Since its establishment in 1945, the Arab League insisted on having a Palestinian representative in its council, although Palestine was still under British mandate at the time. However, Palestine remained a member at the Arab league even after the 1948 Catastrophe (Al-Nakba), and was represented by Moussa Alami, Ahmad Hilmi Abdul Baki and Ahmad Chouqeiry respectively. The Arab kings and heads of state convening in Cairo agreed to exert concerted efforts to ward off the imminent Israeli menace and promote the existence of Palestine as an independent entity. Ahmad Chouqeiry, the then Palestinian representative at the Arab League, was mandated to initiate contacts with the Palestinians to this end and to present his findings in a report submitted to the Arab League during its next conference.

Therefore, Chouqeiry began an Arab world tour and made phone calls to all the Palestinians in the Arab countries. During his tour, he drafted a Palestine National Charter and a Basic Statute, for what would be later known as the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). It was also agreed to hold a General Palestinian Assembly and Chouqeiry was assigned to choose its preparatory committees in every Arab country hosting Palestinians. The mission of each of these committees was to establish lists of the candidates who were most likely to gain membership in the Assembly in their respective regions. Then, Chouqeiry appointed a higher coordination committee to coordinate between all candidates’ lists from different countries, and prepare the final list. The Assembly elected Chouqeiry as its chairman and announced the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization after endorsing the National Charter and the Basic Statute. Chouqeiry was also elected as head of the Organization’s Executive Committee and presented on September 5, 1964 a report detailing the formation of the PLO, in which he emphasized the military and organizational measures necessary to liberate Palestine and carry out the mobilization process. The Arab summit sanctioned Chouqeiry’s achievements and approved financial support for the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The final communiqué issued by the first Arab summit conference in Cairo included a number of resolutions, the most important of which were the following:

• Deterring all political, economic and media Israeli threats.
• Setting up a unified military command for all Arab troops, with their headquarters in Cairo.
• Establishing the River Jordan Waters Exploitation Committee, tasked with planning, coordinating and observing all projects in relation to the exploitation of the River Jordan’s waters..
• Forming bases to organize the Palestinians, thus enabling them to liberate their land and determine their destiny and mandating Ahmad Choukeiry to carry out the organization of people.
• Meeting at least once a year and holding the second summit in Alexandria in August 1964.