Nayef Hawatmeh

Nayef Hawatmeh[lower-alpha 1] (Arabic: نايف حواتمة, romanized: Nāyef Ḥawātmeh; Kunya: Abu an-Nuf; born 17 November 1938) is a Palestinian politician, who is head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[1][2]

Nayef Hawatmeh
Hawatmeh in 2017
Personal details
Born (1938-11-17) 17 November 1938
Al-Salt, Emirate of Transjordan
Political partyDFLP
ResidenceSyria
OccupationPolitical activist
Hawatmeh with Yasser Arafat and Kamal Nasser at press conference in Amman prior to Black September.

Biography

Hawatmeh hails from a Jordanian clan and is a practicing Greek Catholic.[3][4] [5] He is the General Secretary of the Marxist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) since its formation in a 1969 split from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), of which he was also a founder. He was active as a leader in the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM), which preceded the PFLP.

He presently resides in exile in Syria, from which the DFLP receives some support.

Hawatmeh opposed the 1993 Oslo Accords, calling them a "sell-out", but became more conciliatory in the late 1990s. In 1999 he agreed to meet with Yassir Arafat (who had signed the accords) and even shook hands with the Israeli President, Ezer Weizmann, at the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan, drawing strong criticism from his Palestinian and Arab peers.[6]

In 2004 he was briefly active in a joint Palestinian-Israeli non-governmental attempt to start a coalition of Palestinian groups supporting a two-state solution, and called for a cessation of hostilities in the al-Aqsa Intifada.

In 2007 Israel indicated it would allow him to travel to the West Bank for the first time since 1967, in order to participate in a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). At the end, he decided not to travel to West Bank due to what he defined as "the Israeli conditions for his visit".[7]

Although the DFLP’s support has waned for a period under Hawatmeh's general secretariat, there has been an increase in the credibility and support of the DFLP among Palestinians and in the eyes of other groups, particularly in Gaza. In Gaza on 21 February 2023, the 54th anniversary of the group’s founding, hundreds of supporters as well as many armed fighters marched, carried the party banner and symbols, and chanted DFLP anti-Zionist slogans.[8]

In 2023, the DFLP, under Hawatmeh's leadership, joined the Hamas-led offensive Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel, attacking multiple civilian targets with their paramilitary wing,[9][10] the National Resistance Brigades.[11] The DFLP acknowledged this involvement in their party news, Al Hourriah, on 8 October.[12]

See also

Notes
  1. Also variously romanized as Naif Hawatma and Nayif Hawatme

References
  1. "Nayif Hawatmeh | Palestinian politician". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  2. "DFLP: nayef-hawatmeh-general-secretary-dflp". www.dflp-palestine.net. Archived from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  3. "HAWATMEH, NAYEF ( ABUL NOUF) (1938-)". Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. Archived from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  4. "Leader of Palestinian group injured in Syria bomb". The Seattle Times. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. Ivanovich, David (12 September 1984). "Christian Palestinians Share Moslems' Hopes". The Press-Courier. Oxnard-Camarillo-Port Hueneme Area. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  6. "Death of a King; two old enemies meet and shake". The New York Times. 9 February 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  7. "הנגבי: אישור לחוואתמה רק אם הוא יובא למשפט". Haaretz. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  8. "'Resistance and Unity': DFLP Supporters Rally in Gaza (PHOTOS)". Palestine Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  9. "Hamas uses paragliders to breach Israeli border". Janes.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  10. "Video | Hamas militants paraglide into Israeli 'rave party,' partygoers keep dancing unaware". WION. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  11. "Al-Qassam fighters engage IOF on seven fronts outside Gaza: Statement". Al Mayadeen English. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  12. "خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية:". Alhourriah. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.

Sources
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