By James M. Dorsey

Five decades ago, Nayef Hawatmeh, an aging left-wing guerrilla leader, created a template for a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian resistance that has lessons for today’s warring parties.

The leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Mr. Hawatmeh, sought to break the cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence by embracing a compromise resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the principle of dialogue.

Tacitly backed by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat, Mr. Hawatmeh put his money where his mouth was by becoming the first Palestinian leader to offer Israel a two-state solution in an unprecedented direct appeal to the Israeli public.

Please read further, watch the video, or listen to the audio at https://jamesmdorsey.substack.com/p/looking-beyond-the-fog-of-war-to

By James M. Dorsey

is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies as Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of Würzburg and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, and a forthcoming book with the same title.