Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 33)
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- Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 33)
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RELATIONS WITH SYRIA
The different views on this issue
converged on the necessity of reconci-
liation between the PLO and Syria. The
Central Council praised the Executive
Committee’s efforts to this end.
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE
Although there was overall agree-
ment on the PNC resolution on the
international conference, discrepancies
arose concerning the essence of the tac-
tics to be followed in this period. Some
considered that talking about a joint
Arab delegation to the conference
would not detract from the importance
of the PLO’s role and participation.
However, the majority of those who
spoke out thought that such talk
amounted to offering concessions
without getting anything in return.
Given the absence of a unified Arab
position, and the obstacles to the con-
vening of an international conference,
the majority did not feel such talk
would consolidate the PLO’s role, but
rather would lay the ground for more
concessions once the conference process
gets underway.
THE ARAB SUMMIT
The speakers dealt very seriously
with the convening of the Arab summit
(since held in Amman - editor’s note),
which follows several important deve-
lopments: worldwide support to the
idea of an international peace confe-
rence, the Soviet-US agreement on
medium-range nuclear weapons, and
the upcoming Gorbachev-Reagan
summit. All speakers stressed that the
summit should produce Arab solidarity
antagonistic to imperialism and Zio-
nism, and a joint Arab position con-
cerning developments in the region,
particularly the Palestinian issue.
ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
Organizational issues were consi-
dered to be of great importance to the
participants in the discussion, unlike in
the past when these have generated little
interest. The speakers dealt with Com-
rade Habash’s speech concerning the
importance of democratic reform in the
PLO institutions and of the Central
Council acting on its new tasks as out-
lined in the last PNC session. Most
speakers voiced support to these points.
This led the council to adopt several
directives for the Executive Committee,
in cooperation with the PNC President,
to start preparing for a PNC to be held
in April, after selection of the mem-
bership for the 7th PNC’s term, as
required. by the expiration of the 6th
PNC’s term in April.
The Central Council decided to delay
discussing and adopting the internal
rules and regulations to govern its own
activities, even though this was on the
agenda. The delay was due to the Exe-
cutive Committee’s failure to have
formed a committee to draft the rules
and regulations in advance. As a result,
the draft was hastily written,making it
impossible for the council members to
study it carefully. Nonetheless, the
council did elect a temporary secretariat
to assist the PNC president until a set of
rules and regulations is adopted at the
next council meeting. The secretariat
will consequently become permanent in
accordance with the PNC’s resolution.
The final statement was prepared by
the drafting committee and presented
to the council. It sidestepped major
controversial issues. (See text in this
issue.)
With that, the council ended its ses-
sion. On the political level, the council
meeting failed to take a strong stand
against the violations of the PNC reso-
lutions that have occurred. Thus, it
passed up the chance to further streng-
then national unity and impose adhe-
rence to the adopted resolutions. On the
organizational level, on the other hand,
the election of a secretariat and presen-
tation of a draft for the internal rules
and regulations, are positive steps in the
process of democratic reform.
Despite shortcomings, the holding of
the council was positive in itself. It
shattered the dreams of those hostile
forces who, angered by the PLO’s reu-
nification, believed that the unity was
short-lived. Palestinian national unity
has, on the contrary, been preserved,
based on the lessons derived from the
bitter experience of past division.
emphasized in conclusion: First,
national unity needs to be further con-
solidated and this requires strict adhe-
rence to PNC resolutions. Violating
these resolutions can only harm unity
and ultimately enforce the divisive
hopes of hostile forces.Second, crystal-
lizing a clear political line as the basis
for the PLO’s activities, plus compre-
hensive democratic reform in_ the
PLO’s institutions, would safeguard
the PLO’s role and status. Third, the
PLO should carefully § address
the issues, with a clear sense of
priorities, rather than confining itself to
general political rhetoric. For example,
it is not enough to voice support to an
international conference. Close study is
required to act on this position mea-
ningfully.
This is not, however, to detract from
the achievements made since the PNC’s
unification session in April. The
important thing is to continue such
achievements to the point that the PLO
is capable of fulfilling the Palestinian
people’s goals of return to the home-
land, self-determination and the esta-
blishment of an independent Palesti-
nian state. @
Comrade Habash Addresses the Council
TS
The speech of Comrade George Habash, General Secretary of the
PFLP, at the PLO Central Council meeting focused on two major
topics. The first was the necessity of enacting radical democratic
reform in all the PLO bodies and institutions. The second was how to
deal with the most prominent political developments affecting the
Palestinian arena, in accordance with the resolutions adopted at the
PNC’s unifying session in April. Following are excerpts.
The experience of all societies
throughout history has shown that
democracy and democratic rules in-
fluence the society’s ability to provide
the foundation for the masses’
creativity and energy. Ongoing events >
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