Hawatmeh is now ready to return to Palestinian controlled areas
Palestine, Politics, 10/25/1999

It is now a question of time until a radical Palestinian leader is allowed to go into the Palestine National Authority areas, through Israeli check points. Nayef Hawatmeh, head of the Marxist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is currently waiting for the procedures of his return be finalized between Palestinian and Israeli officials as indications from within the Israeli government show that the permit is imminent.

When the US administration decided last month to take off the DFLP from the list of terror organizations, DFLP officials believed the road had become open for their return to the Palestinian control areas, and contacts intensified with Israel, through Palestinian government officials, to secure their return, and precisely that of their boss, Nayef Hawatmeh.

Palestinian observers stated over the weekend that the return of Abu Ali Mustafa preceded the return of Hawatmeh, the second in command in the hard line Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine of George Habash. The return of both men, one observer said, will eventually strengthen the status of the Palestinian government among the Palestinians and backup the Palestinian team for the final status negotiations with Israel, due to start soon after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak names his delegation to the talks.

"It's true that we oppose the Oslo accord because President Arafat signed it behind our backs and without informing PLO institutions," said Hawatmeh recently. But he spoke openly of his movement's readiness to accept Israel's existence within the borders of the June 1967 war. "As far as recognizing Israel is concerned, we have to distinguish between Israel as the existing reality, and mutual recognition, which can come only as a practical result of a comprehensive peace between the two states, Israel and Palestine, on the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders," he said.

Hawatmeh's return is expected to cause a major controversy among Israelis. His DFLP group was responsible for the 1974 Maalot attack in northern Israel in which 21 Israelis were killed. In an unprecedented interview to an Israeli paper on Friday, Hawatmeh rejected Israeli claims that his men were responsible for the killing of the 21 Israelis.

"The facts remain unchanged," he said. "There were negotiations between the Palestinian commandos who took refuge in the school building in Maalot and the government of Israel for the release of 27 prisoners. Our men wanted to secure the release of those prisoners, including that of Archbishop Hilarion Cappucci, who was serving imprisonment in an Israeli jail." He added that the negotiations lasted until 18:00, with the help of French, Romanian and Red Cross mediators. During those talks, he said, former Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan was preparing plans for the attack.

"It was only when the Israeli soldiers tried to storm the building that victims were killed from both sides," said Hawatmeh. He insisted that his men only wanted to negotiate and never planned to open fire initiate an armed clash with the Israelis. "But Dayan's stupidity caused the bloodshed of Israelis and Palestinians," he said.

Hawatmeh admitted that his return might stir emotions of relatives of the Israeli victims of the attack but immediately added afterwards that also emotions of some 70,000 Palestinian families have been stirred because their relatives "were killed by Israeli tanks, rifles and bombings from the air."

Previous Stories:
  Hawatemah in Jordan in preparations to meet with Arafat   (10/18/1999)
  Hawatemah for dialogue with the US   (10/14/1999)
  Hawatemah praises US decision to lift his group's name from terrorism list   (10/11/1999)
  Hawatemah ready to join talks on final status   (10/4/1999)

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