PLO Reps Received Unofficially by Dutch Parliamentary Committee

Two representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization were received unofficially today by members of the Dutch Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. Ezzedine Kalag and Naim Khader, heads of the PLO’s Paris and Brussels offices, respectively, met with individual members of the committee. They were not received by Foreign Minister Max Van Der Stoel.

A Ministry spokesman said that officially there are no contacts between Dutch diplomats and the PLO nor is there any question of negotiations with the Palestinians. Yesterday, major Jewish organizations in The Netherlands protested to Parliament against the foreign affairs committee’s contact with the PLO men. The protest was submitted to committee chairman Pieter Dankert by representatives of the Ashkenazic, Sephardic and Liberal congregations and The Netherlands Zionist Federation.

They said that even unofficial contact would create the impression that the PLO is a moderate organization. They consider it unacceptable that Dutch members of Parliament should have any contact with an organization that, according to its charter, aims at the destruction of Israel. Members of the committee, however, are apparently interested in continuing the Euro-Arab parliamentary dialogue. They also want to start a Euro-Israel dialogue on the parliamentary level.