The Central Council has held that the President should press ahead with his duties, especially as the issue of statehood has become internationally acknowledged, even at the Israeli level.

The conflict is now focused on the borders of the state, sovereignty, security, water, and the capital. The people of Palestine, led by President Abbas, continue to advance toward the establishment of their independent state and the fulfillment of their fundamental national rights, the first of which is the right of refugees to return. The Palestinian leadership is holding on to its objectives and fundamentals, and the institutions of the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization continue to strive to lay the foundations of the State of Palestine.

The road to statehood is strenuous and demanding. But, through the power of will and the potent spirit of the people of Palestine, the dream will come true.