By Staff

On Aug. 27, the Israeli government assassinated Abu Ali Mustafa, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Memorial meetings were held in a number of cities around the country. We are reprinting a speech delivered by Stephanie Weiner, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, at the memorial meeting held in Chicago.

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It is with sadness and anger that we learned of the assassination of General Secretary Abu Ali Mustafa. Freedom Road Socialist Organization wishes to convey our condolences to the Palestinian movement in Chicago, to the leadership and members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and to the General Secretary's family and friends.

We realize that Abu Ali Mustafa was a hero in every sense of the word, and that he devoted his life to the complete emancipation of Palestine. He was among those who stood in the forefront of the struggle against Zionism, imperialism, and all reaction.

The actions of the Zionist state are criminal. Its policy of killing Palestinian children and the leaders of the resistance movement are the desperate acts of an entity that is living on stolen land and borrowed time. Freedom Road Socialist Organization wishes the Palestinian people every success in the difficult period ahead.

We know that it is the government of the United States that is the principal backer of Israel. We know that the U.S. uses Israel as a weapon to attack and to suppress the national democratic aspirations of the Arab people as a whole. Let no one feel alone on this point – the $4 billion of U.S. aid a year is an enormous number, but there are 6 billion people in the world, the majority of whom are opposed to U.S. global exploitation!

This memorial service gives us all a chance to proclaim publicly our love and political respect for the Palestinian people, and it gives us a chance to shout proudly our common future plans. So here, in this room where Abu Ali Mustafa's vision is so clearly present, we want to reaffirm, as a U.S. Marxist Leninist and revolutionary organization, that we will do all that we can to help stop U.S. aid to its Zionist puppet. We are proud to build support for and to be in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle to establish a truly democratic state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. We'll join you in the battles for the right of return to be immediately granted to refugees and their descendants. We'll join you in the battles to make the Zionists release all political prisoners. We'll shout with you loud enough to be heard in Durbin, South Africa tonight, that Zionism is racism and that self-determination of the Palestinian people is still the only road to peace with justice.

In closing, a brilliant leader has been assassinated. We are reminded of the sadness we felt when Samir Odeh died, a comrade we worked closely with. We stand here tonight to add our voices to those in Ramallah; in the countryside in Colombia; on the Malecon in Havana, Cuba; and from Vieques, Puerto Rico; to Belfast, Ireland; and to Manila, in the Philippines; confidently saying that we'll all pick up his flag and fight more fiercely. As Chicagoans, we'll see you at the next consulate demonstration. We'll see you if there is a demonstration for Chicago to divest from Israel, we'll see you at the send off to the next delegation to Palestine, and of course...we'll see you at the victory celebration! Long Live the Palestinian Intifada!

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