Controversy over Meeting Between PLO Officials and Bundestag Members

The first meeting of a Palestine Liberation Organization delegation with members of the Bundestag representing all three parliamentary factions last week has generated an angry controversy here. The meeting was condemned by pro-Israel members of the three factions but government officials and leaders of the coalition parties signaled their approval of further contacts with the PLO.

A spokesman for the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) said that the PLO group and SPD deputies were in full accord that a final settlement of the Middle East conflict implies the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. That statement gave an official stamp to the meeting which was originally described as a private initiative on the part of some members of the Bundestag.

On the other hand, a group of prominent SPD members who sympathize with Israel warned that contacts with the PLO were useless. They noted that the SPD’s parliamentary faction had not approved the meeting.

Deputy Foreign Minister Guenther Van Well reiterated the Bonn government’s support for Palestinian self-determination in the toast he delivered at a dinner here in honor of Mayor Elias Freij of Bethlehem, the first West Bank Arab leader ever invited to West Germany by the government. Freij, known as a moderate, urged Europeans to support the moderates on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He met with a score of members of parliament of all parties.

CONTACTS TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH ALL PARTIES

Meanwhile, officials here said the government intends to strengthen contacts with all parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict pending the new Middle East initiative planned by the European Economic Community (EEC) member states. This is understood to apply mainly to the PLO which is not recognized officially but is increasingly presented here as a legitimate partner to any future solution of the Palestinian question.

Officials also noted that the Secretary General of the Arab League — which ousted Egypt after it signed its peace treaty with Israel — will visit Bonn on May 7. The upcoming EEC initiative is expected to be the main topic of his talks with West German leaders.