The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations

This report provides an overview of current issues in U.S.-Palestinian relations and it also contains an overview of Palestinian society and politics and descriptions of key Palestinian individuals and groups--chiefly the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO, the Palestinian Authority PA, Fatah, Hamas, and the Palestinian refugee population. For more information, see the following CRS Report RS22967, U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians, by Jim Zanotti CRS Report R40664, U.S. Security Assistance to the Palestinian Authority, by Jim Zanotti CRS Report R40092, Israel and the Palestinians Prospects for a Two-State Solution, by Jim Zanotti, Israel and the Palestinians Prospects for a Two-State Solution, by Jim Zanotti and CRS Report RL33530, Israeli-Arab Negotiations Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy, by Carol Migdalovitz. The Palestinian question is important not only to Palestinians, Israelis, and their Arab state neighbors, but to many countries and non-state actors in the region and around the world-- including the United States--for a variety of religious, cultural, and political reasons. U.S. policy toward the Palestinians since the advent of the Oslo process in the early-1990s has been marked by efforts to establish a Palestinian state through a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, counter Palestinian terrorist groups, and establish norms of democracy, accountability, and good governance within the PA. Congressional views of the issue have reflected concern that U.S. bilateral assistance not detrimentally affect Israels security by falling into the hands of Palestinian rejectionists who advocate terrorism and violence against Israelis.