Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 31)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 31)
- المحتوى
-
pended in 1974, when the Rabat Summit declared the PLO as
the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
This step is a violation of the Rabat Summit resolutions and
aims to put pressure on the PLO to determine its position in
negotiations on the basis of the Reagan plan, which has been
adopted by the Hashemite Kingdom.
The Arafat-Mubarak meeting was the opening for a series
of successive steps, closely linked to the nature and outlook of
the party to which this new crossing had occurred, i.e.
Mubarak. The most outstanding of these steps are:
Government-in-exile....and campaign against
the radicals
Yasir Arafat declared that he endorsed the establishment
of agovernment-in-exile. The chief editor of A/ Ahram, Ibrahim
Nafe, praised this step as «the first positive political initiative by
Arafat after the departure». It is well known that Sadat, from
1972, had insisted on establishing a «provisional Palestinian
government». Mubarak proposed the idea again during the
Israeli siege of Beirut, declaring his willingness that this gov-
ernment «reside in Cairo». On December 29, 1983, he
declared to Kuwaiti papers that «Cairo cannot host this govern-
ment, because Egypt must have its freedom of movement».
This formula of government-in-exile was always proposed
by Arab reaction; it has received response from conservative
trends in the PLO,.who were inclined to reconciliation and com-
promises; corneréd by the constraints of internal «democ-
racy», they sought alternative frameworks to the PLO.
It is rather difficult to separate this idea from «the nature of
the next stage of the Palestinian struggle (which) will be deter-
mined by political, diplomatic and popular work on the Arab
and international levels», as stated by Arafat to the Saudi
newspaper, A/ Youm, on December 23rd. A Washington Post
correspondent wrote that Arafat said to him that «his attitude
this time towards King Hussein will not be as it was last April,
when he withdrew from the negotiations table on the Reagan
peace plan. Moreover, he will not bow to the pressure of the
radical factions in the organization.»!! (Al Ahali, January 4.) Itis
known that the pressures at that time came from inside the
Central Committee of Fatah.
Yasir Arafat's emphasis that he will not accept any truce or
reconciliation with the «dissidents», and Mubarak’s state-
ments that «Arafat promised me to finish the question of the
dissidents and to put the Palestinian house in order from the
inside, to hold contacts with King Hussein and explore the next
stage as soon as possible», confirm the interference of the
Egyptian authorities in the «independence of the Palestinian
decision». Added to that were Butros Ghali’s statements in the
People’s Assembly, where he didn’t hide that «Egypt encour-
ages the moderate faction in the PLO». This means an attempt
to split the organization, since Cairo considers all the other fac-
tions as radicals and extremists.
The unjustified political campaign against the
Soviet Union
It was claimed by Arafat that the Soviet Union had stopped
providing arms, a claim which was denied by Abu Jihad and
Arafat’s supporters. Arafat unjustly claimed that «the Soviet
Union took the side of their Syrian ally». Furthermore, his
attack reached the extent of a veiled threat when he remarked
to Al Akhbar, a warning that the Soviet Embassy in Beirut has
no protection. He added that «the Soviet presence in the Mid-
dle East would disappear if he was defeated in the battle of
Tripoli».!! It is very unfortunate that these attacks came from a
leader of an organization that receives the greatest political,
military and morale support from the Soviet ally. The danger-
ous implications of these statements lie in that they are indica-
tions of retreat, which has always begun by opening a fabri-
cated battle against the Soviet Union.
Shifting alliances
Lifting the ugly face of the subordinate regime of Egypt by
expressions of appreciation and praise... To this end, Arafat
employed abstractions and generalities which mixed Egypt,
the state, with Egypt, the people and their national movement;
he mixed between «shanty Egypt» and «palace Egypt», in the
words of the Egyptian poet, Ahmed Fuad Nejem.
This is to ignore the alliances of the regime and the strings
that bind it, which Arafat accepts submissively. He speaks of
«big brother Egypt who leads the area» and that the moment
Egypt is absent from the leadership «defeats take place». He
expresses his desire to depend on the «weight of Egypt». His
spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman declares that «the latest
battles have proven that there is no ally for the organization
(PLO) other than Egypt, and there is no alternative to Egypt».
Moreover, he views that «any changes in the Middle East
would have to pass first through the Egyptian gate».!! (Al
Watan, December 30.)
We talk in a different language, for we belong to a different
Egypt than the one they mean. The «weight» of Egypt, the
state, was and will remain close to the US solution, imperialist
hegemony, and liquidating the Palestinian cause and legiti-
mate rights. The Egyptian gate leads nowhere except to Camp
David...until further notice when the people of Egypt, our
Egypt, have put this regime in its final place of rest.
President Mubarak did not let «the occasion» pass with-
out teaching his guest and all Arabs a hard lesson. Venting his
anger, he proudly declared that Arafat's visit served to «con-
firm that Egypt was always right». He expressed his readiness
to «meet with any Arab leader to convince him of Camp
David». He advised the Arabs «to help President Reagan» and
emphasized that «the point of agreement is to start moving on
the basis of the Reagan initiative».
This talk of ours is also directed to some Egyptian oppos-
31 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 3
- تاريخ
- مايو ١٩٨٤
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Not viewed