PFLP protests direct talks, considering freeze on its PLO membership

[ 31/08/2010 - 02:30 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has announced it is currently considering freezing its membership in the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to protest the decision by the de facto president Mahmoud Abbas to move to direct negotiations with Israel, despite not having a consensus of the organization’s executive committee.

Several Popular Front politburo members told media that the move is in “protest to the return to direct negotiations with Israel on behalf of the organization without the conditions set by the organization and its central council for a complete halt on settlement activity.”

Six out of 18 members voted in favor of going to talks, while the meeting was attended by only nine of its 18 members, politburo member Jamil Mezhar said, noting decisions cannot be made without a quorum of two thirds.

Front politburo member Jamil Majdalawi said: “There is serious debate taking place within the Front’s ranks, frameworks, and governing bodies about the most effective means to show open opposition to direct negotiations which take place without references to ensure the minimum rights of the Palestinian people.”

Ten Palestinian factions, along with various Palestinian forces and commissions, have stood against the decision to move to negotiations, arguing that the recently held PLO Executive Committee meeting was “illegitimate” because the quorum was not met.

Face-to-face peace talks between Abbas and Israel are set to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 2 under U.S. auspices and in the presence of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II.



River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian