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The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic: منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية‎;  Munaẓẓamat at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīniyyah (help·info)) is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.^[4][5] The PLO was considered by the United States and Israel to be a terrorist organization until the Madrid Conference in 1991. In 1993, PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace, accepted UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and rejected "violence and terrorism"; in response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.^[6]

Founding[link]

Conceived by the Arab states at the first Arab summit meeting, the 1964 Arab League summit (Cairo), its stated goal was the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle. The organization was called Palestinian Liberation Organization.^[7] The original PLO Charter (issued on 28 May 1964^[8]) stated that "Palestine with its boundaries that existed at the time of the British mandate is an integral regional unit" and sought to "prohibit... the existence and activity" of Zionism.^[7] It also called for a right of return and self-determination for Palestinians. Palestinian statehood was not mentioned, although in 1974 the PLO called for an independent state in the territory of Mandate Palestine.^[9] The group used multi-layered guerrilla tactics to attack Israel from their bases in Jordan (including the West Bank), Lebanon, Egypt (Gaza Strip), and Syria.^[10]

Organization[link]

Orient House, the former PLO headquarters in Jerusalem

The PLO has a nominal legislative body, the Palestinian National Council (PNC), but most actual political power and decisions are controlled by the PLO Executive Committee, made up of 18 people elected by the PNC. The PLO incorporates a range of generally secular ideologies of different Palestinian movements committed to the struggle for Palestinian independence and liberation, hence the name of the organization. The Palestine Liberation Organization is considered by the Arab League^[4][11] and by the United Nations^[12] to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and holds a permanent observer seat in the United Nations General Assembly. It has been widely criticized, however, over the lack of Hamas presence in the Organization, even after Hamas won almost two-thirds of the seats in the 2006 legislative council elections.^{[citation needed]}

Yasser Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen).

Initially, as an armed guerrilla organization, the PLO was responsible for terrorist activities performed against Israel in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1988, however, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the right of return to land occupied by Palestinians prior to 1948, as well as the right to continue armed struggle until the end of "The Zionist Entity."^[13] Though Yasser Arafat promised on multiple occasions in letters and in speeches to remove the parts of the PLO's charter which called for the destruction of "The Zionist Entity," the version which contains those articles is the version displayed to the UN, and to other Palestinian bodies.^{[citation needed]}

Other institutions are the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) which consists of 124 members from the PLO Executive Committee, PNC, PLC and other Palestinian organizations.^[14] The PCC makes policy decisions when PNC is not in session, acting as a link between the PNC and the PLO-EC. The PCC is elected by the PNC and chaired by the PNC speaker.^[15]

Membership[link]

The PLO has no central decision-making or mechanism that enables it to directly control its factions, but they are supposed to follow the PLO charter and Executive Committee decisions. Membership has fluctuated, and some organizations have left the PLO or suspended membership during times of political turbulence, but most often these groups eventually rejoined the organization. Not all PLO activists are members of one of the factions – for example, many PNC delegates are elected as independents.^{[citation needed]}

Present members include:

• Fatah – Largest faction, Left-wing Nationalism.
• The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – Second largest, radically far-left militant and communist
• The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) – Third largest, communist
• The Palestinian People's Party (PPP) – Ex-communist, Social Democratic, non-militant
• The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF, Abu Abbas faction) – Minor left-wing faction
• The Arab Liberation Front (ALF) – Minor faction, aligned to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party
• As-Sa'iqa – Syrian-controlled Ba'athist faction
• The Palestine Democratic Union (Fida) – Minor democratic socialist, 2 state solution, non militant faction
• The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF, Samir Ghawsha faction) – minor socialist faction
• The Palestinian Arab Front (PAF) – minor pro-Fatah Iraqi Ba'athists faction

Former member groups of the PLO include:

• The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC)^[16]

History[link]

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Creation[link]

The Arab League in Cairo Summit 1964 initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people.^[17]

The Palestinian National Council convened in Jerusalem on 28 May 1964. Concluding this meeting the PLO was founded on 2 June 1964. Its Statement of Proclamation of the Organization^[18] declared "... the right of the Palestinian Arab people to its sacred homeland Palestine and affirming the inevitability of the battle to liberate the usurped part from it, and its determination to bring out its effective revolutionary entity and the mobilization of the capabilities and potentialities and its material, military and spiritual forces".

Due to the influence of the Egyptian President Nasser, the PLO supported 'Pan-Arabism', as advocated by him – this was the ideology that the Arabs should live in one state. The first executive committee was formed on 9 August, with Ahmad Shuqeiri as its leader.^{[citation needed]}

In spite of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the Arab states remained unreconciled to Israel's creation as they had been to the proposed partition of Palestine in 1948. Therefore, the Palestinian National Charter of 1964^[19] stated: "The claims of historic and spiritual ties between Jews and Palestine are not in agreement with the facts of history or with the true basis of sound statehood... [T]he Jews are not one people with an independent personality because they are citizens to their states." (Article 18).

Although Egypt and Jordan favored the creation of a Palestinian state on land they considered to be occupied by Israel, they would not grant sovereignty to the Palestinian people in lands under Jordanian and Egyptian military occupation, amounting to 53% of the territory allocated to Arabs under the UN Partition Plan. Hence, Article 24: "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank, the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area."

Executive Committee Chairmen[link]

• Ahmad Shukeiri (10 June 1964 – 24 December 1967)
• Yahya Hammuda (24 December 1967 – 2 February 1969)
• Yasser Arafat "Abu Amar" (4 February 1969 – 11 November 2004)

(in exile in Jordan to April 1971; Lebanon 1971 – December 1982; and Tunis December 1982 – May 1994)

• Mahmoud Abbas "Abu Mazen" (From 29 October 2004 – present)

(acting [for Arafat] to 11 November 2004)

Leadership by Yasser Arafat[link]

The resounding defeat of Syria, Jordan and Egypt in the Six Day War of 1967 destroyed the credibility of Arab states that had fought to be patrons for the Palestinian people and their nationalist cause. The war radicalized the Palestinians and significantly weakened Nasser's influence. The way was opened, particularly after the Battle of Karameh in March 1968, for Yasser Arafat to rise to power.^{[citation needed]} He advocated guerrilla warfare and successfully sought to make the PLO a fully independent organization under the control of the fedayeen organizations. At the Palestinian National Congress meeting of 1969, Fatah gained control of the executive bodies of the PLO. Arafat was appointed PLO chairman at the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo on 4 February 1969.^[20][21] From then on, the Executive Committee was composed essentially of representatives of the various member organizations.

The PLO at this time did not clearly either accept or refute a two state solution. According to Israeli Likud leader Menachem Begin, the PLO at this time was 'a Nazi orgranization' and its charter 'an Arabic Mein Kampf'.^[22]

War of attrition[link]

From 1969 to September 1970 the PLO, with passive support from Jordan, fought a war of attrition with Israel. During this time, the PLO launched artillery attacks on the moshavim and kibbutzim of Bet Shean Valley Regional Council, while fedayeen launched numerous attacks on Israeli forces. Israel raided the PLO camps in Jordan, withdrawing only under Jordanian military pressure.^{[citation needed]}

This conflict culminated in Jordan's expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon in July 1971.

Black September in Jordan[link]

The PLO suffered a major reversal with the Jordanian assault on its armed groups in the events known as Black September in 1970. The Palestinian groups were expelled from Jordan, and during the 1970s, the PLO was effectively an umbrella group of eight organizations headquartered in Damascus and Beirut, all devoted to armed resistance to either Zionism or Israeli occupation, using methods which included direct clashing and guerrilla warfare against Israel. After Black September, the Cairo Agreement led the PLO to establish itself in Lebanon.

Ten Point Program[link]

In 1974, the PNC approved the Ten Point Program^[23] formulated by Fatah's leaders, which calls for the establishment of a national authority over any piece of liberated Palestinian land, and to actively pursue the establishment of a democratic state in Israel/Palestine. The Ten Point Program was considered the first attempt by PLO at a peaceful resolution, though the ultimate goal was "completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory, and as a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity."^[23]

This led to several radical PLO factions (such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC and others) breaking out to form the Rejectionist Front, which would act independently of PLO over the following years. Suspicion between the Arafat-led mainstream and more hard-line factions, inside and outside the PLO, have continued to dominate the inner workings of the organization ever since, often resulting in paralysis or conflicting courses of action. A temporary closing of ranks came in 1977, as Palestinian factions joined with hard-line Arab governments in the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front to condemn Egyptian attempts to reach a separate peace with Israel (eventually resulting in the 1979 Camp David Accords).

Israel claimed to see the Ten Point Program as dangerous, because it allegedly allows the Palestinian leadership to enter negotiations with Israel on issues where Israel can compromise, but under the intention of exploiting the compromises in order to "improve positions" for attacking Israel. The Hebrew term for this is the "Plan of Stages" (Tokhnit HaSHlabim). During the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in the 1990s, some Israelis repeated this suspicion, claiming that the Palestinians' willingness to compromise was just a smoke-screen to implement the Ten Point Program. After the Oslo Accords were signed, Israeli right-wing politicians claimed (and still claim) that this was part of the ploy to implement the Stage Program as Yasser Arafat himself admitted in Arabic many times. The Ten Point Program was never officially cancelled by the Palestinians.^[24]

Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War[link]

In the late 1960s, and especially after the expulsion of the Palestinian militants from Jordan in Black September events in 1970-1971, Lebanon had become the base for PLO operations. Palestinian militant organizations relocated their headquarters to South Lebanon, and relying on the support in Palestinian refugee camps, waged a campaign of attacks on the Galilee and on Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide. Increasing penetration of Palestinians into Lebanese politics and Israeli retaliations gradually deteriorated the situation.

By the mid-1970s, Arafat and his Fatah movement found themselves in a tenuous position.^{[citation needed]} Arafat increasingly called for diplomacy, perhaps best symbolized by his Ten Points Program and his support for a UN Security Council resolution proposed in 1976 calling for a two-state settlement on the pre-1967 borders.^{[citation needed]} But the Rejectionist Front denounced the calls for diplomacy, and a diplomatic solution was vetoed by the United States.^{[citation needed]} In 1975, the increasing tensions between Palestinian militants and Christian militias exploded into the Lebanese Civil War, involving all factions. In 1976, Syria joined the war, by invading Lebanon, and beginning the 29 year Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and in 1978 Israel invaded South Lebanon, in response to the Coastal Road Massacre, executed by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.

The population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip saw Arafat as their best hope for a resolution to the conflict.^{[citation needed]} This was especially so in the aftermath of the Camp David Accords of 1978 between Israel and Egypt, which the Palestinians saw as a blow to their aspirations to self-determination.^{[citation needed]} Abu Nidal, a sworn enemy of the PLO since 1974,^{[citation needed]} assassinated the PLO's diplomatic envoy to the European Economic Community, which in the Venice Declaration of 1980 had called for the Palestinian right of self-determination to be recognized by Israel.

Opposition to Arafat was fierce not only among radical Arab groups, but also among many on the Israeli right.^{[citation needed]} This included Menachem Begin, who had stated on more than one occasion that even if the PLO accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242 and recognized Israel's right to exist, he would never negotiate with the organization. ^{[25][verification needed]} This contradicted the official United States position that it would negotiate with the PLO if the PLO accepted Resolution 242 and recognized Israel, which the PLO had thus far been unwilling to do. Other Arab voices had recently called for a diplomatic resolution to the hostilities in accord with the international consensus, including Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat on his visit to Washington, DC in August 1981, and Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia in his 7 August peace proposal; together with Arafat's diplomatic maneuver, these developments made Israel's argument that it had "no partner for peace" seem increasingly problematic. Thus, in the eyes of Israeli hard-liners, "the Palestinians posed a greater challenge to Israel as a peacemaking organization than as a military one".^[26]

After the appointment of Ariel Sharon to the post of Minister of defence in 1981, the Israeli government policy of allowing political growth to occur in the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip changed. The Israeli government tried, unsuccessfully, to dictate terms of political growth by replacing local pro-PLO leaders with an Israeli civil administration.^[27]

In 1982, after an attack on a senior Israeli diplomat by Lebanese based Palestinian militants in Lebanon, Israel invaded Lebanon in a much larger scale in coordination with the Lebanese Christian militias, reaching Beirut and eventually resulting in ousting of the PLO headquarters in June that year. Low level Palestinian insurgency in Lebanon continued in parallel with the consolidation of Shia militant organizations, but became a secondary concern to Israeli military and other Lebanese factions. With ousting of the PLO, the Lebanese Civil War gradually turned into a prolonged conflict, shifting from mainly PLO-Christian coflict into involvement of all Lebanese factions - whether Sunni, Shia, Druze and Christians.

Tunis[link]

In 1982, the PLO relocated to Tunis, Tunisia after it was driven out of Lebanon by Israel during Israel's six-month invasion of Lebanon. Following massive raids by Israeli forces in Beirut, it is estimated that 8,000 PLO fighters evacuated the city and dispersed.^[28]

On 1 October 1985, in Operation Wooden Leg, Israeli Air Force F-15s bombed the PLO's Tunis headquarters, killing more than 60 people.

It is suggested that the Tunis period (1982–1991) was a negative point in the PLO's history, leading up to the Oslo negotiations and formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PLO in exile was distant from a concentrated number of Palestinians and became far less effective.^[29] There was a significant reduction in centres of research, political debates or journalistic endeavours that had encouraged an energised public presence of the PLO in Beirut. More and more Palestinians were abandoned, and many felt that this was the beginning of the end.^[30]

First Intifada[link]

In 1987, the First Intifada broke out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Intifada caught the PLO by surprise,^[31] and the leadership abroad could only indirectly influence the events. A new local leadership emerged, the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU), comprising many leading Palestinian factions. After King Hussein of Jordan proclaimed the administrative and legal separation of the West Bank from Jordan in 1988,^[32] the Palestine National Council adopted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in Algiers, proclaiming an independent State of Palestine. The declaration made reference to UN resolutions without explicitly mentioning Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

A month later, Arafat declared in Geneva that the PLO would support a solution of the conflict based on these Resolutions. Effectively, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, with the understanding that the Palestinians would be allowed to set up their own state in the West Bank and Gaza. The United States accepted this clarification by Arafat and began to allow diplomatic contacts with PLO officials. The Proclamation of Independence did not lead to statehood, although over 100 states recognised the State of Palestine.

Persian Gulf War[link]

In 1990, the PLO under Yasser Arafat openly supported Saddam Hussein in Iraqi regime's invasion of Kuwait, leading to a later rupture in Palestinian-Kuwaiti ties and the expulsion of many Palestinians from Kuwait. Within a single week, some 450,000 Palestinians were expelled in Kuwait, resulting in one of the fastest and largest expulsions in modern history. Most of the Palestinians, who had resided in Kuwait as foreign workers and residents, returned to Jordan.

Oslo Accords[link]

In 1993, the PLO secretly negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel.^[33] The accords were signed on 20 August 1993.^[33] There was a subsequent public ceremony in Washington D.C. on 13 September 1993 with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin.^[34] The Accords granted the Palestinians right to self-government on the Gaza Strip and the city of Jericho in the West Bank through the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Yasser Arafat was appointed head of the Palestinian Authority and a timetable for elections was laid out which saw Arafat elected president in January 1996, 18 months behind schedule.^{[citation needed]} Although the PLO and the PA are not formally linked, the PLO dominates the administration. The headquarters of the PLO were moved to Ramallah on the West Bank.^[2][3]

On 9 September 1993, Arafat issued a press release stating that "the PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security".^[35]

Some Palestinian officials have stated that the peace treaty must be viewed as permanent.^{[citation needed]} According to some opinion polls, a majority of Israelis believe Palestinians should have a state of their own—a major shift in attitude after the Oslo Accord—even though both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, both before and after the Accord.^{[citation needed]} At the same time, a significant portion of the Israeli public and some political leaders (including the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) express doubt over whether a peaceful, coherent state can be founded by the PLO, and call for significant re-organization, including the elimination of all terrorism, before any talk about independence.^{[citation needed]}

Second Intifada[link]

The Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada started concurrent with the breakdown of talks at Camp David with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The Intifada never ended officially, but violence hit relatively low levels during 2005. The death toll both military and civilians of the entire conflict in 2000–2004 is estimated to be 3,223 Palestinians and 950 Israelis, although this number is criticized for not differentiating between combatants and civilians.^{[citation needed]} Members of the PLO have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada^{[citation needed]}.

Palestinian National Charter[link]

The Palestinian National Charter as amended in 1968, endorsed the use of armed struggle against the internationally recognized state of Israel.

'Article 10 of the Palestinian National Charter states "Commando (Feday’ee) action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution. It also requires the achieving of unity for the national ('wanted) struggle among the different groupings of the Palestinian people, and between the Palestinian people and the Arab masses, so as to secure the continuation of the revolution, its escalation, and victory."

The most controversial element of text of the Charter were many clauses declaring the creation of the state of Israel "null and void", because it was created by force on Palestinian soil.^{[citation needed]} This is usually interpreted as calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.^{[citation needed]}

In letters exchanged between Arafat and Rabin in conjunction with the 1993 Oslo Accords, Arafat agreed that those clauses would be removed.^{[citation needed]} On 24 April 1996, the Palestine National Council held a meeting in camera, after which it was announced that the Council had voted to nullify or amend all such clauses, and called for a new text to be produced.^[36] At the time, Israeli political figures and academics expressed doubt that this is what had actually taken place, and continued to claim that controversial clauses were still in force.^{[citation needed]}

A letter from Arafat to US President Bill Clinton in 1998 listed the clauses concerned, and a meeting of the Palestine Central Committee approved that list.^{[citation needed]} To remove all doubt, the vote this time was held in a public meeting of PLO, PNC and PCC members which was televised worldwide, and in the presence of Bill Clinton who traveled to the Gaza Strip for that purpose. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted this as the promised nullification^{[citation needed]}. He later wrote, "While the PLO repeatedly committed itself to amend the charter..., no changes have been made despite occasional claims to the contrary."^[37]

However, a new text of the Charter has not been produced, and this is the source of a continuing controversy.^{[citation needed]} Critics of the Palestinian organizations claim that failure proves the insincerity of the clause nullifications.^{[citation needed]} One of several Palestinian responses is that the proper replacement of the Charter will be the constitution of the forthcoming state of Palestine.^{[citation needed]} The published draft constitution states that the territory of Palestine "is an indivisible unit based upon its borders on 4 June 1967" – which clearly implies an acceptance of Israel's existence in its 1967 borders.^{[citation needed]}

In the United Nations[link]

The United Nations General Assembly recognized the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people" in Resolution 3210 and Resolution 3236, and granted the PLO observer status on 22 November 1974 in Resolution 3237. On 12 January 1976 the UN Security Council voted 11–1 with 3 abstentions to allow the Palestinian Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate without voting rights, a privilege usually restricted to UN member states. It was admitted as a full member of the Asia group on 2 April 1986.^[38][39][40]

After the Palestinian Declaration of Independence the PLO's representation was renamed Palestine.^[41] On 7 July 1998, this status was extended to allow participation in General Assembly debates, though not in voting.^[42]

Diplomatic representation[link]

The Palestine Information Office was registered with the Justice Department of the United States as a foreign agent until 1968, when it was closed. It was reopened in 1989 as the Palestine Affairs Center.^[43] The PLO Mission office, in Washington D.C was opened in 1994, and represented the PLO in the United States. On 20 July 2010, the United States Department of State agreed to upgrade the status of the PLO Mission in the United States to "General Delegation of the PLO".^[44]

Recognition by Israel and the Oslo Accords[link]

In 1993, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat recognized the State of Israel in an official letter to its prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin. In response to Arafat's letter, Israel decided to revert its stance toward the PLO and to recognize the organization as the representative of the Palestinian people.^[35][45] This led to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Terrorist activities[link]

The PLO began their militancy campaign from its inception with an attack on Israel's National Water Carrier in January 1965.^[17] The PLO was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 1987.^[46][47], but in 1988 a presidential waiver was issued which permitted contact with the organization.^[17] The United States attempted to prosecute Yasser Arafat for his complicity in the assassination of two U.S diplomats.^[48] Israel considered the PLO be a terrorist organization until the Madrid Conference in 1991.^[17] Most of the rest of the world recognized the PLO as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people from the mid-1970s onwards (after the PLO's admission to the UN as an observer.)^[49]

The most notable of what were considered terrorist acts committed by member organizations of the PLO were:

• The 1970 Avivim school bus massacre by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), killed nine children, three adults and crippled 19.
• In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second-largest PLO faction after al-Fatah, carried out a number of attacks and plane hijackings mostly directed at Israel, most infamously the Dawson's Field hijackings, which precipitated the Black September in Jordan crisis.
• In 1972, the Black September Organization carried out the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes.
• In 1974, members of the DFLP seized a school in Israel and killed a total of 26 students and adults and wounded over 70 in the Ma'alot massacre.
• The 1975, Savoy Hotel hostage situation killing 8 hostages and 3 soldiers, carried out by Fatah.
• The 1978, Coastal Road massacre killing 37 Israelis and wounding 76, also carried out by Fatah.

See also[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: PLO Charter/Covenant

• Human rights in the Palestinian National Authority
• Palestinian political violence
• Proposals for a Palestinian state
• Palestinian territories
• Palestinian Liberation Army
• Hamas-Fatah conflict
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Yezid Sayigh, “Struggle Within, Struggle Without: the Transformation of PLO politics since 1982,” International Affairs vol. 65, no. 2 (spring 1989) pages 247–271.

External links[link]

Official sites[link]

• PLO Negotiations Affairs Department
• Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations

History and Overview[link]

• Brief history of the Palestine Liberation Organization by GlobalSecurity.org

Documents[link]

• Statement of Proclamation of the Organization (1964)
• Palestinian National Charter (1968) published by The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
• Palestinian National Charter (1964) published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations
• PLO Political Program Adopted at the 12th Session of the Palestine National Council Cairo, 8 June 1974 published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations]
• Decisions and Actions related to the Palestine National Charter (1996) published by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations]
• Unofficial Translation^{[dead link]} of the Statement by the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization 1996 document above
• Draft constitution (2003) as published by the Palestine National Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs^{[dead link]}
• Constitution of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (1968)

Analysis[link]

• Commentary on the Palestine National Charter published by the Jewish Virtual Library
• Dean Peter F. Krogh Discusses the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives

General[link]

• PLO in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
• Collection of Documents, Biographies and other information on the Palestine Liberation Organization published by the Jewish Virtual Library
• The Palestinian Vision of Peace (2002) as stated by the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department
• Documents regarding the Soviet Ministry of Defense 1983 special operation requested by Yasir Arafat: delivery of two German-built coast guard cutters belonging to the PLO from Syria to Tunis – (PDF in Russian) from the Soviet Archives [1] collected by Vladimir Bukovsky
• Photo enlargement shows Palestinians marching in West Berlin, 15 November 69.
• Collection of over 150 PLO posters

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There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers[link]

• Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
• Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
• Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
• Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
• Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
• Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
• Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
• Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
• Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
• Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
• Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
• Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
• Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
• Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
• Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
• Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
• Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
• Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
• Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
• Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
• Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
• Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse^[3]
• Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
• Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
• Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
• Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea^[4][5]
• Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
• Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
• Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
• Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
• Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
• Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
• Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
• Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
• Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
• John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
• John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
• Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
• Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
• Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
• Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
• Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
• Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
• Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
• Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
• Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
• Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
• Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
• Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
• Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
• Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
• K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
• Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
• Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
• Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
• Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
• Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
• Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.^[6][7][8]
• Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
• Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
• Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
• Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
• Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
• Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
• Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
• Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
• Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
• Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king^[9]
• Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
• Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
• Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
• Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
• Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
• Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
• Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
• Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
• Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
• Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
• Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
• Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
• Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
• Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
• William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
• Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
• Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures[link]

• Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
• Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
• Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
• Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
• Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
• Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
• Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
• Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
• Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
• William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other[link]

• Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
• Emmy the Great, folk singer
• Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
• Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also[link]

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
• Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"

Notes[link]

Walid Shoebat (Arabic: وليد شويبات‎) is a Palestinian American Christian who converted from Islam.^[1] He lectures on the dangers of Islamic radicalism^[1] and is a strong supporter of the state of Israel. Born to a Jordanian Muslim father and a American mother, Shoebat lived in the occupied territories during the early part of his life in the village of Beit Sahour,^[1] near Bethlehem.

A self-proclaimed apostate Muslim, ^[1] Walid Shoebat says he converted to Christianity in 1993 and began spreading the word about the "dangers of Islam". He has been interviewed as a terrorism expert on several television programs, including a handful of appearances on CNN and its sister network, HLN, in 2006 and 2007. Critics have questioned his alleged PLO affiliations, which he cites as the grounds for his authority on the subject of militant Islam. ^[2][3]

Shoebat is also a frequent speaker at Biblical prophecy conferences comparing End Times eschatology in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic sacred texts. Videos of his speeches are easily accessible via the Internet.

Shoebat's account of his life[link]

According to the biography on his official website (http://www.shoebat.com/bio.php), Shoebat was born in Bethlehem, the grandson of the Mukhtar of Beit Sahour, whom Shoebat describes as an associate of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Amin al-Husayni. Shoebat joined the Palestine Liberation Organization in his youth, and was involved in an attack against an Israeli bank.^[2]

Shoebat says that upon his release, he continued his anti-Israeli activism until going to the United States, where he became involved with the Arab Student Organization at Loop College in Chicago.^{[citation needed]} Shortly afterwards Shoebat worked as a software engineer and became a US citizen. In 1993, Walid converted to Christianity.^[2]

Lack of Evidence Supporting Shoebat's Autobiographical Account[link]

Shoebat claimed that he threw a bomb at Bank Leumi, an Israeli bank, in Bethlehem.^[4] However, the bank has no record of the incident. Also, Israeli newspapers at that time did not report any such incident.^[5] The authenticity of Shoebat's account has been disputed by many sources.

The Jerusalem Post also disputed the authenticity of Shoebat's account of his alleged terrorist history. The paper stated that the bombing claim made by Shoebat has been rejected both by Bank Leumi, which claims no such attack took place, and by Shoebat's own relatives. The Post said that Shoebat had contradicted himself on this matter. When, in 2008, the Jerusalem Post asked him if there were news reports about the bombing, he replied,^[4]

I don't know. I didn't read the papers because I was in hiding for the next three days.

But, in 2004, he had told Britain's Sunday Telegraph,

I was terribly relieved when I heard on the news later that evening that no one had been hurt or killed by my bomb.

During a telephone interview with the Post, Shoebat was unable to recall the date or time of year of the attack. While Shoebat says he was pressured by teachers to adopt an extreme Islamic philosophy, the Jerusalem Post article reported that his uncle, who still lives in Bethlehem, said religion did not play a major role in his education, and that he had actually left Bethlehem by age 16.^[4]

On April 9, 2008, Shoebat responded to the Jerusalem Post's skepticism on that paper's op-ed page. He wrote that the Jerusalem Post had been duped. According to him, the sources who disputed his own account of his upbringing (including his relatives) were themselves involved in terrorism. He claimed they want to see him discredited, probably because of his conversion to Christianity . He also claims that reputable witnesses who could confirm the bombing operation of Bank Leumi were not interviewed.^[6] He also posted a response on his website.^[7]

Shoebat also addressed the specific accusations above in a YouTube video aimed at refuting similar accusations made on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.^[8] A textual refutation of the CNN report links to an U.N. document which mentions two bombings in Manger Square where the bank was located at the time.^[9]

Appearances[link]

Shoebat has appeared in several interviews, documentaries and radio programs. Most notably in the documentary OBSESSION: Radical Islam's War against the West. A comprehensive list is detailed on his foundation's website "Shoebat.com"

Views on Israel[link]

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Shoebat became an active advocate against Islamism and a fervent supporter of the State of Israel.

Shoebat is the founder of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, an organization that claims to "work to fight for Israel in the Media [sic]." ^[10]

Shoebat believes Israel should retake the Gaza Strip as it is Jewish by right, saying, "If a Jew has no right to Gaza, then he has no right to Jaffa or Haifa either." He advocates that Israel deport anyone who denies its right to exist, "even if they were born there."^[4]

Views on Islamism and Sharia[link]

Shoebat has appeared on mainstream media around the world, and has been portrayed as an expert witness on a number of documentaries on Islamism.^[11]

Shoebat gives lectures to local police departments regarding his belief that "most Muslims seek to impose Sharia in the United States. To prevent this, he said in an interview, he warns officers that "you need to look at the entire pool of Muslims in a community.'"^[12] According to the Washington Post:

"When Shoebat spoke to the first annual South Dakota Fusion Center Conference in Sioux Falls . . . he told them to monitor Muslim student groups and local mosques and, if possible, tap their phones. 'You can find out a lot of information that way,' he said."^[12]

Views on Islam and Nazism[link]

Shoebat argues that parallels exist between radical Islam and Nazism. He says, "Secular dogma like Nazism is less dangerous than Islamofascism that we see today ... because Islamofascism has a religious twist to it; it says 'God the Almighty ordered you to do this'.... It is trying to grow itself in fifty-five Muslim states. So potentially, you could have a success rate of several Nazi Germanys, if these people get their way."^[13]

Criticism and Allegations of Fraud[link]

Critics such as Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for Council on American-Islamic Relations have questioned Shoebat's background story, along with others like him, saying they "belong to an 'industry' that is often perpetuated by fundamentalist Christians" and aren't former Muslim terrorists.^[5]

Skeptics ^[14] have also questioned why Shoebat has been able to retain his US citizenship if it is true that he was involved in acts of terror.^[5]

One well known Conservative blogger, Debbie Schlussel ^[14] exposes what she says is proof of him being a fraud and plagiarizing one of her works.

The Jerusalem Post states that Shoebat has profited from his story that he was formerly a Muslim terrorist, but has rejected Islam for Christianity.^[4] When the Post asked Shoebat whether the Walid Shoebat Foundation is a registered charity, he said that it was registered in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Attorney's office said it had no record of such a charity. When asked again, Shoebat claimed it was registered under a different name, but that he was not aware of the Foundation's registered name, nor any other details, which were known only to his manager. Dr. Joel Fishman of the Allegany County Law Library in Pennsylvania expressed doubts about Walid Shoebat Foundation's donation process. He noted that if the money were being given to a registered charity, the charity would have to make annual reports to the state and federal government.^[4] On the contrary, Shoebat says that Daniel Pipes has supported him and his claims.^[6] Here is the website for his foundation.

On July 13, 2011, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" reported an investigative piece into Walid Shoebat's claim to authority based on being a former terrorist. The report found that according to Israeli government officials, the bank that Walid Shoebat claimed to have attacked, and his own relatives, no record of his supposed terrorist history existed. A two-week prison term in an Israeli jail, another of Shoebat's claims was also unsubstantiated, with Israel having no record he was ever jailed. His cousin, interviewed in the report, stated that he had never known Shoebat to have ties to any movement, and that his claims of being a former terrorist were "for his own personal reasons".^[2]

These claims have been addressed in detail on Shoebat's website including the Anderson Cooper 360 report.^[15][16] Shoebat asserts that sources quoting certain family members fail to note their own connection to terrorists:

FACT: CNN failed to ask Daood Hassaan Shoebat if he had any links to terrorists. He did. How could Daood Shoebat, the uncle of famed terrorist Arin Shoebat and Raed Khalil Awadallah Shoebat be a credible witness since both terrorists can be verified without a shadow of doubt. Arin Shoebat was the renowned mastermind of the dual Operation Reshon Letzion in which Issa Bdeir detonated a bomb, killing him along with civilians. Arin survived, hesitating to kill children, a similar account to that of Walid's, who published his story years prior to Arin's activity. Raed Khalil Awadallah Shoebat is on the list of official martyrs. Anyone can use google translate in Arabic can confirm both links in which these names match 100%.

Concerning his time in jail which CNN reported it could not confirm, Shoebat wrote:

2) Even if Mr. Griffin did check prison records, he was searching the wrong name. Had CNN examined our records that were offered to them, it will prove beyond doubt that Mr. Griffin made an error. When Mr. Shoebat was arrested he turned in his U.S. passport and not his birth certificate or I.D. card. His U.S. passport had a different last name.

Bibliography[link]

• "Dear Muslim, Let Me Tell You Why I Believed"^[17]
• Israel and The World's Mock Trial - details anti-Semitism in Islamic and secular Western countries.^[17]
• Why I Left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam
• The Culture of Death: Coverage of testimony given by Shoebat.
• From Hate to Love: Discusses the anti-semitic indoctrination of Palestinian children.
• Walid Shoebat: A Testimony of Faith to Redemption
• Why We Want To Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat It (2007)^[18]
• In Satan’s Footsteps
• The Forgotten Ally
• Arabs Speak Frankly
• HomelandSecurityUS.com http://homelandsecurityus.com/archives/5067

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Walid Shoebat

See also[link]

• Criticism of Islam
• List of former Muslims

Documentaries Involving/Featuring Walid Shoebat[link]

• From the River to the Sea^[19]
• First Comes Saturday Then Comes Sunday^[20]
• The Forsaken Promise^[21]
• Walid Shoebat: The Culture of Death^[22]
• The Silent Exodus^[23]
• Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West^[24]
• Islam: What the West Needs to Know^[25]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shoebat.com The home page of Walid Shoebat
• BBC News Palestinian militant turned peacemaker
• The Telegraph: I only wanted to kill Jews
• World Net Daily Editorial: The Unmaking Of A Terrorist by Joseph Farah
• New Voices Magazine: The Changeling by Josh Nathan-Kazis^{[dead link]}
• Live Blogging Walid Shoebat in Milwaukee
• A Terrorist Who Turned To Love by Jamie Glazov at FrontPage Magazine
• Critique of Claims of Walid Shoebat
• Former terrorist fuels controversy
• Pro-Israel ex-terrorist denied entry into Canada
• Walid Shoebat tells his story to hundreds in Winnipeg^{[dead link]}
• Former terrorist speaks against violence^{[dead link]}
• Former terrorist has changed his ways^{[dead link]}
• YouTube link to the Fox News interview
• Shoebat: From Palestinian Terrorist to Lover of Zion?
• Walid Shoebat interviewed on Dr. Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour

Videos[link]

• Walid Shoebat: God's War on Terror TV Broadcast on WVCY-TV
• Walid Shoebat: From Terror to Truth TV Broadcast on WVCY-TV
• Walid Shoebat – A Palestinian's Journey
• Critical Study of 'Walid Shoebat'
• Walid Shoebat on Fox News^{[dead link]}
• Interview on God's Learning Channel
• List of Walid Shoebat online media^{[dead link]}
• Walid Shoebat, Zak Anani and Ibrahim Abdullah on CN8, subtitled in French
• The Mind of a terrorist^{[dead link]}
• Interview of 3 ex-terrorists
• Making of a Martyr Bonus Features – Walid Shoebat: Part 1, Part 2.
• Walid Shoebat – "Islam Prophecied In The Bible" (7 videos) – Koinonia Institute's 2008 Strategic Perspectives conference in Southern California hosted by Dr. Chuck Missler
• Walid Shoebat – Major series (22 videos) "What The Bible says about Islam" Southern California Prophecy Conference 2008
• Walid Shoebat – Exposed

1. REDIRECT Kool DJ Red Alert

Method Man
December 21, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Clifford Smith
Also known as	Meth, Tical, Johnny Blaze, Methtical, Shakwon, Iron Lung, Hot Nikkels, MZA, John J
Born	(1971-04-01) April 1, 1971 (age 41)[1][2] Staten Island, New York City, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, actor
Years active	1990–present (rapping) 1995–present (acting)
Labels	Def Jam
Associated acts	Wu-Tang Clan, Redman, Erick Sermon, LL Cool J, The Notorious B.I.G., DMX, Xzibit, Shyheim
Website	method-man.com

Clifford Smith (born April 1, 1971),^[3] better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man & Redman. He won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" with Mary J. Blige. In 2007, the writers of About.com placed him on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007).^[4]

Method Man appeared in the motion pictures Belly, How High, Garden State as well as a minor role in The Wackness. More recently, he appeared as a crewman in George Lucas' film Red Tails. On television, he and hip-hop collaborator Redman co-starred on the short-lived Fox sitcom Method & Red, and he had a recurring role on HBO's Oz as Tug Daniels and as Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff on the acclaimed HBO drama series The Wire.

Early life[link]

Born in Staten Island, New York, on April 1 , 1971, Clifford Smith divided his childhood between his father's Long Island residence and his mother's home in the Park Hill section of Staten Island aka Killa Hill.^[5] He has two sisters, Terri and Missy.^[5]

Rapping career[link]

[edit] 1992–96: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and Tical

As Wu-Tang Clan ascended to hip hop stardom, Method Man was always one of the most visible members of the collective. He was one of only two members to get a solo song on the group's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers and he was the first to release a solo album under the Clan's unusual contract which allowed its members to release albums under any record label (Method chose to sign with rap label Def Jam). Method Man's solo debut, Tical (1994) was critically acclaimed and well received, entering the American charts at #4 and eventually selling in excess of one million copies. That album featured the hit single "All I Need" which was later remixed featuring Mary J Blige, which won a Grammy "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need,"). during this time Method Man also became close friends with The Notorious B.I.G., and was the only guest rapper featured on his debut album Ready to Die. He was also featured on Spice 1's album "AmeriKKKa's Nightmare" on the track "Hard 2 Kill". In 1995, he was also featured on "Got the Flava" off Showbiz and A.G.'s album Goodfellas. In 1996, Method Man appeared on Tupac Shakur's album All Eyez on Me, on the song "Got My Mind Made Up" alongside his rhyme partner Redman, The Dogg Pound (Daz and Kurupt) and Inspectah Deck (Rebel INS), whose verse did not make the released album version (although his nickname "Rebel INS" can be heard as the song fades).

[edit] 1997–98: Wu-Tang Forever and Tical 2000: Judgement Day

On June 3, 1997 the Wu-Tang Clan released their Grammy-nominated multiplatinum double CD Wu-Tang Forever, the long-awaited follow up to 36 Chambers. The album has sold over 8.3 million copies to date worldwide.

His second solo album was Tical 2000: Judgement Day, released in 1998, which was heavily influenced by the apocalypse theories surrounding the forthcoming end of the millennium, and which featured myriad guest appearances from his fellow Wu-Tang MCs, proving for the world that Method Man is in fact America's most blunted(with the help of Red Man). The album was certified double platinum. Other guest appearances include Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, D'Angelo, Chris Rock, Mobb Deep, Redman, and brief cameos from Russell Simmons, Bishop Don "Magic" Juan, Janet Jackson, and Donald Trump. The album sold better than his first fueled by the party track "Judgment Day" and the D'Angelo collaboration "Break Ups 2 Make Ups", earning Platinum and Gold certifications in the U.S. and Canada respectively. Reviews for the album were mixed and its long runtime and abundance of intermittent comedy skits were widely criticized. Producers on this album included True Master, 4th Disciple and the RZA.

[edit] 1999–2000: Blackout! (with Redman)

Method Man was part of the very successful Hard Knock Life Tour with Jay-Z, Redman, Ja Rule, and DMX. During this tour, Method Man & Redman recorded Blackout!, a light-hearted, bass-heavy, profanity-laced, party record with an EPMD-evoking emphasis on funky beats and the mischievous wit and cool flows and good rhythm of the two MCs. The album reached platinum status quickly, both in the U.S. and Canada, fueled by "Da Rockwilder", "Cereal Killa", "1, 2, 1, 2", "Tear It Off" and "Y.O.U.". This album also featured three previously released tracks on which the two collaborated.

Their success would lead the duo on to star in movies and TV shows, become product spokespersons and household names, but also associated them with marijuana use in the media. The most immediate results of their success was their co-starring roles in the major motion picture film How High, their endorsement deal for Right Guard, Redman's starring role in Seed of Chucky and a short-lived sitcom on Fox Television entitled Method & Red.

[edit] 2000–04: The W, Iron Flag, and Tihkal 0: The Prequel

The Wu-Tang Clan released The W on November 21, 2000 and Iron Flag on December 18, 2001. The W received both critical and commercial success for the group, while Iron Flag did receive some but not to the effect of The W. The efforts earned two more platinum plaques for the Wu-Tang Clan.

In 2004, Meth released his third solo album Tical 0: The Prequel, which featured the hit party single "What's Happenin'" with Busta Rhymes. Hip hop critics voiced their displeasure with the album, many agreeing that Tical 0 felt like generic party rap and featured too many mainstream guests, detracting from his own performances. Regardless, this album sold reasonably well and was certified gold record by the RIAA relatively quickly, but would not see the platinum success of his previous solo releases. There was trouble even before the album's release when Method apparently complained to the press about excessive interference from Def Jam over the album's beats (Meth supposedly desired more input from Wu-Tang leader RZA). On its release, many fans and critics were taken aback by its strong "mainstream" or "commercial" sound, highlighted by the guest appearances of pop-rap stars like Missy Elliott and P. Diddy, two artists that are involved with much different facets of rap music.

P. Diddy was one of the executive producers for the album, although Meth later voiced his displeasure with the final product. "On the third LP, it was suggested (by Def Jam) to bring in Harve Pierre and P. Diddy. Who am I to argue? Puff knows how to sell some records. But that wasn't the direction to go in, and I know that."^[6]

[edit] 2006–07: 4:21... The Day After

Method Man at the 2007 Eurockéennes.

Method Man's fourth album, entitled 4:21: The Day After was released in August 2006 with a star lineup of producers featuring Havoc, Erick Sermon, Scott Storch, Allah Mathematics, Mr. Porter, and, most importantly to Meth, RZA. This time around, a more focused Method Man went back to his hip hop roots and both hip hop fans and the media took notice. He did an interview on the ItsHipHop.Tv.^[7] Despite this being one of Meth's strongest solo efforts to date, the album failed to do well commercially due to it having no single or video, which Method Man has held discontent towards his own label for. However, he has been touring strongly all over the world to promote the album, and has appeared onstage with fellow Wu-Tang member Inspectah Deck, as well as New York up and comers Saigon, and Gat Murdah. Meth contributed various reasons for the problems between him and his label, Def Jam. While he puts most of the blame on personal agendas in the Def Jam offices, Meth did take some blame, himself, for giving into his record label.

In early May 2007, Method Man's camp leaked the street single "New York New York" which became a popular track on the internet.^[8]

[edit] 2007–10: Blackout! 2

On March 27, 2007, Redman confirmed on BET's Rap City: Tha Bassment that the sequel to How High, How High 2, is currently being written.

In an April 10, 2007 Onion AV Club interview,^[9] Redman hinted that there would be a second collaborative album with Method Man, with work beginning in midsummer or early September.

In early 2008, a remake of the Smoothe da Hustler and Trigger tha Gambler classic Broken Language was released to the internet by the duo entitled Broken Language 2008, fueling rumors of a Blackout! sequel coming soon. This rumor was further fueled by the duo while performing in Gainesville, Florida at the University of Florida. A Blackout! 2 LP was scheduled for a December 9, 2008 release but was recently pushed back to the first quarter of 2009, with a new release date on May 19. Bun B has confirmed that he will guest star on Blackout! 2 – in April 2009, a single has been released named City Lights, produced by Nasty Kutt ^[10] Also producers such as Erick Sermon, Rockwilder and Pete Rock have announced their presence on the album.

The duo has finished their Still High tour with Termanalogy, the Alchemist, and Evidence of Dilated Peoples.

[edit] 2011–present: Crystal Meth

Crystal Meth is Method Man's upcoming fifth studio album.^[11][12][13] The album has no confirmed release date. The Crystal Meth was first announced before Method Man began working on his and Redman's sophomore collaboration album, Blackout! 2. In the liner notes of that album, it was given a scheduled release date for 2009. The album, however, was further postponed until it was later mentioned in an MTV interview it would be released in early 2010.^[11] no update on the album's progress or release date has been made. At a concert on the 23 of December 2010 Method Man told the crowd to look for his album in March 2011. However the album was pushed back to an unknown release date.

In a recent interview with The Come Up Show following a recent performance in Canada in April 2011, Method Man replied with this regarding his current 'weed-loving' image:"When you get older and you've got kids and your kids are going to school and you know [their] teachers...and they see how active you are and concerned [you are] with your kids' education or well being, it's hard to sit there and be taken seriously if people are always talking about he's always high...which is totally not the case," he said. "When I first came out, I was young, we were doing our thing, we smoked a lot...and we didn't care if the world knew. Now, I have to use more discretion because of my kids. This is not for me; everything I do is for them now, so I use a bit more discretion and I don't put weed as a forefront any more."

On October 5, 2011, a new single from Method Man, titled "World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids)", was released on iTunes.^[14] Recently, he confirmed that the album will come out next year and will have the usual line-up of producers including RZA, Rockwilder, Erick Sermon, 3rd Digala of Digem Tracks and some other new underground producers he's begun to work with.^[15] He also expressed a desire to work with Odd Future frontman Tyler, The Creator.^[16] It was recently announced via Facebook that Crystal Meth will be his last album & to be fully produced by RZA.

Acting career[link]

In the early 2000s Method Man began a career in acting. He has had recurring roles in critically acclaimed television shows such as HBO's Oz as Tug Daniels, HBO's The Wire in which he plays Prop Joe's nephew Cheese, The Twilight Zone and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He and Redman hosted a pilot on MTV called Stung. He has made numerous appearances as himself on TV shows such as Mind of Mencia and Chappelle's Show.

Method Man portrays Drops on CSI, a wealthy Las Vegas party promoter who clashes with the CSI team, specifically investigator Nick Stokes, in their investigations involving his clubs or entourage. His first appearance on CSI as Drops was in the 2006 episode "Poppin' Tags". He resumed the role in the 2007 episode "Big Shots" and again in the 2008 episode "Drops Out".

His first prominent role came in 1998 with the film Belly along with fellow rappers Nas and DMX. He has since added many credits to his name, including roles in the films Garden State, One Eight Seven, and many others, with starring roles in the feature films such as How High and Soul Plane. On March 27, 2007 Redman confirmed on BET's show Rap City that the sequel to How High was being written. The script for How High 2 is being written by Dustin Lee Abraham of CSI, who also wrote the first movie. In 2005 Method Man also had a cameo in the horror movie Venom, where he played a deputy who shortly into the movie is killed. He appears in the 2008 movies The Wackness and also, Meet the Spartans.

Method Man stars in the episode "Snitch" of Law & Order SVU as the main antagonist. The episode was first broadcast December 4, 2007.

Method Man has made an appearance in the Def Jam series of video games. In Fight for NY he voiced Blaze, one of the main characters. In Icon, he voiced Gooch, a major character in the storyline. In Underground, He voiced Meth, one of the major characters. He made a guest appearance in the music video for the 2003 "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys, where he played the role of her boyfriend. He also appeared in Beanie Sigel's music video "Feel It in the Air", where Method Man played an undercover cop leading an operation against Sigel.

Method Man has fallen back from pursuing more acting roles after the situation with his sitcom on Fox left a bad taste in his mouth,^[17] and now mostly just acts if the project is being handled by a friend of his, as was the case with CSI and The Wire. He also played an arsonist and a wealthy executive as well as main antagonist in an episode of the fox TV show The Good Guys.

Method Man appears as a hip hop business mogul in an episode of Burn Notice.

Method man had a cameo appearance in the 1997 film Cop Land as a physically violent fleeing criminal that throws Peter Berg's character off of a New York rooftop. Method Man has also appeared in the TV drama Wonderland, as a patient in a mental hospital.

Method man plays a small role in the 2011 film "The Sitter" starring Jonah Hill. In 2012 he played crewman "Sticks" in George Lucas' movie Red Tails about the Tuskegee airmen.

Other ventures[link]

Method Man appeared in the 1995 documentary entitled The Show. There is a memorable scene in which Method Man, on a train in Japan, gets into an argument with U-God and Ghostface Killah, over camera time, radio interviews, and clothing mishaps.

In 2006, Method Man appeared on the MTV reality game show Yo Momma in the first episode of Season 1.

Method Man is the first of the Wu-Tang Clan to produce a series of eponymous graphic novels for Hachette Book Group USA's imprint Grand Central Publishing^[18] (to be followed by GZA and Ghostface Killah).^[19]

Personal life[link]

He became engaged to his wife in 1999 and they married in 2001.^[5] He has three children: two sons (born in 1996 and 2001), and one daughter (born in 1997). Method Man also has collabed with Rochester rapper "Dale Mahoney" on his project "Jordans&Drugs" in 2012.^[20]

Legal issues[link]

On Thursday May 17, 2007 Method Man was arrested in New York City on marijuana charges. His Mercedes-Benz convertible was pulled over at the Battery Tunnel en route to Manhattan, and when he rolled his window down the officer noticed a strong smell of marijuana. "It was like something out of Cheech & Chong. He rolls down the window and the smoke would choke a horse," a source later said.^[21] The arresting officer said he noticed two blunts and a plastic bag with more marijuana in plain view. Upon further inspection more marijuana was found under the driver's seat. The arrest was made at about 10 P.M. Thursday night near the Battery Tunnel toll booths on Hamilton Ave. in Carroll Gardens. He was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, criminal possession of marijuana, operating a motor vehicle under the influence and driving an uninspected motor vehicle. He later made many public service appearances to try to make up for it, most notably at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.^[22]

On October 5, 2009, Method Man was arrested at his home in Staten Island for income tax violations.^[23] He was accused of failing to file income tax returns for the state of New York between 2004 and 2007 and owes nearly $33,000 in taxes. On June 28, 2010,^[24] Method Man plead guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to a conditional discharge^[25] and paid a $106,000.00 fine.^[24]

Controversies[link]

Wu-Tang management[link]

In 2003, Method Man criticized Oli "Power" Grant and Mitchell "Divine" Diggs, the managers of the Wu-Tang business.^[26] "Number 1 on my shit list right now is Divine from Wu-Tang management. He took something major from me that he had no intention of giving back."^[27] Divine is multiplatinum record producer RZA's brother who along with Oli "Power" Grant took over the business end of Wu-Tang around 1997.

Aside from the financial issues, Method Man was unhappy with the decision to bring Wu-Tang into the fashion world for a brief period of time with Wu-Wear, despite the brand being a major money-maker for the group. "When Wu-Wear started making shoes and sneakers and pants, it was shoddy material. I never rocked that shit."^[27]

Wendy Williams[link]

In 2006 Method Man had a highly personal and highly publicized conflict with TV talk show host Wendy Williams on The Breakdown, an internet show on ONLOQ.com. Williams talked on air about Method Man's wife having cancer, which was something he had wanted to keep very private and even her own family members had not yet known about. He said that people who lived next door to him didn't even know, but Williams had dug it up and made it public over the radio. Because of this leaked information, Method Man and his wife had many problems.^[28]

Williams also reported rumors that Method Man had even been having an affair with his wife's doctor. Method Man first heard of this while in recording sessions in Los Angeles.

Sean Combs[link]

During a concert in 2006, Method Man criticized Diddy's decisions on the posthumous The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter album, saying that Biggie never would have worked with some of the subpar rappers. "They got niggas on that album Big would have never rocked with," Meth said of the album. "Musically, I ain't fuckin' with Puff Daddy".^[30] He also brought up the fact that he was the only other rapper that Biggie chose to have on his debut album Ready To Die. He was featured on the track "The What".

Previously, Diddy had been one of the executive producers for Method Man's 2004 album Tical 0: The Prequel, to which Meth later voiced his displeasure on the final product. From then on, he focused on production from within the clan and its closely tied collaborators.

Fox Television[link]

He starred in a Fox sitcom called Method & Red in late 2004, however after only a short time on the air the show was put on hiatus and never returned. Method Man later complained in the press about Fox's influence on the show's style, claiming that "there's been too much compromise on our side and not enough on their side" and bemoaning the network's decision to add a laugh track. Before the show even aired for the first time, he was telling fans not to bother watching it. He told the newspaper:

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

Method Man filmography

References[link]