An Independent Palestine

Abstract

With King Hussein removed from the political equation, Arafat pondered over whether or not to declare a Palestinian state, which would enable him to claim that the Intifada had made significant political gains. However, although he would not admit the fact, it seemed that his PLO-orchestrated Intifada was entering a period of paralysis, as rival leaders and factions had been unable to formulate a coherent, unified political programme to take full advantage of the vacuum King Hussein had created. Some were still determined to pursue the armed struggle, while others were in favour of negotiation.