London’s Saudi-backed al-Hayat newspaper reported this past week that Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign affairs minister, presented the the Syrian foreign minister Farouk a-Sharaa with “three demands” aimed at improving PA-Lebanon-Syria relations. The content of Shaath’s recent discussions with a-Sharaa was reported to al-Hayat by the head of the Palestinian Salvation Front (PSF), Khaled al-Fahum. The PSF, it should be noted, is a Syrian-supported loose grouping of time-and-again PLO rivals George Habash (PFLP), Ahmed Jibril (PFLP-GC), Fatah dissidents, a-Saika (entirely controlled by Syria), and, formerly, the late Abu Nidal, among others.
According to the Arabic-language newspaper, al-Fahum said “that Shaath expressed the ‘wish to raise the level of Palestinian representation in Damascus to the level of embassy, as is the case in other countries.’” However, the al-Hayat journalist obtained the following comment from Anwar Abdelhadi, identified as “the communications advisor of the head of the PLO's political section”: “[T]he Syrian government treats us as any other diplomats and offers all the facilities.”
The second “demand”, reports al-Hayat, is that Syria allow “holders of Palestinian passports to enter Syria.” Once again, though, the newspaper obtained a mollifying comment from official PLO sources. According to “[a] Palestinian official”, Damascus “never stopped accepting exceptional demands presented by the holders of Palestinian passports.” Furthermore, the Saudi-backed paper notes, “experts announced that around 600,000 Palestinians who had come from Gaza in the past few years never left the Syrian territories.”
The third issue highlighted the discrimination residents of the refugee camps in Lebanon face from their Arab brethren. “Al Fahum said the Palestinian official asked the Lebanese authorities to allow the Palestinians to practice seven jobs, out of 72 lines of work banned to the Palestinians in Lebanon,” the newspaper reports. A related issue raised by the PA representative, according to al-Hayat, was “approval of the Lebanese authorities allowing the bringing in of construction material for the reconstruction of some houses in the Palestinian camps...” Shaath reportedly sought to alleviate concerns that this request could be interpreted as “implying... the nationalization of Palestinians in Lebanon.”
According to the Arabic-language newspaper, al-Fahum said “that Shaath expressed the ‘wish to raise the level of Palestinian representation in Damascus to the level of embassy, as is the case in other countries.’” However, the al-Hayat journalist obtained the following comment from Anwar Abdelhadi, identified as “the communications advisor of the head of the PLO's political section”: “[T]he Syrian government treats us as any other diplomats and offers all the facilities.”
The second “demand”, reports al-Hayat, is that Syria allow “holders of Palestinian passports to enter Syria.” Once again, though, the newspaper obtained a mollifying comment from official PLO sources. According to “[a] Palestinian official”, Damascus “never stopped accepting exceptional demands presented by the holders of Palestinian passports.” Furthermore, the Saudi-backed paper notes, “experts announced that around 600,000 Palestinians who had come from Gaza in the past few years never left the Syrian territories.”
The third issue highlighted the discrimination residents of the refugee camps in Lebanon face from their Arab brethren. “Al Fahum said the Palestinian official asked the Lebanese authorities to allow the Palestinians to practice seven jobs, out of 72 lines of work banned to the Palestinians in Lebanon,” the newspaper reports. A related issue raised by the PA representative, according to al-Hayat, was “approval of the Lebanese authorities allowing the bringing in of construction material for the reconstruction of some houses in the Palestinian camps...” Shaath reportedly sought to alleviate concerns that this request could be interpreted as “implying... the nationalization of Palestinians in Lebanon.”