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Palestinian Revolutionary Seeks First Visit to Homeland

Daoud Kuttab writes about the bid of Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), to visit the occupied Palestinian territories for the first time.
Nayef Hawatmeh (L), secretary general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and Cuba's Vice Foreign Minister Marcos Rodriguez attend a meeting in Havana April 10, 2009. Hawatmeh is visiting Cuba for official talks between the Cuba's ruling Communist Party and the DFLP.
REUTERS/Enrique De La Osa (CUBA POLITICS) - RTXDVF6

Officials in the Palestine Liberation Organization have confirmed that the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) — currently based in Syria — is asking once more for a chance to come to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Nayef Hawatmeh, born in the Jordanian city of Salt in 1938, has led the DFLP since 1969, but has not yet been able to visit Palestine even though his PLO faction is allowed to work there. Since the PLO and Israel exchanged letters of recognition in 1993, Hawatmeh, along with other Palestinian leaders, was granted a national ID card that technically allows him to enter into Palestinian areas. After the signing of the Oslo Accords, Hawatmeh refused to enter the OPT, criticizing the agreement reached in secret in the Norwegian capital a “sell out.”

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