The main purpose of the PhD research project that brought me to Beirut was to write a history of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) between 1982 and 2007. After the 1982 PLO eviction from Lebanon, the PFLP experienced a process of weakening that gradually led this prominent leftist faction to marginalization within the Palestinian national movement. Several factors contributed to this process: both ‘objective’ external factors that were out of the PFLP’s control, and ‘subjective’ factors stemming from the PFLP’s own agency. The goal of my research was to assess the significance of the PFLP’s policies in determining its decline.
My research therefore focuses on the PFLP’s response to the main events that marked the recent history of the Palestinian national movement such as the 1987 Intifada. In particular, it looks at how the PFLP proved unable to exploit some occasions to stop its marginalization and regain its prominence. I also delineate a pattern that surfaced in policy fluctuation that marked the PFLP’s political actions, notwithstanding the very different scenarios that the faction faced throughout the period under scrutiny, and that ultimately had a negative influence on the PFLP itself. In other words, the PFLP’s stances and policies did not appear consistent throughout the studied period due to reasons such as the lack of strategic planning, the lack of renewal in the party structure and internal frictions. These fluctuations undermined the effectiveness and the credibility of the PFLP’s agenda.
The main source for my historical research was the PFLP’s official mouthpiece, the Al-Hadaf magazine. Al- Hadaf has published a wide range of official documents such as political statements, congress memoranda, the PFLP leaders’ declarations and interviews, as well as many analytical articles. The detailed study of this material enabled me to observe the evolution and fluctuations of the PFLP’s rhetoric and action, detecting the major shifts in its trajectory. This documentation is critically read in the light of the wider literature on the Palestinian national movement, as well as official publications issued by the PLO and other Palestinian factions.
The complete collection of Al-Hadaf is currently only held by the Library of the Institute of Palestine Studies (IPS), located in the Lebanese capital, hence the reason for my research travel. At the IPS Library I was able to retrieve material stretching from 1995 to 2013.
Besides my archival work, I also had the opportunity to interview some PFLP’s members, including officials who were directly or indirectly involved in the decision-making process, now settled in Beirut. I conducted four interviews with former and current PFLP’s members, in addition to others outside Lebanon, which gave me insight on the PFLP’s internal dynamics. Furthermore, in Beirut I had the chance to have conversations with experts in Palestinian politics such as Dr Yezid Sayigh, Carnegie Endowment Senior Associate and Dr Mahmoud Swaid, former Director of the Institute for Palestine Studies.
The research travel to Beirut was fundamental for the successful completion of my PhD research project. Therefore, my utmost appreciation goes to the Council for British Research in the Levant that provided me with the necessary support to carry out such an important part of my study.