DFLPNayef Hawatmeh announced Thursday that after the withdrawl is complete, he’ll relocate from Damascus to Gaza. Hawatmeh, you may recall, is head of the Marxist-Leninist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), third largest wing of the PLO. He said:

I will return to the Gaza Strip after a full Israeli withdrawal from the area … The borders of Gaza will be open to any Palestinian wishing to return to Palestine.

Leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have also been rumoured to have plans to live in Gaza. Which is good, because if there is one thing you don’t want, it’s gaps in your political spectrum.

Hawatme’s DFLP was formed in 1969, and have moved around a few times: Jordan, then Lebanon and now Syria. One of their more notorious attacks on Israel happened in 1970 in Ma’alot where they took over a school where scores of children from Safed on a field trip in the region were sleeping. Twenty seven people, mostly kids, died. Other attacks include Bet Shean in 1974, some grenade attacks in the 80s as well as an attack on a Hebron bus in 1985. He was however, one of the earlier PLO leaders to push for dialogue with Israel.

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13 Comments

  • What is the general mood like in Israel now? Is there alot of talk about this ?

    I guess there is a lot of rhetoric and mumblings that it won’t happen.

  • It’s good to have as many of your enemies as possible in one small basket.

    Just in case anything needs to happen to the basket.

  • If any of you are interested, there is a Hawatme interview from a year ago (Muffti had to check because he mentions unified leadership under Arafat) witht he Palestine Chronicle.

  • There goes the neighborhood…. Another great result of us pulling out

  • Middle,

    Very glad there are Communists you don’t like.
    Of course, some might “bring up that Communism was one way for Arabs to find equality in a society that treated them poorly for years.”

    I wouldn’t say that, but your Arab equivalent would.

  • Poor David, starving for attention. No one wants to play with him on his own blog. Come on, Middle, humor the boy.

  • David, just because I don’t put a smiley after “Those damn Marxists!” it doesn’t mean I’m not having fun.

    Which brings us to the subject of your impoverished general comprehension ability. It requires some work.

  • jobber,
    the Palestinians reiterate that:
    – the will be ‘haflot’ (block parties) on the day we leave,
    – that the day will also be declared a national holiday forever,
    – that they also want Netiv Ha’asra that is north of Gaza,
    – etc…

    The general media doesn’t report this, or give it little importance, but the leftist hate of the settlements is so great, and the brainwashing of the general public that frankly don’t give too much real thought to politics, and you basically have a country that overwhemingly knows that there will be absolutely no peace after the retreat/expulsion, but that ‘something must be done’ whatever that means.

    Shavuah tov and don’t forget to fast tomorrow everyone,
    Josh

  • Josh, of course they report it. The Jerusalem Post had an opinion piece about the two kilometer extension to Gaza the Palestinians are demanding, and correctly compared it to Lebanon’s games with Sha’aba Farms. Ha’aretz reported it as well. Ha’aretz also has published their long time writer, Rubinstein, speaking out against the disengagement just last week.

  • 1) This is good, because the various Palestinian militant factions can’t stand one another, and when left to fight between themselves they will be to paralized to continue attacking us with such furocity. (What makes you think Wahabist Hamas can stand the secular Marxists more than they can stand they can stand us?)

    b) the “leftist hate of the settlements” comes from a place of believing two things: 1) that enough Israeli soldiers have died protecting random hilltops that no-one really needs and 2) that we connot continue to occupy a forign people. It’s undemocratic and goes against Jewish values.

    I have a problem with settlers who choose their location not by the happensance of best selection, but by what will make it most difficult to make peace.

    Do I have sympathy for the settlers? Of course. Do I believe that they deserve compensation for their pain? Yes. Do I believe that in order for Israel to survive we’ve got the get out of the business of occupation? Damn Skippy.

    Israel cannot remain democratic if we occupy an entire other people. And I refuse to believe that we want Israel to turn into a Jewish Afgahnistan where all non-Jews and secular people are persucuted and not given a say.

    Chazak Ve’Ematz (strength & courage)
    Tom C

  • I sincerely apologize for putting this post here, but I can use your help if you’re up for it. I was wondering if you would be willing to put a link to my site on yours. My site is seriously lacking in Jewish readership and I could use the increased traffic (and more importantly, the feedback) on topics that I am writing about on the blog, and I don’t know how to attract more Jewish readers. I’d appreciate any suggestions you have, and I’ve enjoyed reading your site since I came onto the blog world in March. Thanks. -Zoe