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Mustafa Abu Ali's funeral, thousands of mourners chanted, "We
returned in order to resist!" This was how Mustafa Abu Ali,
the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP) explained how he could relocate to the Palestinian
Authority (PA) even though he rejected the process that created
it.
Mustafa kept
his word. On moving to the PA he started a PFLP terror cell and
masterminded several bombings inside of Israel. When an Israeli
missile killed Mustafa Monday morning he became the highest level
Palestinian leader to be killed in the 11 months of Palestinian-Israeli
fighting.
The sad irony
is that, despite his frank calls for Israel's destruction and his
long record of terrorism — Israel gave its assent when Arafat
requested that Mustafa be given permission to enter the PA.
Founded in
1967 by George Habash, the PFLP is a Marxist-Leninist terrorist
organization within the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
The PFLP engineered numerous bombings and massacres, but achieved
its greatest notoriety by hijacking passenger airplanes. In 1970
the PFLP skyjacked four airplanes and forced them to land in Jordan,
where the PLO was then headquartered. This set off the series of
events that resulted in "Black September" when the PLO
was expelled from Jordan. The PLO's actions threatened the stability
of the Jordanian regime, so King Hussein attacked the PLO, which
moved to Lebanon. (In that two-week war, the Jordanian Army killed
over 5,000 Palestinians. By comparison, less than 600 Palestinians
have been killed since the present Intifada began 11 months ago.)
Abu Ali Mustafa
helped Habash found the PFLP and was Habash's top lieutenant. He
played a leading role in all of the PFLP's actions. When an ailing
Habash retired a year ago, Mustafa succeeded him.
When Arafat
negotiated the Oslo agreement with Israel, the PFLP, along with
several other organizations within the PLO, joined the rejectionist
front — refusing to participate in the peace process or grant
any sort of recognition to Israel. These organizations were based
in Damascus, where the patronage of Syria's President Hafez Al-Assad
kept them viable, but on a short leash.
Mustafa needed
to be closer to the action, so he began to negotiate with Arafat.
Some Israelis interpreted Mustafa's willingness to deal with Arafat
and move to the PA as a sign that Mustafa was actually a moderate.
But in an interview with the Arabic satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera,
Mustafa showed that while he was flexible in his means, age had
not mellowed his ultimate demands. (The interview was translated
by the Middle East
Media Research Institute.) When asked if he still supported
violence against Israel, Mustafa responded, "We believe the
Palestinian people… have the right to struggle using all means,
including armed struggle, because we think the conflict is a constant
while the means and tactics are the variables…"
Mustafa agreed
when the interviewer stated that by the Israeli definition Mustafa
incites terrorism because the PFLP has not changed its principles
regarding the armed struggle against Israel.
When asked
about his vision of Palestine, Mustafa responded, "I perceive
Palestine as the historic Palestine documented in all the UN and
British Mandate records, Palestine from the river to the sea….
Israel is a plundering and aggressive entity on Palestinian land…
We do not view the Palestinian state that may be established now,
and that we are told will have the June 4, [1967] borders, as the
final goal of the Palestinian people…."
Mustafa could
not have been clearer about his intention of launching terrorist
attacks or his ultimate goal of destroying Israel. Yet, when Arafat
asked for Israeli permission for Mustafa to enter the PA, he received
it. Israel did not bargain or exact concessions from Arafat. Israel
did insist that Arafat promise to prevent Mustafa from committing
acts of terrorism. But, considering Arafat's lackluster record at
fighting terrorism, only the most credulous could take Arafat's
word on this issue.
So Israel,
unwilling to say no to Arafat, allowed Mustafa, despite his long
record of terrorism and his stated intention to launch terror attacks,
easy access to Israel itself. Predictably, Mustafa initiated his
plans. Israel responded to the terrorism by killing its perpetrator
— sparking international criticism and further inspiring Palestinians
to violence. In permitting Mustafa to enter the PA, Israel initiated
a chain of events in which it needlessly harmed itself. This is
the consequence of not taking radical statements seriously. Israel
is now learning a very expensive lesson: Those who promise violence
will keep their word.
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