Nayef Hawatmeh
Born 1937 in Salt, Jordan, to a Christian Bedouin tribe; in the 1950s and 60s an activist in the Arab National Movement; in 1955/56 a teacher, writer and journalist in Jordan; graduated from Beirut University (BA, Philosophy and Psychology); member of Habash's PFLP in early years, but split and formed the leftist Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP; later known as DFLP) in 1968;
Became and remained elected chairman and main representative of the DFLP to the PNC and PLO Executive Commitee since; known for early attempts to reach dialogue and contact with Israeli leftist groups on the basis of a two-state-solution and UN resolutions 242 and 194; wrote several books on the Palestinian resistance movement and other issues. |
