Nimr Saleh

Nimr Saleh (1929–1991), also known as Abu Saleh, was a Palestinian leftist figure who was a member of the Fatah.[1] He was dismissed from the Fatah Central Committee in 1983 due to his opposition and involvement in Fatah uprising.

Nimr Saleh
Born1929
Lubya, Mandatory Palestine
DiedSeptember 1994 (aged 64–65)
Years active1960s–1980s

Biography

Saleh was born in Lubya, Mandatory Palestine, in 1929.[2] The family moved to Qula, Lydda, in 1948 following the nakba.[2] He joined the Fatah becoming a member of its High Central Command in 1965.[2] He was tasked to head the Fatah militia in Jordan, but he was soon fired from the post because of his attempts to have a personal power base among the militia.[2] He became a member of the Central Committee of Fatah in September 1971.[2] After this he adopted a leftist leaning and began to support the Soviet Union from October 1973.[2][3]

Saleh was part of the anti-Syrian group within the Fatah which started an extensive attack against Maronite strongholds in the early 1976. However, he would change his camp later being one of the Syrian supporters.[4] His new approach was first clearly seen in the Fourth Congress of Fatah in Damascus, Syria, in May 1980.[4] He was a supporter of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 and rejected the peace plans suggested by the Saudi Crown Prince Fahd in 1981 and the American President Ronald Reagan in 1982. Saleh was a frequent visitor of Moscow where he was highly praised.[5] After being backed by Syria Saleh declared his opposition against Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in November 1982. He cited the Fez declaration which proposed another peace plan and Fatah's cooperation with Jordan as the reasons for his opposition.[2][6]

Saleh was one of the supporters of the rebellion against the PLO led by Said Muragha from January 1983.[7] As a result, Saleh's membership in the Fatah Central Committee ended, and he was removed from the Fatah list for the Palestinian National Council.[8][9] Then he joined the Fatah uprising led by Muragha and became one of its leading figures.[10][6] The Soviet authorities had to adopt a vague position towards Yasser Arafat and the PLO due to Saleh's open revolt.[6]

However, later Saleh also had problems with the Fatah dissidents and was arrested by the Syrian authorities in Damascus.[2] He was put under house arrest in June 1984.[11] He died of a heart attack in September 1991.[2]

References
  1. As'ad AbuKhalil (1999). "Book review". Journal of Palestine Studies. 28 (3): 94. doi:10.2307/2538310. JSTOR 2538310.
  2. "Saleh, Nimr (Abu Saleh) (1929-1991)". Passia. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  3. Rashid Khalidi (2014). Under Siege. PLO Decisionmaking During the 1982 War. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 104. doi:10.7312/khal16668. ISBN 9780231535953.
  4. Yezid Sayigh (1987). "The politics of Palestinian exile". Third World Quarterly. 9 (1): 61. doi:10.1080/01436598708419961.
  5. Roland Dannreuther (1998). The Soviet Union and the PLO. Basingstoke; London: Macmillan Publishers. p. 128. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-26216-8. ISBN 978-1-349-26216-8.
  6. Pedro Ramet (1986). "The Soviet-Syrian Relationship". Problems of Communism. 35: 42.
  7. Thomas L. Friedman (2 August 1983). "P.L.O. rivals clash in Lebanon again". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  8. Aaron David Miller (1984). "Palestinians in the 1980's". Current History. 83 (489): 19. JSTOR 45315261.
  9. "PLO Dissidents Find Little Gain In Their Victory". The Washington Post. 13 January 1984. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  10. "The Palestinian National Liberation Movement – Fatah (I)". Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question.
  11. Yezid Sayigh (1989). "Struggle within, struggle without: the transformation of PLO politics since 1982". International Affairs. 65 (2): 252. doi:10.2307/2622071. JSTOR 2622071.
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