The current realities that the Palestinians must reckon with include their strategic, political, and economic imbalance vis-à-vis Israel and the US, the reality of occupation, and the challenges of diaspora life. For example, Israel’s harsh policies to confront the 1987 intifada , coupled with the boycott of the PLO by oil-rich Arab countries (because of its failure to oppose Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait) formed a potent reality check for the Palestinian leadership.