Conference taveng::bagels

425.0. "The Palestinian National Covenant" by BOLT::MINOW (Je suis marxiste, tendance Groucho) Sat Jan 16 1988 11:35

This was recently posted to Usenet.  I have included it without editing:
the interpolations are by mtuxo!avram.

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Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Path: decwrl!labrea!rutgers!mtune!mtgzz!mtuxo!avram
Subject: THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL COVENANT
Posted: 13 Jan 88 22:56:42 GMT
Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ
 
 
 
  The following is from the "PALESTINIAN NATIONAL COVENANT" and is the
  English rendition as published in
		"Basic Political Documents of the Armed
		 Palestinian Resistance Movement"
 
		  Leila S. Kadi (ed),
		PLO Organization Research Centre
		Beirut,  December 1969
			pp. 137-141
 
	The following is the complete and unabridged text of the
	Palestinian National Covenant, as published officially, in
	English, by the PLO.  Comments in brackets [] are my own
	comments and of course not apart of the official text.
 
	[It should be borne in mind that the geopgraphical unit called
	Palestine includes the entire area of the present day State of
	Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the territory in
	dispute between them.  Thus, the "liberation of Palestine"
	espoused by the Covenant actually means the eradication of
	Israel - and, eventually, of Jordan as well -- as an
	independent state.]
 
------------------------------------------------------------
Arcicles of the Covenant
 
Article 1: Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people;
it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian 
people are an integral part of the Arab nation.
 
Article 2: Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British
Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.
 
     [In Article 2, the PLO defines the area of Palestine as
     the areas of Israel and Jordan between 1920-1948. 
     Jordan is, in fact, a Palestinian Arab state.  The
     majority of Jordaniansare Palestinian Arabs.  Other PLO
     documents include Jordan in the PLO definition of
     Palestine.  It would seem, by the admission of the PLO
     themselves, that the Palestinian Arabs  already have
     their own state -- Jordan.] 
 
Article 3: The Palestinian people possess the legal right to their
homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving
the liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and
entirely of their own accord and will.
 
     [Article 3 clearly excludes anyone but Palestinian
     Arabs from having rights during the present or the
     future.] 
 
Article 4: The Palestinian identity is a genuine, essential and
inherent characteristic; it is transmitted from parents to children.
The Zionist occupation and the dispersal of the Palestinian Arab
people, through the disasters which befell them, do not make them lose
their Palestinian identity and their membership of the Palestinian
community, nor do they negate them.
 
Article 5: The Palestinians are those Arab nationals who, until 1947,
normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted
from it or have stayed there.  Anyone born, after that date, of a
Palestinian father -- whether inside Palestine or outside it -- is
also a Palestinian.
 
Article 6: The Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the
beginning of the Zionist invasion will be considered Palestinians.
 
     [The Palestinian National Council states that the
     "Zionist invasion" took place in 1917.  Therefore, very
     few Jews would be allowed to reside in Palestine.  They
     would, of course, be elderly.] 
 
Article 7: That there is a Palestinian community and that it has
material, spiritual and historical connections with Palestine are
indisputable facts.  It is a national duty to bring up individual
Palestinians in an Arab revolutionary manner.  All means of
information and education must be adopted in order to acquaint the
Palestinian with his country in the most profound manner, both
spiritual and material, that is possible.  He must be prepared for the
armed struggle and ready to sacrifice his wealth and his life in order
to win back his homeland and bring about its liberation.
 
Article 8: The phase in their history, through which the Palestinian
people are now living, is that of national (watani) struggle for the
liberation of Palestine.  Thus the conflicts among the Palestinian
national forces are secondary, and should be ended for the sake of the
basic conflict that exists between the forces of Zionism and of
imperialism on the one hand, and the Palestinian Arab people on the
other.  On this basis the Palestinian masses, regardless of whether
they are residing in the national homeland or in diaspora (mahajir)
constitute -- both their organization and the individuals -- one
national front working for the retrieval of Palestine and its
liberation through armed struggle.
 
Article 9: Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine.  Thus
it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase.  The
Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm
resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed
popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their
return to it.  They also assert their reight to normal life in
Palestine and to exercise their right to self-determination and
soveriegnty over it.
 
     [The aim of the PLO and the means to achieve this aim
     are clearly stated.  The homeland will be "liberated";
     Israel will be destroyed.  This will be accomplished
     through force, allowing no compromise or political
     solution.] 
 
Article 10: Commando action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian
popular liberation war.  This requires its escalation,
comprehensiveness and mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and
educational efforts and their organization and involvement in armed
Palestinian revolution.  It also requires the achieving of unity for
the national (watani) struggle among the Palestinian people and the
Arab masses so as to secure the continuation of the revolution, its
escalation and victory.
 
Article 11: The Palestinians will have three mottoes: national
(wataniyya) unity, national (qawmiyya) mobilization and liberation.
 
Article 12: The Palestinian pople believe in Arab unity.  In order to
contribute their share towards the attainment of the objective,
however, they must, at the present stage of their struggle, safeguard
their Palestinian identity and develop their consciousness of that
identity, and oppose any plan that may dissolve or impair it.
 
Article 13: Arab unity and the liberation of Palestine are two
complementary objectives, the attainment of either of which
facilitates the attainment of the other.  Thus, Arab unity leads to
the liberation of Palestine; the liberation of Palestine leads to Arab
unity; and work towards the realization of one objective proceeds side
by side with work towards the realization of the other.
 
Article 14: The destiny  of the Arab nation, and indeed Arab existence
itself, depends upon the destiny of the Palestinian cause.  From this
interdependence springs the Arab nations's pursuit of, and striving
for, the liberation of Palestine.  The people of Palestine play the
role of the vanguard in the realization of this sacred national
(qawmi) goal.
 
Article 15: The liberation of Palestine, from an Arab viewpoint, is a
national (qawmi) duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and
imperialist aggression against the Arbilize all its military, human,
and moral and spiritual capabilities to participate actively with the
Palestinian people in the liberation of Palestine.  It must,
particullary in the phase of the armed Palestinian revolution; offer
and furnish the Palestinian people with all possible help, and material
and human support, and make available to them the means and
opportunities that will enable them to continue to carry out their
leading role in the armed revolution, until they liberate their
homeland.
 
     [The phrase "liberation of Palestine" is clearly defined
     as ridding Palestine of the Zionist (Jewish) presence. 
     Destroying the Jewish nation, its institutions and
     society is a duty, not merely an aim.] 
 
Article 16: The liberation of Palestine, from a spiritual point of
view will provide the Holy Land with an atmosphere of safely and
tranquility, which in turn will safeguard the country;s religious
sanctuaries and guarantee freedom of worship and of visit to all,
without discrimination og race colour, language, or religion.
Accordingly, the people of Palestine look to all spiritual forces in
the world for support.
 
Article 17: The liberation of Palestine from a human point of view,
will restore to the Palestinian individual his dignity, pride and
freedom.  Accordingly the Palestinian Arab people look forward to the
support of all those who believe in the dignity of man and his freedom
in the world.
 
Arcicle 18: The liberation of Palestine, from an international point of
view, is a defensive action necessitated by the demands of selfdefence.
Accordingly,  the Palestinian people, desirous as they are of the
friendship of all people, look to freedom-loving, justice-loving and
peace-loving states for support in order to restore their legitimate
rights in Palestine, to re-establish peace and security in the
country, and to enable its people to exercise national sovereignty and
freedom.
 
Article 19: The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the
State of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time,
because they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and to
their natural right in their homeland, and inconsistent with the principles
embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the right to 
self-determination.
 
     [The PLO totally denies the fundamental right of
     Israel's existence, and nullifies the United Nations
     1947 partition resolution.  In other parts of the
     Covenant, the Balfour Declaration and the League of
     Nations Mandate, both integral parts of Israel's legal
     foundation, are rejected.] 
 
Article 20: The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine and
everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void.
Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are
incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what
constitutes statehood.  Judaism, being a religion, is not an
independent nationality.  Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with
an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they
belong.
 
     [If Jews were considered a people, they would have the
     same right to national independence as other nations,
     and the PLO could not justify the aim of liquidating
     Israel.  The PLO solves this dilemma by denying Jewish
     nationality, Jewish history and Jewish self-determination.
     The PLO, however, does ask for recognition for Arab and
     Palestinian national identity.] 
 
ARTICLE 21: The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the 
armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are 
substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine and reject all 
proposals aiming at the liquidation of Palestinian problem, or its 
internationalization.  
 
     [Once again, the PLO clearly rejects any possible
     political solution to the Palestinian problem, short
     of the destruction of the State of Israel.] 
 
ARTICLE 22: Zionism is a political movement organically associated 
with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action for 
liberation and to progressive movements in the owrld.  It is racist 
and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist and colonial in 
its aims, and fascist in its methods.  Israel is the instrument of the 
Zionist movement and a geographical base for world imperialism placed 
strategically in the midst of the Arab homeland to combat the hopes of
the Arab nation for liberation, unity and progress.  Israel is a 
constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the 
whole world.  Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the 
Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the 
establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look 
for the support of all the progressive and peaceful forces and urge 
them all, irrepective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the 
Palestinian people all aid and support in their just struggle for the
liberation of their homeland. 
 
     [By labeling the Jewish people's national liberation
     movement as "facist", the justification for the
     destruction of Israel by armed force is made.]
 
ARTICLE 23: The demands of security and peace, as well as the demands of 
right and justice, require all states to consider Zionism an illegitimate
movement, to outlaw its existence, and to ban its operations, in order  
that friendly relations among peoples may be preserved, and the loyalty
of citizens to their respective homelands safeguarded. 
 
ARTICLE 24: The Palestinian people believe in the principles of 
justice, freedom, sovereignty, self-determination, human dignity, and  
in the right of all peoples to exercise them.  
 
ARTICLE 25: For the realization of the goals of this Charter and its  
principles, the Palestinian Liberation Organization will perform its 
role in the liberation of Palestine in accordance with the  
Constitution of this Organization.  
 
ARTICLE 26: The Palestine Liberation Organization, representative of  
the Palestinian revolutionary forces, is responsible for the  
Palestinian Arab people's movement in its struggle -- to retrieve its  
homeland, liberate and return to it and exercise the right to self-  
determination in it -- in all military, political and financial fields
and also for whatever may be required by the Palestinian case on the 
inter-Arab and international levels.  
 
ARTICLE 27: The Palestinian Liberation Organization shall cooperate  
with all Arab states, each according to its potentialities; and will
adopt a neutral policy among them in the light of the requirements of  
the war of liberation; and on this basis it shall not interfere in the
internal affairs of any Arab State.  
 
          [ This obviously didn't include Lebanon and  
            Jordan ]  
 
ARTICLE 28: The Palestinian Arab people assert the genuineness and  
independence of their national (wataniyya) revolution and reject all
forms of intervention, trusteeship and subordination.  
 
ARTICLE 29: The Palestinian people possess the fundamental and genuine  
legal right to liberate and retrieve their homeland.  The Palestinian  
people determine their attitude towards all states and forces on the  
basis of the stands they adopt vis-a-vis the Palestinian case and the
extent of the support they offer to the Palestinian revolution to  
fulfill the aims of the Palestinian people.  
 
ARTICLE 30: Fighters and carriers of arms in the war of liberation are  
the nucleus of the popular army which will be the protective force for 
the gains of the Palestinian Arab people.  
 
ARTICLE 31: The Organization shall have a flag, an oath of allegiance  
and an anthem.  All this shall be decided upon in accordance with a  
special regulation.  
 
ARTICLE 32: Regulations, which shall be known as the Constitution of  
the Palestine Liberation Organization, shall be annexed to this  
Charter.  It shall lay down the manner in which the Organization, and  
its organs and institutions, shall be constituted; the respective  
competence of each; and the requirements of its obligations under the  
Charter.  
 
ARTICLE 33: This Charter shall not be amended save by (vote of) a  
majority of two-thirds of the total membership of the National  
Congress of the Palestine Liberation Organization (taken) at a special  
session convened for that purpose.  
 
          [This is still enforced by the PLO since there   
           has not been a session such as called for since
           the adoption of this covenant.]  
 
 
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