By: Franklin Lamb
Shafiq al Hout was forced to flee Jaffa in 1948
May he forever rest in peace…
I sat with Shafiq not long ago and had no idea he was ill.
Shafiq al Hout
Since we first met in (when else?) 1982, I have always tried to read what he wrote. The only reason I met him then I think is that Arafat’s spokesperson Makmoud Labadi told Janet Stevens that Abu Jihad had to postpone our appointment because there was a ‘problem’ in Tyre. In those days some in the PLO were running roughshod over south Lebanon and using their power to plunder and do pretty much as they pleased. Anyhow, I had no idea who Shafiq was and when I asked Janet, as well made our way along the narrow sidewalks to Shafiq’s office she said, as she said on other occasions, ” Just keep still ok?, let me do the talking and you will understand!”. It worked for me.
In the presence of Shafiq al Hout I was intimidated and normally sat mute and just listened. His voice, his professorial demeanor, his elegant looks and charisma, his knowledge, his intellect, his fiery impassioned eyes and sometimes speech, always affected me. I know how much he helped his beloved wife Bayan achieve the most authoritative book to date on the Sabra Shatila Massacre–at a time when it was dangerous for her to be known interviewing Shatila Refugee Camp massacre survivors and she often had to meet in secret and keep her work even from her neighbors. He was so proud of her.
I had hoped and planned to ask for another appointment, if he had the time, just to listen to him.
Bayan looked so beautiful and dignified today, as always. Her graciousness always reminds me of the incomparable Hadla Ayoubi, who now lives in Amman and did so much for so long for so many and for the revolution with her work with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Bayan seemingly has recovered from her own illness. I did not want to bother her today but her entourage saw me and no doubt told her of my presence. I first met her in Olso back in the mid 1980’s. And she later wrote to me, “Franklin, we were friends before we even met”. Those words touched me deeply and do until today.
The photo next to Shafiq’s hearse this afternoon was all about an impromptu media conference with some journalist types during which I explained my view of Shafiq’s major role in the noble history of the PLO and his principled steadfastness and his correct analysis and that it was Shafiq al Hout: refugee from Akka ( by boat he told me) , teacher, journalist, prolific writer, loving husband and doting father, founder of the PLO with Arafat and Abu Jihad and four others, longtime PLO spokesman, one decade as the PLO UN Representative, PLO Representative in Lebanon, Rejector of Oslo, resigned from the PLO Executive Committee in protest over the Olso ‘betrayal’ and so much more….that shaped my own view that every inch, every grain of sand, every reparation, must be achieved….“Full Resistance until Full Return”. That is what Shafiq al Hout taught me. He told me during our last meeting that Hezbollah is the most secular group in Lebanon. I also believe this. He helped establish Hezbollah in discrete ways. He told me ”I was Hezbollah before they were even the dream of Ayatollah Khomeini”.
Truth be told, so was I!
Amazingly to me, many of the Palestinian youngsters in these photos spent two hours in almost 35 C sun yesterday in solidarity with Gaza at Free Gaza Beach here as we cleaned it, and today some of the same ones spent nearly three hours in 37 degree C sun in tribute to one of the greats in their history!!!!. how is it possible?……one thing comes to mind………
I once met a fool from Brooklyn, NY who claimed the Palestinians would not return to their homes……..Let her come to the Palestinian Refugee Camps of Lebanon!!
Franklin Lamb
Director, Americans Concerned for
Middle East Peace, Wash.DC-Beirut
Acting Chair, the Sabra-Shatila Memorial Scholarship Program Laptop Initiative
Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp
Beirut. Contact: fplamb@SabraShatila.org
In Memory of Shafiq Al-Hout
I n the early 1950s, a young student rose to the podium at the graduation ceremony of the American University of Beirut (AUB). While presenting him with his degree, AUB President Constantine Zureik whispered into his ear saying, “Now, we can say that we are rid of your mischief!” Shafiq Al Hout, who died on Sunday at a hospital in Beirut at the age of 77, was indeed a mischievous Palestinian, who survived 10 Israeli assassination attempts, the Lebanese Civil War and the wrath of his friend and comrade-at-arms, Yasser Arafat.
Born and raised in Jaffa in 1932, he went to Lebanon with his family in April 1948 and was forced to stay there indefinitely after the creation of the state of Israel only one month later. Al Hout studied at AUB – where I heard him speak about his encounter with Zureik, 10 years ago. At AUB, he befriended another legendary Palestinian, George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), emerging as a student leader and loud advocate of armed Palestinian resistance. Due to his participation in illegal communist activity, Al Hout was arrested by Lebanese authorities while still a student and, at one point, banished from Lebanon. A prolific writer, impassioned orator and political activist, he began his career as a schoolteacher in the 1950s and one of his students, who rose to fame in his own right, was current Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
Al Hout went to Kuwait in the mid 1950s, where along with Arafat and other like-minded Palestinian youth, he helped found the Palestinian underground, believing that every spot on earth was a battleground for the Palestinians and every Israeli an enemy. He also worked as a journalist, becoming managing editor of the popular weekly Al Hawadith. In addition to the Palestinian Liberation Front, he co-founded the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1964, serving as its representative in Lebanon for more than three decades. He also served on its Executive Committee in 1966-1967, and again in 1991, famously resigning after a row with Arafat when the latter signed the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993. Al Hout never forgave the PLO chairman for “selling out” and declaring peace with then Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. That is why, despite his age, Al Hout remained admired as a man of principle by Palestinians of all ages, and all walks of life.
Unifying eventThe tragedy of Al Hout’s passing is one of very few things all Palestinians managed to agree on this weekend, as they seem to be becoming more deeply divided, between Hamas and Fatah on the one hand, and also within Fatah itself as the party prepares for its much anticipated congress in Bethlehem. All ends of the political spectrum – the PFLP, the DFLP, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas – praised the late Palestinian statesman. Apart from that, they agreed on practically nothing. A veteran member of Fatah, Farouk Al Qaddumi, has recently accused Abbas of helping eliminate Arafat in 2004, dividing Palestinians.
Fatah members are calling on Abbas to bring Al Qaddumi to court, claiming that he was pushed into this corner by Hamas. Hamas, meanwhile, has recently announced that it will not allow nearly 400 members of Fatah to attend the congress in Bethlehem unless Abbas releases its members from jails in the West Bank.
Although Fatah leaders refuse to admit it, they are in a very difficult position when it comes to the president of the Palestinian National Authority, who is becoming increasingly unpopular within his own constituency. Some believe Abbas has been in power this long because credible alternatives are either in exile, retired because of old age or dead because of the Israeli war machine. The Fatah Congress will help boost his popularity, as would popular gestures such as calling for the release of charismatic leader Marwan Barghouti or mourning the death of legends like Al Hout.
Al Hout’s death will be used by all parties, no doubt, to inspire unity in a manner similar to how the Palestinians closed ranks after the death of Arafat in 2004 and, more recently, after the death of Habash. This unity will be short lived – but comes at the right time, four days ahead of the Fatah Congress. Had Al Hout lived longer, he would certainly have sided with Hamas in its struggle against Fatah, and probably with Al Qaddumi against Abbas.
Apart from that, his death is symbolic of the end of an era in which secular armed resistance was the only way to fight the Israelis in Palestine. He represented the era of the fedayeen, who emerged after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967 pledging to liberate Palestine without the help of the Arab leadership. Since then, armed resistance has become synonymous with political Islam, much to Al Hout’s dismay.
Al Hout, a courageous man, lived a full life and tried in vain to advance his cause during the 1970s and 1980s, refusing to return to the Occupied Territories after Oslo, saying: “I will never seek a permit from the occupier to enter my land!” Sadly, Al Hout reached his grave before reaching his homeland.Source: Mideastviews.com
Sami Moubayed
Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria. He is also a writer, political analyst, and historian, based in Damascus.
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