Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 8)
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- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 8)
- المحتوى
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on this, I am convinced that the main obstacle to the initiatives
to reunite the PLO is the PLO leadership, its wagering on the
US solutions and its individualist style of leadership that pre-
vent the mobilization of all our people’s energies in a serious
struggle for national independence. Up till now, the PLO lea-
dership did not cancel the Amman accord. The most we can
say in this regard is that the PLO leadership declared it had
frozen - not cancelled - the accord. What guarantees us that
this infamous accord is not going to be revived? What guaran-
tees us that the PLO leadership won’t go back to wagering on
US solutions? Don’t we have the right then to say that the
right-wing trend is the primary obstacle blocking these initia-
tives?
This does not mean that it is the only obstacle. There are
others that must be taken into consideration, but we must dis-
tinguish between the main obstacle and other obstacles that can
only be removed after the main one is removed. One of the
other obstacles is the extremist trend in the Palestinian arena.
The extremists build their analysis and positions regarding the
PI.O’s crisis on unrealistic premises. Another obstacle is the
Arab states that see the PLO’s crisis as a chance to contain the
PLO, or liquidate it if it refuses to be contained.
Despite these obstacles, we feel that the conditions today are
suitable for seriously thinking about restoring the PLO’s unity.
Moreover, the efforts of the Palestinian masses and their
national democratic forces, the Arab national liberation
movement, and our loyal friend, the Soviet Union, and the
socialist community will be able to achieve this central link in
the Palestinian national struggle: regaining the PLO’s unity on
a correct political and organizational basis.
The PFLP had a position rejecting contact with
Fatah’s Central Committee before cancellation of
the Amman accord, but recently you met with
Khalil Al Wazir (Abu Jihad). What was the moti-
vation and what was achieved?
First, 1t is important to explain the difference between com-
prehensive national dialogue and contacts, political meetings
or dialogue with Fatah’s Central Committee. When we say
comprehehsive national dialogue, it is understood to mean the
dialogue that aims at ensuring the success of an upcoming
PNC. The PFLP sees the necessity of publicly and officially
cancelling the Amman accord in order for the comprehensive
national dialogue to start. This dialogue aims at serious pre-
paration for the upcoming PNC session which will culminate in
restoring unity to the PLO. The comprehensive national dia-
logue will discuss a number of political and organizational
topics. One of these topics is reviewing the past three years
experience, discussing whether the present political situation
could possibly produce a settlement for the Palestinian cause,
and what sort of settlement would be possible in the present
balance of forces. Additional topics to be discussed are the
PLO’s official Arab alliances, the distinguished position of
Syria in these alliances; organizational topics concerning the
composition of the upcoming PNC - the number of members,
the ratio of independents, the ratio of the resistance organiza-
tions’ representatives; and the amendments we demand in the
PLO’s internal rules, including that the organizational section
of the Aden-Algiers agreement should be taken into considera-
tion, etc.
The PFLP will submit all of these topics for discussion. The
PFLP advocates an immediate, direct and open dialogue right
after official and public cancellation of the Amman accord.
Why do we consider this cancellation an important issue? It is
not to complicate things, as some say. The PFLP’s point of
view is that the Amman accord is a dangerous issue, and to be
frank, this point of view is not subject to discussion. The
Amman accord replaced the program of national consensus for
the right to return, self-determination and an independent
state, with a program for confederation with Jordan. For
God’s sake, is it permissible to discuss such an issue?! There
are issues that are not up for discussion, and one of them is
national independence. We say clearly and publicly: We are
not ready to give up this right.
A large number of our cadres have studied in party schools
in the socialist countries. They studied about the subject of
8
compromise and the necessity of compromising on many issues
in order to ensure the continuation of the revolution. At the
Same time, they learned that there are principal issues that
shouid never be bargained with. The Amman accord is such an
issue. Moreover, we all know that the Amman accord was not
signed by the 16th PNC or even by the 17th PNC that we don’t
recognize as a legitimate session. Why, then, is there talk about
cancelling it in the next PNC session? Don’t we have the right
to demand that the party that signed the accord cancell it? That
party is Fatah’s Central Committee. Don’t we have the right to
consider it dangerous to say that the accord will be cancelled in
the next PNC?
We have been through bitter experiences we can’t forget.
One of these is that once the comprehensive national dialogue
begins, the individualist leadership feels that this is to its inte-
rest and the first step towards holding the PNC. Then, as has
been the case before, this leadership will insist on its position
and keep insisting. Then, for the sake of national unity and the
PNC’s success, everybody will be forced to submit to their
position. We could see that this leadership would agree to
freeze the Amman accord, but not cancel it. It will accept a
formula similar to that of the Prague Declaration, that con-
cerns freezing, not cancelling. Here we must ask ourselves and
our masses: Do we accept that the Palestinian position on a
dangerous and principal issue like the Amman accord is
general, vague and subject to different interpretations?! There
is a big difference between freezing and cancellation. We
cannot be lenient when it comes to a principal issue. This is
why we say that the Amman accord should be cancelled offi-
cially and publicly first. Then we can begin dialogue on other
issues.
Some may ask: What is the difference between cancelling the
Amman accord and boycotting relations with the Camp David
regime in Egypt, since both are gat ‘s to the US solution? There
is a big and qualitative difference. The Amman accord is a
signed document. It cannot have an unknown fate. Up till now,
the Jordanian regime continues to declare, as in the prime
minister’s speech at the UN, that the accord is not cancelled
either by the regime or by the PLO.
There is one last point concerning the comprehensive
national dialogue and the unifying PNC. We were asked the
following question: «If we publicly and officially cancel the
Amman accord, will the whole problem be eliminated?». Our
answer was frank. Besides the Amman accord, there are two
issues to be decided. First is the political issue about closing the
Cairo gate and commitment to the political section of the
Aden-Algiers agreement. Second is the organizational issue,
i.e., Commitment to the organizational section of the Aden-
Algiers agreement, which stipulates a collective, democratic
leadership for the PLO.
Now I will answer the specific question about what moti-
vated the contacts with Fatah’s Central Committee. It is our
genuine wish to seek chances to unite the Palestinian arena.
Although we know the Fatah Central Committee’s position
from the newspapers and their statements, we wanted to know
their point of view first-hand on specific issues, such as why
they don’t want to publicly and officially cancel the accord,
despite knowing that this is needed for uniting the Palestinian
arena. We wanted to know if this was because of organiza-
tional considerations. We wanted direct and specific answers to
these questions in a frank and brotherly atmosphere, aiming at
motivating responsible national thinking at this stage of the
revolution.
Restoring the PLO is a crucial responsibility. We don’t want
to be responsible before history and our masses, for having
hindered unity when there is a basis for unity. We want to
stress this deep feeling of responsibility. We want our cadres,
ranks, masses and friends to feel that we don’t waste any
chance to reach this goal. For these reasons, we had contacts
with Fatah’s Central Committee. It is true that we want to keep
our conscience clear, but that is not everything. Our only aim is
to benefit from any chance to regain national unity on the basis
agreed upon by our masses and allies. After these contacts,
responsibility becomes clearly designated. In fact, it was desig-
nated before, but now it is more accurately designated.
Having made the distinction between comprehensive national
dialogue and contacts with Fatah’s Central Committee, it is in
our interest and the interest of restoring the PLO’s unity that - هو جزء من
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