BEIRUT: The Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Lebanon, Fathi Abu al-Ardat, called for maintaining civil peace and neutrality in a reception held to mark the 48th anniversary of the start of the Palestinian revolution Wednesday.
Abu al-Ardat said in his speech, “We reaffirm that the Lebanese state is our only reference for all political and livelihood issues in Lebanon”.
“We are not a party involved in internal Lebanese debates and we will stop at nothing to preserve Lebanese civil peace and reinforce coexistence. We support any national decisions that the Lebanese take for their country,” Abu al-Ardat added.
“We will continue to abide by Lebanese laws and we will not allow our refugee camps to become a burden or a flashpoint for actions that seek to ruin the strong relationship between the Lebanese and Palestinians. [The PLO] refuses to undermine civil peace,” he said.
The secretary-general also commented on the Syrian crisis saying, “We demand that the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria remain neutral and request aid and shelter to the Palestinians who fled the Syrian refugee camps to Lebanon.”
The reception was attended by Palestinian Ambassador to Beirut Ashraf Dabbour, members of Fatah’s Central Committee Jamal Moheisen and Sultan Abul Aynayn, Secretary-General of Fatah in Syria Samir alRifai in addition to members of the Revolutionary Council and representatives of Palestinian factions and Lebanese parties. The event was held at the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut.