Democratic Palestine : 38 (ص 4)
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- Democratic Palestine : 38 (ص 4)
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national condemnation, and further
strengthened Christian-Muslim unity in
the struggle against occupation.
Accomplishments on the ground
An important moral victory occur-
red on March 11th when five political
prisoners from Gaza escaped from
Ansar III detention center in the
Negev. Two were caught and one
turned himself in to UN _ observer
forces in the Sinai, while two escaped
into Egypt. Despite two of the prison-
ers being captured, the break-out
alone represents a significant victory
for the Palestinians on the psychologi-
cal battlefield that is part of the
intifada. As one ex-detainee of Ansar
III from Gaza noted after eight months
in administrative detention, opening
the camp at the beginning of the
intifada was part of the authorities’
attempt to reestablish the barrier of
fear between them and the Palestinians
which the uprising had torn down. The
isolated setting, extraordinary brutality
and notoriously harsh conditions were
carefully designed not just to intimi-
date prisoners, but the entire Palesti-
nian population. Certainly the Zionist
authorities hoped that as the camp’s
infamous reputation grew, the threat
of internment there would deter
activism, thus crippling the intifada.
What they obviously didn’t forsee was
WA
Ansar III becoming perhaps the quin-
tessential symbol of Palestinian resis-
tance and steadfastness. In this con-
text, the escape from the prison camp
dealt another blow to the authorities.
Unity among nationalist forces
was strengthened on March Ist when
the General Federation of Trade
Unions in the West Bank announced
that it was reunifying. A statement
issued by the 16-member executive
committee described reunification as
necessary «in order to fulfill the hopes
and aspirations of our workers and the
people at large in view of the chal-
lenges posed at this critical stage...»(Al
Fajr, March Sth). The executive also
asserted the inalienable right of the
Palestinian people to establish an inde-
pendent state, and described the PLO as
the sole legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people.
National unity on a broader scale
was reaffirmed in a statement issued in
March by 34 prominent Palestinians.
They asserted the PLO’s right to form
and announce any Palestinian delegation
to participate in a dialogue with Israel.
The statement emphasized that no Pales-
tinian from the occupied territories will
participate in a _ delegation § not
announced by the PLO. Furthermore,
any dialogue must have an open agenda
and be conducted under international
auspices as a step toward the convening
of an international conference. Finally,
they stressed the need for the intifada to
continue.Although a Palestinian na-
tional consensus has yet to be reached
on the benefits of a dialogue, such as
the one proposed to take place in
Cairo, and specifically under what con-
ditions, the statement laid to rest
rumors circulating in the Israeli press
concerning the formation of a Palesti-
nian delegation, making it clear that
the PLO could not be bypassed in the
peace process.
The Israeli media were busy in
March churning out rumors obviously
designed to undermine Palestinian
national unity. The target of recent
Israeli reports was the PFLP, which was
allegedly on the verge of splitting from
the UNL and, in an apparent reference to
Hamas, preparing to work with other
Palestinian organizations outside the
framework of the PLO. Although field
coordination does exist between the
Democratic Palestine, March-April 1990 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 38
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