- Palestine Democratic Union
Infobox_Political_Party
party_name = Palestine Democratic Union
colorcode = #008000
party_
leader =Saleh Ra'fat
foundation =1990
founder =Yasser Abd Rabbo
ideology = ProgressiveDemocratic socialism ,Palestinian nationalism
headquarters =
international =
members = Unknown
website =
The Palestine Democratic Union ("Al-Ittihad al-Dimuqrati al-Filastini", generally known as FIDA) is a small Palestinianpolitical party active in thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and thePalestinian National Authority (PNA).Background
FIDA formed in 1990 through a split in
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine , bringing with it most of the DFLP structure in theWest Bank . FIDA took a more moderate stance than the main DFLP (led byNaif Hawatmeh and based inDamascus ,Syria ) towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has tried to establish itself as a left-wing democratic alternative in Palestinian politics.The youth wing of FIDA is known as
Independence Youth Union ; there are also workers' and women's groups. FIDA has no armed wing, in contrast to the DFLP and several other Palestinian organizations.Beliefs and ideology
The slogan of FIDA is "freedom,
independence , return,democracy andsocialism ". It presents itself as a progressive, secular and democratic socialist party, and espouses the Marxist vocabulary of "scientific socialism ".It advocates a
two-state solution based on the borders of 1967 and withEast Jerusalem as the capital of an independentPalestinian state . A prominent FIDA leader,Mamduh Nofal , in 2002 signed an appeal to stopsuicide bombings [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=2030] .The party has held two National Conferences, the first in
Jericho in 1995 and the second in 2000.FIDA leadership
FIDA was founded by
Yasser Abd Rabbo , a pro-peace moderate, who then represented the organization in thePalestine Liberation Organization 's (PLO) Executive Committee, where he worked as an advisor toYassir Arafat .In 2002, he resigned from the party after internal disputes.
Womens' rights activistZahira Kamal had been chosen in an internal election to replace him as minister [http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:8VvqUZc2BIIJ:www.norad.no/default.asp%3FFILE%3Ditems/2410/25/Palestinianwomenandreform%2520(2)%2520(2).rtf+fida+resigned+rabbo+&hl=sv] in the government of thePalestinian National Authority (PNA), but Abd Rabbo refused to step down, and instead left the party. He was then able to remain in the cabinet as an independent, with the backing of Arafat, but was replaced in FIDA bySaleh Ra'fat , the current Secretary-General. Zahira Kamal remains in FIDA, but outside of government. Other important FIDA leaders includeAzmi ash-Shu'aybi andMamduh Nofal .Electoral participation
FIDA is well represented with 21 members in the
Palestine National Council (PNC), the PLO's exile parliament. They were elected as DFLP delegates, or appointed to serve as delegates from various PLO branches, at the last PNC in 1988. Since then, no new elections have been held.FIDA took part in the 1996 elections to the
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), and with Fatah backing managed to gain one seat, held byAzmi ash-Shu'aybi . Ash-Shu'aybi has been campaigning for greater parliamentary control of the executive authority and greater transparency in thePalestinian National Authority (PNA). It received 2.8% of the popular vote and won two of the Council's 132 seats.In the January 2006 PLC elections, FIDA ran its candidates on the
al-Badeel (Alternative) slate together with theDFLP and thePalestinian People's Party (PPP) [http://www.dflp-palestine.org/english/news_&_reports/al-badil-list-kicks.htm] . It received 2.8% of the popular vote and won two of the Council's 132 seats.ee also
*
List of political parties in the Palestinian National Authority External links
* [http://www.fida.ps FIDA - Palestinian Democratic Union] - official website (English/Arabic)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.