Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 35)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 35)
- المحتوى
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Concerning this, I would like to remind
the Executive Committee of the latest
PNC’s resolution calling for
reevaluating the formation of the
PLO’s committees,, offices and
departments, on the basis of front rela-
tions.
The last point I will address concerns
the PNC’s recommendation for the
unions to study the issue of propor-
tional representation and present the
results of their study to the Executive
Committee. Taking a decision on this
issue would resolve the wrong forms of
competition (between the different
organizations), which sometimes crip-
ple the unions’ work...
JUDGING THE EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE’S WORK
On the political level... the impor-
tance of this meeting undoubtedly
stems from its being a forum for
evaluating the Executive Committee’s
work. This is particularly true since
gains can only be made by overseeing
and holding accountable... The
criterion for judgement in the PLO is
the degree of adherence to the PNC’s
resolutions. We expended great efforts
to arrive at these resolutions... To this
end, I would like to address three topics
on the political level...
RELATIONS WITH EGYPT
The first is how the Executive
Committee implemented the PNC’s
resolution concerning relations with
Egypt. I will discuss this issues from
three angles... The first angle is the text
of the resolution. The second is what
we have gained and lost with these
relations. The third is connecting this
issue with our vision of the future.
Through these three angles, the posi-
tion of the PFLP will be understood.
Those who attended the comprehensive
dialogue and the PNC’s unifying ses-
sion know the nature of the various
Opinions on this issue, as well as the
difficulties we faced in reaching a
common understanding. The impor-
tance of this issue requires that all of us
adhere completely to the text of the
resolution. If I am an Executive Com-
mittee member, it is my duty to rely on
the text which was adopted
unanimously, not on my own convic-
tions...
The text states that relations with
Egypt should be based on the resolu-
tions of the consecutive sessions of the
PNC, the 16th session in particular.
This point created sharp arguments
threatening the success of the session.
The text also states that Palestinian-
Egyptian relations should be based on
the resolutions of the Arab summits
related to the issue. We all know that
the most important summit dealing
with this issue was the Baghdad Summit
in 1978. The resolutions adopted there
concerning relations with Egypt were
clear to all.
Were our relations with Egypt based
on this text? The period following the
PNC witnessed extensive and high-level
contacts with the Egyptian regime.
Brother Hani Al Hassan visited Cairo
several times. Brother Arafat met twice
with President Husni Mubarak. Father
Elias Khouri (EC member) visited
Cairo once and declared that his visit
was on behalf of the PLO. I wonder, if
you have an opinion pertinent to this
issue like mine, would you accept what
has happened?
I am not only discussing whether or
not there was adherence to the text... If
we don’t take a serious stand on this
issue, given that a major Arab country
has official relations with the Zionist
state, what can we expect from friendly
nations concerning relations with
‘Israel’?
Let us put the text aside, and discuss
what we have lost and gained from our
relations with the Egyptian regime.
Then we can compare. Did we have
definite assurances from the Egyptian
regime that it would adopt the concept
of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as
its capital? Or clear support to the in-
alienable rights of the Palestinian peo-
ple? Or confirming the PLO as the sole,
legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people? I don’t think so.
The greatest proof of this is the official
Egyptian policies... The latest was
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismat Abdel
Maguid’s speech at the 42nd session of
the UN General Assembly. He called
for the formation of a joint Jordanian-
Palestinian delegation, and mentioned
the rights of the Palestinian people
without specifying what these are.
What Egyptian officials tell Hani Al
Hassan behind closed doors is not im-
portant... What is important to us,
what we judge by, is the declared policy
of the Egyptian regime.
In contrast, what are the negative
aspects of these relations? We can
mention many - the negative effects on
national unity... The weakening of the
credibility of the PLO which decides
one thing, then acts differently, and the
negative effects on our relations with
forces that reject relations with such a
regime.
Concerning the third angle, this sub-
ject can only be thoroughly understood
vy relating it to our future conception
of the Palestinian revolution... Suppose
the international conference were to be
convened tomorrow, and that the PLO
was represented. Arguments might
continue for ten years without Israeli
withdrawal from the occupied ter-
ritories, unless there was a shift in the
balance of forces in favor of the
Palestinian and Arab forces. Conse-
quently, we should develop a concep-
tion about the near future and the way
to affect the balance of forces, to shift
it to our advantage. In addition to in-
tensifying the struggle in occupied
Palestine, we should safeguard our se-
cond operational base in Lebanon. This
requires consolidating the Palestinian
-Lebanese nationalist alliance and
dealing patiently with the issue of the
PLO’s relations with Syria.
This conception of the future should
guide our tactical stands. Although we
are confronted with Syria’s stand con-
cerning the Palestinian-Lebanese-
Syrian national alliance, we should still
shoulder responsibility for outlining the
correct national position on_ this
alliance... Any comrade or brother who
rejects my argument could give another
view, but should bear in mind that this
is a matter which concerns the revolu-
tion not only for a month or a year, but
in the long run.
Reviewing the political situation, I
deduce that safeguarding our second
operational base in Lebanon requires
pursuing a_ specific political line
towards Syria, whether there is im-
mediate success or not... The
Palestinian-Lebanese-Syrian nationalist
alliance is a response to an objective
need, and this need should be clear to
all...
CONTACTS TO ISRAELIS
Since the PNC in April, there have
been several contacts between promi-
nent Palestinians and Zionist Israelis.
In addition, there were news reports
that at the NGO Meeting on the Ques-
tion of Palestine, held in Geneve in
September, PLO Chairman Arafat
gave a letter to Charlie Biton (MK of
the Democratic Front for Peace and
Equality) to be forwarded to the Israeli
government. Subsequently, the PLO}
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