In a series of meetings conducted over the week, Secretary General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Nayef Hawatmeh met with Al-Dostor Party leaders.
During the meeting on Thursday attended by Ahmed Al-Bor’ei, deputy head of Al-Dostor, Emad Abu Ghazy, its secretary general, and George Is-hac, its governorates’ committee rapporteur, huge emphasis was placed on both parties’ rejection of the Israeli-sponsored regional solution to the Palestinian crisis. Meanwhile, Al-Dostor Party cited reservations in regards to the proposed project of setting up a free zone in the area between Gaza and Sinai. The president’s official spokesperson Yasser Ali denied on Monday any intention of setting up a free zone; a solution proposed by Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haneya.
A similar meeting was held between Hawatmeh and a delegation of the Egyptian Social Democratic party on Wednesday, when both parties urged the Palestinian Authority to submit a draft resolution to the United Nations on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people (29 November), according to a statement released by the party. The proposed resolution would call for the recognition of a Palestinian state according to the June 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. It would also make Palestine an observer in the United Nations and lend international legitimacy to Palestinian rights.
The meeting parties also stressed on Wednesday that the Palestinian Liberation Organisation is “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” and addressed issues such as ending the Palestinian division (between Gaza and the West Bank), the Palestinian people’s right of return, the people’s right to vote (both in Gaza and the West Bank) and the importance of implementing the Palestinian reconciliation agreement.
Hawatmeh had earlier met with ex-presidential hopefuls Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabahi on Wednesday and Tuesday respectively. He is expected to meet with other revolutionary figures on Saturday, in an attempt to move forward with the Palestinian reconciliation initiative, aimed at ending the Palestinian division.
Jordanian-born Hawatmeh is considered the philosopher of the Modern Palestinian Revolution, a resistance front formed in the 1960’s, and is often dubbed the “Lenin of the Arab world.”
