PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 104

Hanthala, the little Palestinian refugee, an icon of the resistance
PLO would like the victims to appear as heroes, the
journalists accuse it of having allowed the carnage to
happen, given the very limited means at the disposal of
the Palestinians in the face of the Israelis.
Criticizing what is going on in their own camp will
nevertheless have some positive effects on the movement
as a whole, because the little book Nosur Al Arkub (The
Eagles of Arkub), co-written by Majed and Nazih and
distributed to the Palestinian fighters will, according to
Nazih, ‘seriously boost the morale of the troops…’
In Jordan, the position of the PLO becomes com-
plicated between September 16 and 27, 1970, when
some of the movement’s groups are fighting the Jorda-
nian armed forces, a period that would become known
as Black September. Many militants, following their
defeat, leave for Beirut. Abdel Aziz Al Sayed (Majed’s
friend from Dura who, like Majed had joined Fatah in
Saudi Arabia), remembers that Majed and Nazih then
attempt to go to Syria.
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Memories of 1948
From that moment, Majed’s rise in the PLO 16 and
its main arm, Fatah, would be rapid. Elected as head
of the PLO Revolutionary Council in 1970, then dep-
uty to Kamal Adwan in charge of his unified Media
Department, where he continues to work after Adwan’s
assassination in 1973, while remaining at the head of
political decisions. In this tragic atmosphere, he had
these words to say about foolproof militancy: ‘These
days, death is present in all our actions, in all our move-
ments and even in our inertia. If it’s a case of dying, I
prefer to die moving.’
In 1974, he is one of the most fervent defenders of
the ten-point program adopted by the PLO. It is based
on the need to create a national Authority in charge of
a liberated Palestinian territory, with an independent
and sovereign Palestinian government. 17 But he does
not hesitate to allow his assistant, Abu Nael, who is
absolutely opposed to it, to speak out. ‘Only history
will prove which of us is right or wrong, and those who