Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 11)
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- Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 11)
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negotiations with the Israelis, contrary
to the PNC’s stress on an international
peace conference as the correct forum
for negotiations. Parallel to all this,
there have been meetings between
Palestinians and Zionists who do not
recognize Palestinian national rights.
The advocates of this point of view
were not content with defending their
own position, but tried to throw the
ball into the court of others, accusing
some Palestinian organizations, and
particularly the PFLP, of not abiding
by the PNC’s resolutions. As examples
of such «violations» they cited press
conferences and statements issued by
Palestinian organizations criticizing the
PLO leadership, although such
freedom of expression is the right of the
constituent organizations of the PLO.
POLITICAL GAINS STEM
FROM STRUGGLE
The second point of view was ad-
vocated by the democratic organiza-
tions and other nationalists at the
council meeting. The most forceful
advocate of this point of view was PLO
Executive Committee member Abu Ali
Mustafa, deputy general secretary of
the PFLP. This point of view opposes
the concessions given by PLO leaders,
based on a scientific understanding of
the nature of the enemy forces and a
precise calculation of the balance of
forces. This point of view affirms the
importance of reaping’ the
political fruits of the uprising, but
asserts that the independent state will
not be achieved by giving gratuitous
concessions, but rather by escalating all
forms of struggle in order to seize our
rights from the enemy. Thus, it is
necessary to unite all efforts and pro-
vide all the needed conditions for
escalating the uprising, while foiling
political and military attempts to abort
it. Only in this way can we create the
needed change in the present balance of
forces that would make the enemy
retreat.
Therefore, it is only logical that the
advocates of this point of view
demanded that the right wing stop its
political hastiness which has definitely
not resulted in changing the essence of
the enemy camp, but on the contrary
has harmed the uprising and the
achievements made by our _ people
through their sacrifices. The overly
hasty policies of the right wing give the
enemy forces greater maneuver room in
Democratic Palestine, June 89
their attempts to abort the uprising,
meanwhile lessening Israel’s isolation.
Comrade Abu Ali Mustafa stressed
that the orientation of all of the PLO’s
political moves, positions and
statements should be evaluated in terms
of how they serve the struggle process
and provide for the needs of the upris-
ing and serve to protect it politically.
Speaking at the second session of the
council meeting, Comrade Abu Ali
stressed that the achievements noted in
the political report are above all due to
the uprising. He asserted that forcing
the Israelis to withdraw from the oc-
cupied territories and forcing the US
administration to recognize Palestinian
national rights, as well as the actual
establishment of the independent
Palestinian state, all necessitate escala-
ting the uprising and inflicting greater
economic and human losses on the oc-
cupation forces, meanwhile continuing
gradual civil disobedience until
reaching total civil disobedience. Com-
rade Abu Ali frankly addressed Arafat,
saying that he is «optimistic to the point
of illusion.»
Comrade Abu Ali also stressed the
importance of national unity, connec-
ting this to the democratic reforms
needed for improving the PLO and its
various institutions and bodies. He
confirmed that national unity means all
abiding by the resolutions of national
consensus, which in turn means ending
individualism and the hegemony of any
one group and, on the other hand,
consolidating collective leadership.
FINAL STATEMENT
In its final statement, the Central
Council confirmed the importance of
escalating the uprising and _ con-
solidating the unity of the United Na-
tional Leadership and all the mass
organizations in the occupied ter-
ritories, from the popular committees
and strike forces to the unions for
workers, students, academics, etc. The
Central Council also called on all the
mass organizations to foil the deceptive
Israeli maneuvers, such as the plan for
municipal elections and _ self-rule
(autonomy). Furthermore, the final
statement urged the _ international
community to act immediately to exert
pressure on Israel to stop its terror and
end the occupation. It reaffirmed the
need for convening an international
conference this year; therefore, a
preparatory committee should be
formed by the five permanent members
of the UN Security Council.
The statement stressed that it is a
central task to consolidate unity and
collectiveness within the PLO, so that it
may lead the struggle of the Palestinian
masses effectively. Finally, the state-
ment said that the Central Council had
made the important decision to choose
PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat as Presi-
dent of the State of Palestine. The
statement reaffirmed that the Executive
Committee will carry out the tasks of a
Palestinian provisional government
until the formation of such a govern-
ment, in accordance with the decisions
of the PNC.
Although the final statement was
generally positive, and there was con-
sensus on its contents, the disagreement
over the concessions made by the right
wing was not resolved. Comrade Abu
Ali said that the democratic forces will
continue to raise this question openly
and frankly in order to resolve the
political differences that exist within
the PLO, and to protect the Palestinian
struggle from the main threats it is now
facing, which he summed up in five
points:
1. The threat of political blackmail,
such as the calls for reducing tension in
the occupied territories and for good-
will gestures (as the US administration
proposes).
2. The threat of creating alternatives to
the PLO, such as through elections in
the occupied territories.
3. The threat of undermining the
Palestinian national invariable prin-
ciples consecrated in the National
Charter, such as omitting the right of
return.
4. The threat of attempts to void the in-
ternational conference of its contents,
such as talk of direct negotiations and
unilateral solutions.
5. The threat of describing legitimate
forms of struggle, such as armed
struggle, as «outdated» or a form of
«terrorism.»
Comrade Abu At said that the final
Statement of the Central Council was
very clear about how to confront these
threats, but the real guarantee lies not
in statements, however sound they may
be, but in all abiding by these
guidelines. Finally, we could not agree
more with his evaluation that reality
remains the best test for examining
results and proving what is correct
policy and what is erroneous. @
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