Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 4)
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- Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 4)
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Editorial
The most dangerous attack on the Palestinian revolution is the political attack made possible by the right-
wing's adherence to the Amman accord.
We go to press on the eve cf the third anniversary of the
Sabra-Shatila massacre. From September 16th to 18th, 1982,
an estimated 3,000 Palestinian and Lebanese men, women
and children were slaughtered by fascist militiamen com-
manded by Elias Hobeika, in an operation engineered by the
Israeli occupation forces with US complicity. Hobeika has been
rewarded for his service to the Zionist-fascist alliance, having
been promoted to overall chief of the Lebanese Forces fascist
militias. On the Israeli scene, officials directly responsible for
the massacre remain in power, in concert with Peres’ Labor
Party. The Reagan Administration continues to escalate its
aggressive policy against the people of the world. Most
recently, the US awarded ‘Israel’ with extra aid to the tune of $
1.5 billion.
Since the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the result-
ing massacre, the Palestinian people and revolution have
faced a new series of aggressive attacks: more Zionist-fascist
terror in Lebanon, including this spring’s attack on Ain al Hil-
weh camp; successive waves of Zionist repression in occupied
Palestine, recently culminating in official reimposition of the
iron fist policy; the war on the Beirut camps in May and June
this year, and its threatened reoccurrence with the Amal move-
ment’s new attack on Bourj al Barajneh camp this month.
Yet none of these military attacks have achieved their
goals: The Palestinian masses remain steadfast, and Palesti-
nian militants consistently rally to defend the revolution. The
military attacks did however have a lasting effect on the vacil-
lating Palestinian bourgeoisie. Under the impact of the 1982
invasion, the Palestinian rightist leadership moved to surren-
der the national goals and opted for involvement in the US
schemes to resolve the Middle East conflict. The right wing’s
deviation from the national program, especially Arafat’s sign-
ing the Amman accord with King Hussein, gave space for the
enemy alliance’s political offensive to reap the fruits of its milit-
ary aggression. This political attack on the Palestinian revolu-
tion is the most dangerous of all, for it threatens the revolution
from within, eroding Palestinian unity, stealing forces from the
main struggle, and impeding alliances with the Arab national
liberation movement and progressive forces worldwide.
The right persists in deviation
Despite a multitude of concrete indications that the Pales-
tinian people and cause stand to gain nothing from a US-spon-
sored settlement, the Palestinian right persists in endeavors to
accomodate Arab reaction and imperialism.
When US Assistant Secretary of State Murphy was in the
area, a scant week after the Casablanca Summit, to check the
pulse of the parties involved, the Palestinian right banked on
his meeting with the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.
Two Palestinians, deemed acceptable to ‘Israel’, were sum-
moned from the occupied territories to Amman to coincide with
Murphy's meeting with King Hussein on August 14th. How-
ever, the day before, the US State Department had issued a
statement that Murphy would not engage in «indirect negotia-
tions or prenegotiations» with Palestinian leaders. Rather the
Reagan Administration sent Murphy to reinforce the US condi-
tions aimed against the PLO: The US will not start discussions
with the joint delegation unless this leads to direct negotiations
with ‘Israel’ according to a specified timetable. Moreover,
meeting with the joint delegation does not mean US recogni-
tion of the PLO, and the PLO must concede this publicly. Thus,
Murphy’s meetings were with those the US considers pivotal
for expanding the Camp David process: ‘Israel’, Egypt and Jor-
dan. His meetings with Mubarak and King Hussein were aimed
at assessing whether Arab reaction is ready to drop the PLO
altogether if Arafat will not announce his recognition of ‘Israel’
clear enough for Zionist ears.
It should not, however, be construed that the US is disin-
terested in the Amman accord. On the contrary, as recently as
September 4th, the State Department issued a statement that
it is very possible to hold discussions with a Jordanian-Palesti-
nian joint delegation despite Arafat's statement that the US did
not fulfill its promises about holding such a meeting. The US
sees the Amman accord as the venue for having the official
PLO leadership surrender Palestinian rights, hoping to thus
dissolve the Palestinian cause as the main obstacle to expand-
ing Camp David. The coming visits of Mubarak and Hussein to
Washington are the latest proof of imperialism and Arab reac-
tion's interest in hastening a settlement that leaves nothing for
the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian right is now so deeply involved in its cho-
sen deviating course that it cannot turn back. In recent inter-
views, Arafat stated that there is progress towards a US-joint
delegation meeting, and challenged the Zionists to meet him in
the «peace» process. He even went so far as to disclaim
responsibility for our people’s heroic resistance in occupied
Palestine, which he usually likes to flaunt as all of his own mak-
ing. This shows the extent to which the Palestinian rightists are
bowing to the imperialist conditions as they were most recently
articulated by US Secretary of State Schultz on September
6th: «Those who perpetuate violence deal themselves out of
the peace process.» In line with imperialist doubletalk, he was
referring to the PLO, not the Israelis, as logic would dictate.
Countering the right
The extreme danger posed by the political attack means
that defeating the Amman accord, its proponents and the trend
it represents, remains to be central task of the Palestinian
revolution. This means all revolutionaries pooling their efforts
to mobilize the broadest sectors of our masses against the
threat of political liquidation. One of the main conditions for
thwarting the right-wing line is strengthening the Palestinian
revolution’s role in Lebanon, in joint struggle with the Lebanese
nationalist forces. For this reason, this summer's attacks on
Palestinian presence in Lebanon, spearheaded by the Amal
movement, are especially disturbing. Their political consequ-
ences can only be used by Arafat to convince the masses that
they are threatened even by erstwhile allies, and so have no
hope save in US solutions. Those who pride themselves on
their struggle against imperialism, Zionism and fascism, must
follow this up by correct relations with other nationalist forces
engaged in the same struggle. Only thus can the struggle
against the main enemy be strengthened.
4 This issue was sent to press Sept. 12, 1985. - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 11
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