PLO 59 the task of drawing up a programme designed to permit the Palestinian people to exercise the rights recognised in resolution 3236. The Committee submitted its report in 1978 outlining a plan of action which included: I The repatriation of the Palestinian refugees in two phases: (a) The 1967 refugees (immediate repatriation). (b) The refugees between 1948 and 1967 (repatriation or compensation) in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, particularly the General Assembly resolution 194. II The complete withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the occupied territories in the 1967 war and the compliance of Israel to abide by the provisions of the Geneva Convention relating to the protection of civilians in time of war. Ill The establishment of an Independent Palestinian Entity. IV The making of further arrangements for the full implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People taking into account resolution 3345 (1975) and the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the region according to all relevant resolutions. The UN General Assembly has approved innumerable resolutions calling for the implementation of the Plan, reasserting its support to the PLO and rebuking Israel on various scores till today. The net result of all these exercises, however, has only been a global awareness of the problem, though the U.N's own helplessness in the matter has become evident. The total Palestinian population is estimated to be 4.5 million. Dispersed all over the world, their major concentrations are in the Arab neighbours of Israel. Surprisingly, the biggest concentration of the Palestinians is in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories put together, where they number 1.4 million and pose an imminent threat to Israel's pristine demography. Israel has proved itself to be a ruthless expansionist state that has repeatedly shown its preference for the battleground over the negotiating table; the Arab states have been only grudging hosts and benefactors of the PLO; the internal dissensions among the various resistance groups have been suicidal at times; external interference in the PLO's affairs—intrigues to break it up or to groom an alternative organisation—has been going on for a long time. The PLO, working against such tremendous odds, has proved itself an effective fighting force. GULSHAN DHANANI* *Assitant Professor in the Gulf Studies School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.