1) The Foundation
The DFLP was founded on February 22, 1969 as a leftist independent organization, and as one of the major organizations of the Palestinian resistance movement, during the period encompassing one of the major defeats of the Arab Nationalist Project, the June 1967 war. In this period, the depth of the crisis within the national movement in general, and the Jordanian Palestinian arena in particular, reached a level that involved both program and leadership simultaneously in terms of class, ideology and politics. Awareness of the massive proportions of the crisis, and the dilemma which it produced, formed the basis for the gathering of large sectors of militants from various parties. This resulted in a political consensus to turn leftward, and to adopt a national program of a democratic and revolutionary nature, under a new social and ideological banner.
These sectors had, at the time, limited options. Neither Fatah, representing the national bourgeoisie and with its national stance and historical initiative to begin the armed struggle, nor the traditional Communists, who suffered throughout their historical process due to the complexity of understanding the various problems relating to the particularities of the Palestinian national question, possessed the ability for political initiative. Both failed to grasp the specific historical moment. Both were unable to conceive the correct position of armed struggle in the resurrection of Palestinian national identity, or the renaissance of the national Palestinian movement after the June 1967 war.
Due to these interwoven factors, the formulation of a revolutionary party representing both a new kind of Palestinian national identity and encompassing an Arab affiliation was anticipated. This party would involve itself in the national armed resistance movement, while presenting a democratic, radical solution to the Palestinian question that included adopting a labour class ideology, and struggling to confirm its vanguard in the National Palestinian Revolution and the Arab National Liberation Movement. This objective was the motivation and incentive for the birth of the DFLP, which was inextricably linked to the changes that took place in the Arab Nationalists Movement in its branches at the start of the 1960's, and the ideological political conflict that occurred at branch level (especially after June 1967). This eventually culminated in the different branches establishing independent party frameworks within their own countries, including the Palestinian branch that had been striving since December 11, 1967 under the banner of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
At its foundation, the DFLP declared itself a united leftist front, calling for the establishment of a Democratic revolutionary alliance. On this basis, the leftist and democratic sectors of different tendencies, which did not previously belong to a specific organization, were gathered under one umbrella. The DFLP also attracted groups that were scattered throughout the various classes of both the national democratic movement and the youth movement. Within this framework, two leftist organizations joined after just two months of the foundation of the DFLP: "The Leftist Revolutionary Palestinian League" and "The Popular Organization for the Liberation of Palestine." Later, in 1972, sectors of the revolutionary Popular Front joined as well.
Since the foundation of the DFLP, Nayef Hawatemeh has held the position of Secretary General. But other leaders coming from different organizational and military backgrounds have also played a role in the establishment of the Front since its early days. The Front worked under the name "The Democratic Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine" until 1975, when it officially adopted the name "The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine".
From the start, the Front had a clear political and ideological position as well as a clear concept of its practical struggle, both of which became enriched within the context of the national process that was taking place. Those principles which are most important and worth mentioning are: first, the close relationship of the concept of stages within the Palestinian movement as a national liberation movement with specific characteristics; and second, the close relationship between this political orientation and organizational solutions which move towards the specific objectives of mobilizing the forces and strengthening national unity. |
