PFLP 'strongly supports' Abbas UN move to end occupation

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said Monday that it "strongly supports" President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to submit a resolution to the UN Security Council to end the Israeli occupation.

In a statement, the leftist faction also gave a positive assessment of Abbas' speech before the UN General Assembly, in which the President called Israel's recent assault on Gaza "genocidal" and likened Israel's policies toward Palestinians to apartheid.

The PFLP supports the idea of Palestine joining more international organizations, especially the International Criminal Court, the statement said.

PFLP: Occupation assassinates martyrs of al-Khalil in new crime against Palestinian people

The Front renewed its call for the immediate end of Palestinian Authority’s security coordination in all forms and the rejection of normalization of all kinds with the criminal entity, and to instead adopt the language of confrontation, the language of our people, against this occupation.

In the face of this crime and the ongoing and continuous attacks on the ground against our people and their rights, it is critical to build Palestinian national unity which looks toward Palestine as the compass that governs us, directs us and points us toward resistance and victory.

Interview with Abu Ahmad Fuad: Those who want to disarm the resistance will be defeated

Al-Quds News Network conducted an exclusive interview with Comrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, Deputy General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in Istanbul where he spoke on the Palestinian national struggle and challenges following the aggression on Gaza.

Below is the interview text:

Q. After the PFLP’s recent elections and conference, is there a renewal of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, commensurate with this period of change?

A. The Seventh Conference of the PFLP has produced quite a bit, especially in regard to the political program in regard to the developments in the region. In addition to this, there are new internal frameworks developed by the conference, which elected a new leadership. Looking at these elections, there was a renewal rate of 60-65% in the governing bodies of the Front, the Central Committee and Political Bureau, in addition to increasing the number of young people in the Front’s leadership, there are three women elected to the Political Bureau and no less than 20 militant Palestinian women in the Central Committee, which is not the case in other Palestinian factions. The conference did recognize the role of young people and of women, but we recognize that more is needed on this front, as simply using an electoral process does not guarantee the true inclusion and full voice of young people and of women. In regard to the position of the Front, it is not much different than that it has held continuously, but does take into account the developments which have occurred, including the internal Palestinian division and how we are addressing this...

...Q. The Palestinian Authority derives its legitimacy from the PLO, and is engaging in all practices rejected by the Front, from the negotiations, to security coordination, and other such actions. The PFLP is an essential part of the PLO, would you expect one day for the Front to take a bold step to withdraw from the PLO in the event of failure to respond to its demands and go to a unified national framework to withdraw any legitimacy from such practices?

A. The Palestinian Authority is a reality, but we do not recognize it as legitimate. It is unfortunate that the results of the first intifada and the second have been embodied in this caricature of sovereignty. The entire Palestinian people does not trust the Authority. We say the Oslo agreement must be cancelled, we have taken this position at the PLO Central Council, and the PFLP delegation walked ou tof the Central Council meeting; the PLO leadership then stopped inviting Comrade Khalida Jarrar to the meetings, and acted to prevent the Front from exercising its rights in the PLO. Abu Mazen said this is because we withdrew from the meeting, but we withdrew from the meeting because we refuse to be listed as a party to negotiations or approval of negotiations.

The PFLP is engaged in conflict and struggle within the PLO, but on the basis of unity. There is a big difference between the PLO and some of its institutions, and if the situation were necessary to take this position, we would continue to have a relationship with the institutions of the PLO, but until this moment, the option we would prefer is to unify our efforts and positions for national struggle.

PFLP: UNRWA must end cuts and fulfill its responsibilities to Palestinian people

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is deeply concerned about growing reports of evasion and erosion of the responsibilities of the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, particularly the duties toward the refugees displaced from their homes in the Zionist aggression.

The Front has been involved with many sectors of our people since 2007 in campaigns against programs to reduce services or cut costs at UNRWA, and with the start of the new academic year, it is once again concerned about the implementation of such austerity policies, particularly in the Gaza Strip, which is still suffering immensely from the impact of the brutal Zionist aggression. In response to the continuation of these policies and restrictions, our people organized protests in the camps in the Strip to condemn this policy and calling for UNRWA to fulfill its obligations to the children, the students, of Gaza.

Abu Ghoulmeh: Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their brave resistance are the heroes of the people everywhere

The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their brave resistance are the heroes of the Palestinian people everywhere, said Comrade Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s branch in prisons in a media statement. In the 51 days of aggression in July and August, they presented a legendary and paradigmatic model of steadfastness and resistance, confirming the centrality of resistance in Palestinian thought, action, and values. They have raised in the hearts of all of our people a feeling of pride, hope, achievement, self-confidence and assuredness in achieving victory, and opened new horizons and paths before our people and our cause, said Abu Ghoulmeh.

The resistance in Gaza is a “national treasure,” said Abu Ghoulmeh, saying that the resistance and its weapons are a national consensus and a strategic value of struggle, and that the Palestinian people have the right to practice all forms of resistance – popular, civil and military – as guaranteed by international law.

PFLP Prison Branch: We will not be silenced or intimidated by prison repression

The Zionist prison administration began a systematic campaign against the prisoners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in various prisons several weeks ago, coinciding with an ongoing punitive campaign against the prisoners of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This is being done by the prison authorities in order to undermine the organizing of PFLP prisoners and create a state of instability among the prisoners...

...The prison branch of the PFLP reaffirms that these practices and campaigns are merely the latest attack in a long line of repression, will not intimidate us or suppress our struggle to achieve our rights and the demands of the prisoners. From Sunday, we will implement a series of steps to protest against these practices and abuses, up to a general strike carried out strategically with prisoners in all occupation prisons, in case the Zionist prison authorities do not back down on their unjust and repressive actions.

Irish Friends of Palestine to Speak at Palestinian Revolutionary Event

Irish Friends of Palestine will be taking part in the Tricontinental Anti-Imperialist Platform Event this weekend in London. Seating is first come first served so get there early! An amazing array of guest speakers in the lineup, Leila Khaled, George Galloway MP, political activist Ghada Al-Najjar from Gaza, Fouad Shaat, Sami Ramadani, and many many more!! This is the pro-resistance solidarity event for Gaza and Palestine, the event will celebrate the Palestinian Revolution, explore its challenges, and there will live link up from Gaza, plus slide shows, music and poetry. The event will be this Sunday at the Flyover, 3-5 Thorpe Close, London W10 5XL, Ladbroke Grove from 2:30PM to 6:00PM. Get there early to not be disappointed as there is limited seating. Find the event on FacebookHERE and details can also be found on the Irish Friends of Palestine Facebook page HERE

Speakers list:

Leila Khaled

- Legendary Palestinian revolutionary, PFLP Polit Buro member and Palestinian National Council representative. Khaled was born in Haifa, British Palestine. Khaled’s family fled to Lebanon during the 1948 Palestinian exodus, leaving her father behind. At the age of 15, following in the footsteps of her brother, she joined the pan-Arab Nationalist Movement. The Palestinian branch of this movement later became the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Khaled is wary of the Arab-Israeli peace process. According to her,

“It’s not a peace process. It’s a political process where the balance of forces is for the Israelis and not for us. They have all the cards to play with and the Palestinians have nothing to depend on, especially when the PLO is not united.

In 2005 she was a speaker at the Féile an Phobail in Belfast via video link.

Victory for Khalida Jarrar as expulsion order defeated

Jarrar said that the rejection of the occupation’s order, the public pressure campaign and the international solidarity movement around her case forced the occupier to back down and yield to these pressures. She saluted all of the international parliamentarians and organizations who rejected the expulsion order and supported her rejection of the unjust action, noting the widespread recognition of the illegitimate and illegal order by Arab and international forces.

Shishtary released from occupation prisons, demands end to security coordination with occupier

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Shishtary said that “the prisoners’ situation today is one of turmoil and great concern, especially with regard to the growing arrest campaign against the Palestinian people and their leaders, after the operation in al-Khalil early last June and the Zionist aggression in the Gaza Strip.” He denounced the “continuing reliance of the Palestinian officials on pushing the PLO into so-called peace negotiations, based on security coordination and serving the goals of the occupation. This leads only to undermining the Palestinian struggle against the occupation.”

Shishtary called on all Palestinians, especially Fateh and Hamas, to end division and work seriously to build national unity, saying that continuing rivalry and unsupported allegations “undermine the precious victory of the resistance.” Unity and steadfastness, he said, is the only mechanism to confront the ongoing Israeli attacks and arrests.

PFLP Prison Branch: Prisoners’ movement is under attack by Zionist repression

The branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in occupation prisons issued a statement on September 20, 2014, noting that the prisoners’ movement today is facing a fierce assault by the Zionist enemy and its mechanisms of repression, especially the Shin Bet and the Prison Service administration. These agencies are restricting prisoners’ lives, preventing visits, reducing the main staple foods for prisoners, enforcing arbitrary transfers and removing access to Arabic language television.

The prison administration’s crimes do not end here; it has also escalated the policy of medical neglect.

Mizher: European and US attempts to undermine Palestinian cause and reimpose Oslo must be stopped

“The occupation and the U.S. administration did not succeed in liquidating the resistance or consolidating any achievements in the political sense during the criminal aggression on the Gaza Strip, but there are attempts now by those forces, along with some European states, notably France, to attempt such political achievements after the fact as the Palestinian cause is raised as a central issue after many years of marginalization,” said Mizher. He said that there are schemes in the UN Security Council which seek to undermine Palestinian rights, based on the devastating Oslo accords which have brought nothing but horrors and devastation and settlement to the Palestinian people for over 20 years. Mizher demanded that Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian officials refuse under any conditions to return to the futile negotiations and reject the call of the U.S. to return to negotiations and the initiative of French President Hollande at the Security Council.

PLO parties rebuke consensus government's failure to fulfill duties

Two left parties, members of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called on the Palestinian government to assume its role towards the Palestinian people in Gaza and West Bank, by fulfilling its administrative, social, security responsibilities.

Popular and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP and DFLP respectively, stressed in a joint statement the need to develop a national vision to provide refuge to those forced out of their homes as a result of the Israeli aggression end the siege of Gaza and begin its reconstruction.

The statement stressed the need to preserve the national unity and to reactivate the meetings of ‘Provisional Leadership Framework of the PLO’ in order to get past the Palestinian division and achieve unity in the political decision.

The fronts called for drawing out a national policy based on a combination of resistance and diplomacy.

New Details Emerge on Palestinian Prisoner Who Was Beaten to Death by Israeli Guards

Mohammad Said al-Azza had shared a cell with Raed, and said that the two were being transferred at the time of Raed's death. The guards had taken the two men, along with a third prisoner, to a transport vehicle, and moved them to Eshel prison. 

While Mohammad remained in the vehicle, the other two prisoners were taken inside the facility. Less than 15 minutes later, according to Mohammad al-Azza, the Israeli guards came back to the vehicle and told him that Raed was dead.

Al-Azza said that he began shouting in protest, and was pushed and kicked by the guards in the vehicle, and driven to the Israeli prison facility in Ashkelon...

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement upon the death of Raed al-Ja'bari, calling for “immediate united action of the prisoners’ movement, through the prisoners’ national leadership struggling for the rights of the prisoners and the entire Palestinian people, and defying any attempts to divide the movement, which provides the enemy with opportunities to continue its policies against Palestinian land and people, including the prisoners.”

Greek activists boycott Zionist theatrical performance in solidarity with Palestine

On September 11, 2014, more than 80 protesters in solidarity with the Palestinian people, gathered outside the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation to protest the foundation’s sponsorship of a theatrical rendition of Aristophanes’ Lysistratia by an Israeli theater company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at a protest organized by the Network in Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance. We received the following statement from the protesters:

A Mossad echelon and the Israeli embassy escort were roaming the foundation’s reception since early in the afternoon. Few were the people that intended to watch the performance, and when they saw Palestinian flags and heard the crowd’s chants against the Zionist murderers’ culture vibrating in the air, they walked away. Some of them stayed and chanted with us.

Despite the favorable advertisement (two-pages in wide circulation bourgeois newspapers) by the political editors who serve as the mouthpieces of the Zionist lobby, no more than a hundred spectators entered the building at the Israeli troupe’s premiere, even though the hall that was intended for the performance was much more spacious. Amongst them were the personnel and attachés of the Zionist embassy, giving looks of contempt to the protesters under the protection of the riot police that was lined up in front of the Foundation’s entrance; and of course some bourgeois media journalists that arrived to cover the show. The greek theatrical audience pointedly abstained from the performance, even though entrance was free! It was a slap in the face of the M. Cacoyannis Foundation administration, who obscenely tarnish the work and name of its pro-Palestinian founder, Michalis Cacoyannis, by investing into the cooperation with the Zionist interests in our country.

It was once again vividly shown that the greek people, the greek theatrical audience harbor deep feelings of solidarity towards the Palestinian people and their rightful fight for freedom, that has been ongoing for seven decades now. The ruling class in our country, the political personnel and their press mouthpieces claim to be building “bridges of friendship and cooperation” with the Zionist war criminals, but they will keep on stumbling upon our people’s firm refusal.

Steadfastness and Victory: Gaza Students begin a new academic year

Statement by the Progressive Student Action Front in secondary schools on the occasion of the new academic year in the Gaza Strip

To our brave students – torches of freedom and unity, building the leaders of the future..

We greet you in the name of victory and steadfastness and we welcome the new academic year after 51 days of the barbaric Zionist aggression against the steadfast Gaza Strip. The long aggression of the Zionist war machine turned many of our educational institutions and school buildings into shelters for our displaced people from their destroyed homes. Despite the delay in the start of the new academic year for over three weeks, we see that this new year starts with a new slogan, that of victory and steadfastness. This period requires of us, educators and the Ministry of Education, many actions and decisions that support and enhance the resilience and victory of our students, their parents and their people.

Palestinian MP says exile period has ended

Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar said Tuesday that an Israeli deportation order forcing her to leave Ramallah has come to an end.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine official told reporters that a high-ranking Israeli military official told her that the deportation order had been reduced from six months to one month.

On Aug. 20, Israeli forces raided her house and delivered an order demanding that she leave Ramallah and move to Jericho. The place of residence in Jericho was specified in the order.

She said the order was in Hebrew and that she refused to sign it when soldiers told her to, and that she was also provided a map for her movement inside Jericho.

Photos: Abu Ahmad Fuad, PFLP Deputy General Secretary, speaks in Istanbul on Palestinian struggle

Comrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, Deputy General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, spoke in Istanbul, Turkey on Sunday, September 14 in a forum organized by the Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and supporters of the Front in Turkey. The event was attended by Palestinians in Turkey as well as Turkish supporters of Palestine, and focused on current political developments and the future of the Palestinian struggle, particularly in light of the Zionist assault on Gaza and the steadfastness and victory of the Palestinian resistance.

Comrade Fuad was introduced by Palestinian writer and activist Khaled Barakat, and was followed by a lively discussion. The event was also live-streamed over the Internet for viewers outside Turkey.

September 14, Istanbul: Deputy General Secretary Abu Ahmad Fuad speaks on Gaza and the Palestinian struggle

The Deputy General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Comrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, will speak in a public event on Sunday, September 14 in Istanbul, Turkey, on the Palestinian struggle today and political challenges following the war on Gaza (in Arabic).

The event will take place at 6:00 pm, hosted by the Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, at Algeria Hall at the Algeria Cultural Building, behind Galatasaray Secondary School, Istiklal Street, Taksim, Istanbul, Turkey.

The event will be live-streamed over the Internet, and will be viewable at this link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%81%D8%A4%D8%A7%D8%AF

PFLP hopes to end Hamas-Fatah rift

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said Wednesday that it was working to head off mounting tension between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas – tension that began in the wake of Israel's recent 51-day war on the Gaza Strip.

"We are working with other Palestinian factions to suspend media attacks and political rivalry between the two factions," Jamil Muzher, a member of the PFLP's political office, told Anadolu Agency.

PFLP: Occupation bears full responsibility for the death of Palestinian political prisoner Raed al-Jabari

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine stated that the Zionist occupation state bears full responsibility for the martyrdom of the Palestinian political prisoner, Raed AbdelSalam al-Jabari, who died in Soroka Hospital as a result of the racist and facist repression policies of the occupation state and its agents in Israeli jails against our brave prisoners.

PFLP urges Abbas to hasten accession to ICC

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has called for the accession to the International Criminal Court and Rome Statute to be hastened and urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stop stalling. They also stressed that joining the ICC is a demand of all Palestinians and should not be used as a bargaining chip.

Palestinian militants from PFLP take part in military parade

Palestinian militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) take part in a military parade one week after the Egypt-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza city, on Sept. 2, 2014. (Xinhua/Yasser Qudih)

Show of might

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP) fighters take part in a military show in Gaza City, Tuesday. An open-ended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza fighters, mediated by Egypt, took effect on Aug. 26 after a seven-week conflict. It called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza’s blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt, and a widening of the territory’s fishing zone in the Mediterranean.

PFLP mass march and military rally in Gaza upholds resistance, salutes Palestinian steadfastness

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Gaza City organized a mass rally and military march with thousands of cadres, members and supporters of the Front and hundreds of fighters with the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades. The event came in celebration of the victory of the Palestinian people in Gaza in the recent aggression, and in commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa, General Secretary of the PFLP, on August 27, 2001, by a US-made missile fired by the Zionist airforce into his Ramallah office.

PFLP organizes Gaza rally to support national unity

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organized a rally in Gaza City on Tuesday to support national unity.

Senior PFLP leader Kayid al-Ghoul spoke during the rally and said the "people's steadfastness" in Gaza should lead to Palestinian national unity based on partnership and a political program which guarantees Palestinian rights.

(Photograph copyright by MaanImages.)