Farouk Kaddoumi
Encyclopedia
Farouk al-Kaddoumi , also known as Abu al-Lutf, born in 1931. Secretary-general of Fatah
's central committee and PLO's political department in Tunisia
.
near Nablus
and later his family moved to Jaffa
in present-day Israel
. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
they fled to Nablus in the West Bank
. For three years in the early 1950s he worked in Saudi Arabia
for the Arab-American Petroleum Company (ARAMCO). In 1954 he moved to Egypt
and while studying economy and political science at the Cairo University
, he joined the Baath party
.
. In 1965-66 he worked for the ministry of health of Kuwait
but in 1966 was expelled from the country for anti-governmental activities connected with the PLO. By 1969 he became one of key figures in the PLO and after 1973 he headed its political department in Damascus
, Syria
.
In 1976, Arafat and Kaddoumi met with Meir Vilner
and Tawfik Toubi
, heads of Rakah
(New Communist List), which had developed after the 1965 split in the Israeli Communist Party, and from which Hadash
eventually developed. This meeting led to a close cooperation.
Kaddoumi participated in the activities of Said al-Muragha
(Abu Musa) group, including the 1983 mutiny attempt against Yassir Arafat (see Fatah Uprising), but switched sides and was assigned to the Central Committee of Fatah. He has been living in Tunis
since the early 1980s, where the PLO was based after it evacuated Lebanon. In 1985, he claimed that Leon Klinghoffer
was pushed over the side of the Achille Lauro
by his wife for the insurance money.
After the Oslo accords
in 1993, which he opposed as a betrayal of the PLO's principles, he refused to move to the Palestinian territories with the rest of the leadership to set up the Palestinian National Authority
(PNA). From exile, he continued to advocate a hardline stance towards Israel, refused cooperation with the PNA and repeatedly embarrassed the PLO during negotiations with Israel by making statements denying the Jewish state's right to exist. This led to him being sidelined in Palestinian politics for over a decade, as the center of power moved to Gaza
and then Ramallah
.
While most of the struggle has been carried out behind the scenes, the Palestinian Authority recently suppressed an attempt by Kaddoumi to organize an armed militia outside of the Authority's control in the Gaza strip
. Kaddoumi responded by issuing a decree to expel all Fatah members who cooperated with the PNA, but this was declared unlawful by Fatah's central committee, as was Kaddoumi's styling himself "president of the movement".
As head of the PLO's political department, Kaddoumi has primary responsibility for foreign representation, however, PLO embassies were reorganized by Abbas and PNA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
by removing Kaddoumi loyalists as ambassadors in PLO representations world wide. Abbas has redirected foreign contacts to pass through the PNA's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Al-Qidwa, and later Ziad Abu Amr and Riad Al-Maliki, which has infuriated Kaddoumi.
The 6th Fatah conference was scheduled to be held in Bethlehem in August 2009. Holding the conference in the occupied territories came as a disappointment to many exiled Fatah leaders who will be unable to attend and who felt betrayed by this decision; Kaddoumi being one of those leaders. A few weeks before the conference, Kaddoumi accused Abbas of conspiring to kill Yasser Arafat and claimed that he has evidence for his involvement in a plot to poison Arafat. Abbas and his aides denied those allegations and accused Kaddoumi of inflaming fitna (divisions, internal strife).
While Abbas is undoubtedly the stronger player in this power struggle, members of the Abbas faction reportedly worry that Kaddoumi's militant attitude will eventually win over radical segments of the Fatah, or that he will ally with hardline forces outside the movement, such as the Hamas
. Kaddoumi has repeatedly made official visits to the Asad regime in Damascus, where he was presented as representing the Palestinian movement in the Syrian press.
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
's central committee and PLO's political department in Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
.
Early life
Farouk Kaddoumi was born in the town of JinsafutJinsafut
Jinsafut is a Palestinian village in the Qalqilya Governorate in the northeastern West Bank, located fifteen kilometers east of Qalqilya, and sixteen kilometers east of Nablus. It lies at an elevation of around 430 meters above sea level...
near Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
and later his family moved to Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
in present-day Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
they fled to Nablus in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. For three years in the early 1950s he worked in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
for the Arab-American Petroleum Company (ARAMCO). In 1954 he moved to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and while studying economy and political science at the Cairo University
Cairo University
Cairo University is a public university located in Giza, Egypt.The university was founded on December 21, 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for educational thought...
, he joined the Baath party
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...
.
Career with Fatah
In 1960 he joined Fatah in the United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. In 1965-66 he worked for the ministry of health of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
but in 1966 was expelled from the country for anti-governmental activities connected with the PLO. By 1969 he became one of key figures in the PLO and after 1973 he headed its political department in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.
In 1976, Arafat and Kaddoumi met with Meir Vilner
Meir Vilner
Meir Vilner was an Israeli communist politician and Jewish leader of the Communist Party of Israel , which consisted primarily of Israeli Arabs...
and Tawfik Toubi
Tawfik Toubi
-Biography:Toubi was born in Haifa to an Arab Orthodox family in 1922, and was educated at the Mount Zion School in Jerusalem. He joined the Palestine Communist Party in 1941 and later was one of the founders of the League for National Liberation, which originally opposed partition of Palestine but...
, heads of Rakah
Rakah
Rakah may refer to:* Maki , a communist party in Israel, now renamed Maki* Raka'ah, one unit of Islamic prayer, or Salah...
(New Communist List), which had developed after the 1965 split in the Israeli Communist Party, and from which Hadash
Hadash
Hadash is a Jewish and Arab socialist front of organizations that runs for the Israeli parliament. It currently has four members in the 120-seat Knesset.-Background:...
eventually developed. This meeting led to a close cooperation.
Kaddoumi participated in the activities of Said al-Muragha
Said al-Muragha
Col. Sa'eed Musa al-Muragha is a Palestinian militant better known as Abu Musa.-Early years:A Palestinian refugee, Abu Musa joined the Jordanian Army in 1948 and rose to become commander of an artillery battalion in 1969. During this period he was sent to receive a military education at the...
(Abu Musa) group, including the 1983 mutiny attempt against Yassir Arafat (see Fatah Uprising), but switched sides and was assigned to the Central Committee of Fatah. He has been living in Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
since the early 1980s, where the PLO was based after it evacuated Lebanon. In 1985, he claimed that Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer was a disabled American appliance manufacturer who was murdered and thrown overboard by Palestinian terrorists in the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985.-Hijacking and murder:...
was pushed over the side of the Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro was a cruise ship based in Naples, Italy. Built between 1939 and 1947 as MS Willem Ruys, a passenger liner for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd. It is most remembered for its 1985 hijacking...
by his wife for the insurance money.
After the Oslo accords
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
in 1993, which he opposed as a betrayal of the PLO's principles, he refused to move to the Palestinian territories with the rest of the leadership to set up the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
(PNA). From exile, he continued to advocate a hardline stance towards Israel, refused cooperation with the PNA and repeatedly embarrassed the PLO during negotiations with Israel by making statements denying the Jewish state's right to exist. This led to him being sidelined in Palestinian politics for over a decade, as the center of power moved to Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
and then Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
.
PLO power struggle
Upon Arafat's death, Farouk Kaddoumi constitutionally succeeded him to the position of Fatah chairman. No new elections have been held since, and so he still occupies the post. Finding himself once again in a position of power, he began wrestling for control of the ideologically diverse movement, and of the PLO, pitted against PLO chairman and PNA president Mahmoud Abbas. Mud-slinging between the factions has been intense, with Kaddoumi trying to claim primacy for the PLO (which formally delegates power to the PNA). Among other things, Kaddoumi has denied that the PNA has a right to call its government members "ministers" or open embassies abroad. He also campaigns to come across as defender of the PLO vs. the PNA, and as a spokesman for the refugees, who like him remain in exile; both subjects stirring powerful sentiments in the Palestinian movement.While most of the struggle has been carried out behind the scenes, the Palestinian Authority recently suppressed an attempt by Kaddoumi to organize an armed militia outside of the Authority's control in the Gaza strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. Kaddoumi responded by issuing a decree to expel all Fatah members who cooperated with the PNA, but this was declared unlawful by Fatah's central committee, as was Kaddoumi's styling himself "president of the movement".
As head of the PLO's political department, Kaddoumi has primary responsibility for foreign representation, however, PLO embassies were reorganized by Abbas and PNA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad is a Palestinian politician and Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority of the Palestinian National Authority. His first appointment, on 15 June 2007, which was justified by President Mahmoud Abbas on the basis of "national emergency", has not been confirmed by the...
by removing Kaddoumi loyalists as ambassadors in PLO representations world wide. Abbas has redirected foreign contacts to pass through the PNA's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Al-Qidwa, and later Ziad Abu Amr and Riad Al-Maliki, which has infuriated Kaddoumi.
The 6th Fatah conference was scheduled to be held in Bethlehem in August 2009. Holding the conference in the occupied territories came as a disappointment to many exiled Fatah leaders who will be unable to attend and who felt betrayed by this decision; Kaddoumi being one of those leaders. A few weeks before the conference, Kaddoumi accused Abbas of conspiring to kill Yasser Arafat and claimed that he has evidence for his involvement in a plot to poison Arafat. Abbas and his aides denied those allegations and accused Kaddoumi of inflaming fitna (divisions, internal strife).
While Abbas is undoubtedly the stronger player in this power struggle, members of the Abbas faction reportedly worry that Kaddoumi's militant attitude will eventually win over radical segments of the Fatah, or that he will ally with hardline forces outside the movement, such as the Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. Kaddoumi has repeatedly made official visits to the Asad regime in Damascus, where he was presented as representing the Palestinian movement in the Syrian press.
Quotes
- "At this stage there will be two states. Many years from now there will be only one." (Farouk Kaddoumi) http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=390, http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_9.html
- "Resistance is the path to arriving at a political settlement" http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.arafat12nov12,1,7558776.story?ctrack=1&cset=true