George Habash on war and peace in the
International Viewpoint #195 • November 26, 1990
JORDAN/PALESTINE
Leon. He has posed as a mediator for settling the Iraqi-Kuwaiti conflict within an Arab framework. The Arab solution, while accepting imperialist domination in the region, rejects resorting to military operations. It calls for maintaining some limited but essential gains for Iraq - its
Middle East freedom of access to the Gulf (through territorial concessions) and payment of comlosses inflicted on its oil business by the
Gulf emirates. It takes up the call of Yasser Arafat and King Hussein for an inter-
ON SEPTEMBER 15,1990 the Congress of Arab Popular
Forces took place in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The sole
Palestinian problem. Hussein's version of common theme of this vast meeting of groups with very the "Arab solution" also proposes the setdifferent outlooks was opposition to Western intervention in ting up of an Arab investment fund to promote development in the region the region. After being banned for 20 years, this meeting saw guaranteeing stability.
the return of the leaders of the left of the Palestine Liberation regime's policy is
Organization (PLO) to Jordan. Under pressure from a growing explained by its fear of the upsets that would inevitably result from an armed mass movement of both Palestinians and Jordanians, confrontation between the United States
Jordan's King Hussein has been forced to open up the and Iraq. Its opposition to a military soluflood-gates of political self-expression in the kingdom.
tion, and its turn to the reformist left and the fundamentalist movement are creating
The very fact that George Habash, the head of the Popular illusions among the population. In fact,
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was present contrary to what many imagine in Jordan, shows the change in the atmosphere in Jordan over the past
King Hussein has not broken with the imperialists. He has supported all the UN months. Since the start of the crisis, Dr. Habash has been
Security Council resolutions on Iraq. He distinguished by an uncritical attitude of support for "the endorsed the Saudis' right to appeal for people and army of Iraq and to the Iraqi political leadership
US forces to protect them from Iraq. When and our brother Saddam Hussein. " Such uncritical support is the king held back from condemning the invasion of Kuwait, the press, the left and all the more surprising in that it comes after a decade of the fundamentalists drew the conclusion embittered relations between the PFLP and the Iraqi regime.
that he was supporting Iraq. When he proposed an "Arab option", evoking the dan-
George Habash's long speech to the Congress, of which gers that would arise from a military extracts are printed below, also raises other issues - (Salah option in the region, his courtiers presented him as an "anti-imperialist." And when he supported the UN Security Council resthe same people justified his choice. Respect for international law on this question, they said, called for doing the same on the Palestinian question.
With some popular sections getting ideas about arming themselves, the king tried to get ahead of them by calling for a "people's army" (that is, the training of civilians by the royal army). On the other hand, increases in the prices of necessities, supposedly because of the needs of the struggle, were got through with the support of the left. Imperialist pressures to get the king to line up clearly against
Baghdad have increased, along with promises of compensation for the losses incurred by the interruption of exports to
Iraq. The king has won some real victories domestically. He has been able to pull the wool over the eyes of the mass movement, as attested by the appearance of his por trait alongside that of Saddam Hussein in the demonstrations that have taken place in Jordan but also on the West Bank. This is a new coronation for the sovereign, but this time he is disguised as a "left-wing monarch," who has made his peace with
George Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh at the Congress of Arab Popular Forces in
26 Amman in September 1990. *
Jaber). DOCUMENT
IT would be a big mistake to treat the Gulf crisis lightly or in a sentimental fashion. It is useful - and I say this from a point of view of total sup port to our Iraqi brothers — to state certain things directly - our enemy, that is the US administration, has won a battle in its "cold war", led since the end of the Second World War, against the socialist
It is preparing to act in a world with a sole pole, dominated by the United States, rather than a multi-polar or bipolar world. This new fact must be integrated in our
We must also take into account the difficulty of the battle that we are leading in the current world situation. The changes at a world level over the past year mean that the national liberation forces of the whole world are from now on compelled to count above all on themselves...
having benefited changes, after having won the "cold war" with the collapse of some of the socialist regimes and the inability of the Soviet Union to aid the national liberation forces, the United States dares to speak of a "new world order".
I do not know if you have read or heard the recent speech of George Bush a few days ago in which he speaks of this.
For the first time the American administration speaks of a "new world order" based on an agreement between the two great powers. If you look at this speech, you will clearly see how the US intends to organize the new international situation. Woe to all those Third World countries
Prepared for war or settlement
If the American administration wants war at any price, we are ready for it. And if there is any possibility of a political settling of accounts that would permit Iraq, as well as the Palestinian cause and the Arab nation to realize certain of their objectives, I say that we can take this road....The initiative taken by Iraq [the proposal to exchange Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait for Israeli withdrawal from
The Gulf and the
November 26, 1990 • #195 International Viewpoint the Occupied Territories] has opened a door for us that will allow us to present our case to the whole world....What does this initiative say?
It says that if the US administration is attached to international legality, then this legality, embodied in UN resolution 194, has recognized the right of the Palestinian people to return to Palestine. But this has not taken place. I am myself from the town of Lod, but I certainly am not living there. There is another UN resolution (3236) which recognizes our right to self-determination and another (3276) our right to set up a state.
And, if someone were to point out that these are only resolutions of the General Assembly, there are also Security Council resolutions - thanks to the Intifada the Security Council has adopted resolutions 605, 607, and 608 which speak, at least, of the application of the Geneva convention. But despite all this, the US has not moved. There have been no threats, no fleet disParchid and no blockade imposed lon
International legality is two way process
We now dispose of an argument in the face of the world, and the US administration in the first place. We can say to them: "Understand us; if you want to sort out the Gulf question on the basis of international legality, we also have something to say on this question."
We are all ready to sit around a negotiating table to discuss all the questions of the Middle East in the light of international legality. But if you want to separate these questions, we are not idiots. We do not accept that the Americans act only on their
We say that we will accept international law if the United Nations intends to seriously apply its resolutions. That includes those relating to Israeli withdrawal from the south of Lebanon and the occupied territories, as well as resolution 660, on Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.
They must all be applied; otherwise we will allow ourselves to say that we have our Arab revolutionary legitimacy". * intifada
IN THE BAQAA Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, the Palestinian Marxist researcher Khaled Ayed spoke on September 16 for the celebration of the
1,000th day of the intifada.