Back to PLO Bulletin 1 November 1978

SOLIDARITY NEWS

ITALIAN PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION VISITS PLO

In response to an invitation from the PLO Political Department, a delegation representing the Italian "Committee for Solidarity and Friendship with the Palestinian People", visited the PLO in Lebanon during the period of 15-18 October.

Italian Parliamentary Delegation Meeting Yasser Arafat

The delegation included:

At the Palestinian Red Crescent

The delegation had a meeting with Chairman Arafat. The Palestinian side was represented also by Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the PLO Political Department, Abou Hatem, head of the Fateh foreign relations office, Nimir Hammad, PLO representative in Italy, and Mahmoud Labadi, head of the PLO Foreign Information Department.

The meeting was held in an atmosphere of friendship. The participants exchanged information and viewpoints concerning the present situation in the Middle East, particularly concentrating on the Palestinian issue which has become more complicated and difficult in the light of the Camp David accords.

Both sides agreed in their beliefs that there would be no just and durable peace in the Middle East without justice for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, starting from their right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state. All participants stressed that there would be no solution of the Middle East problem without the participation of all the parties concerned, including the PLO, the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, in agreement with UN resolutions concerning the Palestinian issue.

Both sides also underlined the need for Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories in accordance with UN resolutions, and condemned the violation of human rights committed by the occupation forces there. The PLO expressed its high esteem for the Italian people and their democratic forces, for their political, material and moral solidarity with the Palestinian people, and the support they have given to the Palestinian cause internationally.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FROM WOMENS' UNIONS

The International Democratic Union for Women has affirmed its support for those women a whose husbands are being held in Israeli prisons. The Union sent a cable on 12 October 1978 to Israeli Prime Minister Begin, to protest against the inhuman measures adopted by the Israeli authorities against those people struggling to regain their legal rights.

The Iraqi General Union of Women announced on 15 October 1978 that it would build a memorial statue in commemoration of the Palestinian martyr Dalai Al-Maghrabi, leader of the Fateh "Kamal Adwan Commando Unit". The memorial would be a tribute to the Palestinian women's heroic struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

The Pakistani Women's Union, on 15 October 1978, called on the U.N. and peace-loving nations to find a just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian people's tragedy, and to support the Palestinian women's struggle against Zionist oppression.