Arab Paper in Jerusalem Lists Parley Candidates

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JERUSALEM, July 18 — An Arab newspaper in Jerusalem today published a list of names of Palestinians suggested by Yasir Arafat for inclusion in a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation for preparatory Middle East peace talks with the United States.

The list of six names, which was confirmed by senior Israeli officials, included some prominent figures in the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Contrary to Israeli radio and television reports on Wednesday, which said that nobody from the West Bank or Gaza was included, the list contained one West Bank Palestinian and one Gaza resident, neither of them leading political figures. [. . . intervening paragraphs on the Israeli reaction and on Prime Minister Peres and Foreign Minister Shamir are not transcribed here . . .] First was Hanna Siniora, the editor of a pro-Arafat East Jerusalem daily, Al Fajr.

A Christian Palestinian, Mr. Siniora was educated in the United States and has had frequent fights with the Israeli military authorities over violations of censorship. His newspaper has been closed or banned from distribution on numerous occasions for publishing Palestinian nationalist articles that military officials deemed anti-Israeli. Mr.

Siniora is not known to have any formal links to the P.L.O. While not among the top rung of the traditional leadership in the occupied territories, he is considered by Palestinians to be a serious person who would be ready to participate in peace negotiations with Israel. In an interview with Israel’s army radio, Mr.

Siniora made it clear that he saw the primary purpose of the Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to be opening a dialogue with Washington that could pave the way for peace talks with Israel. “It is the role of the P.L.O. to negotiate the final borders of the Palestinian state,” Mr. Siniora said.

“The Palestinians believe that the state of Israel exists and to reach peace we have to talk to the Israelis.” Lawyer From Gaza Second on the list was Faiz Abu Rahmeh, a lawyer from the Gaza Strip and until recently the head of the Gaza Chamber of Advocates. A cousin of a deposed Mayor of Gaza, Rashad Shawwa, and a pro-Arafat loyalist, Mr.

Abu Rahmeh is also not considered to be among the traditional leaders of the Palestinians within the Israeli-occupied territories. He is also related to Khalil al-Wazir, Mr. Arafat’s chief military deputy. Third was Khaled al-Hassan, a member of the P.L.O. Central Committee. Mr. Hassan is one of the founders, with Mr. Arafat, of the Al Fatah guerrilla organization.

For many years he has lived in Kuwait. He is known as a moderate within P.L.O. circles and is one of Mr. Arafat’s closest advisers. Fourth was Hatem Husseini, former director of a P.L.O. information center in Washington connected with the Arab League.

Fifth on the list was Saleh al-Taamri, a former P.L.O. guerrilla leader in southern Lebanon who spent more than a year in Israel’s Ansar prison camp before being freed in a prisoner swap in Nov. 1983. Mr. Taamri is married to King Hussein’s first wife, Dina, and is believed to be residing in Cairo. He is considered to be an articulate, pro-Arafat, Palestinian nationalist.

Adviser to Arafat Sixth was Nabil Shaat. One of Mr. Arafat’s chief political advisers, Mr. Shaath resides in Cairo and is a well-known Palestinian moderate and member of the Palestine National Council, which functions in effect as a parliament for the P.L.O.

Two other names were being suggested by West Bank Palestinians as possible alternates or observers in the delegation: Henry Kattan, a lawyer and expert on the Palestinian legal claims, and Fayez Sayigh, a Palestinian economist and scholar. Both are believed to reside in Europe.

How this transcription was made

One scan of a full page. The transcribed story runs across the top five columns. Three other items on the page are NOT part of it and are not transcribed: a short box headed “Aide Says Israel Plans To Free 100 Captives” (TEL AVIV, July 18, AP), the large photograph at top right with its own caption, and the whole lower half of the page (“U.S. in Warning to Nicaragua on Terror Plans” and “House Passes a Ban On Rebel Arms Aid”). The photograph’s caption is recorded separately below because it belongs to a different story. — Running head printed across the top of the page: “A6 L+ THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1985”. 19 July 1985 was a Friday. Matches Maria’s label.

Cite this clipping

"Arab Paper in Jerusalem Lists Parley Candidates," The New York Times, 19 July 1985, p. A6. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1985-046. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1985-046