On June 2, 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or PLO, was founded in the first Arab League Summit held in Cairo, Egypt. The PLO’s stated purpose was the “liberation of Palestine” through armed struggle, targeting much of its violence at Israeli civilians. The 1964 Arab League Summit had as one of its major objectives countering the “aggressive policies” of Israel, although at this time, some member states, notably Egypt, did not want to take armed recourse. Instead, the summit agreed to use a non-military tactic – that of diverting the Jordan River to deprive Israel of water.
With regards to Palestine, the summit agreed to assist in establishing a Palestinian entity, which led to the formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War where Israel became an independent state, some 750,000 Palestinians fled from Palestine and became displaced in surrounding countries. The summit was aimed at uniting the various Palestinian organizations to form a central organization in a united front against Israel. By 1969, Yasser Arafat, leader of a militant group called Fatah, became head of the PLO.