PFLP statement on the 50th anniversary of the June defeat: struggle to confront Zionism and imperialism

June 12, 2017

PFLP statement on the 50th anniversary of the June defeat: struggle to confront Zionism and imperialism

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following June 5 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

June 5 marks 50 years since the defeat of 1967, which had among its most prominent results, the completion of the occupation of the rest of Palestine, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai. This occasion deepened the concept of defeat and its implication in Arab thought and practice and has sparked numerous efforts and political settlement projects under the pretext of resolving the Arab-Zionist conflict.

The defeat of June 5 came to confirm the nature and essence of the Zionist project and its aspirations for expansion, hegemony and occupation of a central area of the Arab region. This occupation included the Zionist project and its colonial and imperialist partners and allies, with shared goals, interests and ambitions in the Arab world, including the plundering of its resources, ensuring its fragmentation and continued underdevelopment. It also highlighted the weakness of the overall Arab situation, intensifying the contradictions of that situation. Despite all of these factors, it also opened the door to the intensification and escalation of the Palestinian resistance movement and popular defiance in the face of colonial aggression.

This intensification and escalation of Palestinian people’s resistance and the Arab response have shown, along with the Zionist project and its objectives of expansion, that the comprehensive and historical conflict with the Zionist enemy as a struggle for existence is not only between the Palestinian people and this enemy alone, but in essence is a conflict between the Arab nation as a whole and the Zionist project which aims at the dependence, subordination and fragmentation of this nation and the Arab homeland and the continued plundering of its resources and wealth, ensuring the security and stability of the Israeli occupation and its continued technological superiority and progress.

To the Palestinian and Arab masses…

Despite 50 years after the defeat, we continue to suffer its effects very clearly. In terms of the Zionist project, we see the continued occupation of Palestine and other Arab lands, despite numerous international resolutions that do not recognize the occupation and calling for withdrawal. In practice, colonization on the ground has increased continually since that time. The leaders of the Zionist project have continued the terror and ethnic cleansing that began before 1948 against the Palestinian people and its armies and aircraft have continued their attacks on the Arab countries. Their support for reactionary and extremist forces seeks to add new burdens and costs to the Arab situation, which suffers from division, weakness and fragmentation of the national and social fabric. This comes in accordance with the open and secret wars that are hurting all with the continued erosion and exhaustion of the Arab body with violence and pressure in political, economic and military forms to impose almost complete complacency before the imperialist project. In light of the ongoing U.S.-Zionist attacks, colonialism and occupation, we in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine emphasize:

First, rejection of the political and military outcomes of the defeat of June and all of the desperate attempts to lead the Arab-Zionist struggle to the gateway of so-called “peaceful settlement solutions” that depend on recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity and its existence, from Camp David through the Oslo Accords and Wadi Araba. We reject all attempts to normalize between Arab states and the Zionist enemy, part of an apparent attempt to erase the essential nature of the struggle. This is a confrontation between, on one side, the imperialist powers, the Zionist project and its tool “Israeli occupation,” and on the other, the entire Arab nation. This struggle is for the liberation of the entire land of Palestine and the return of its people who were displaced to the corners of the earth through systematic uprooting and ethnic cleansing, and for the liberation of the Arab people and control over their destiny, wealth and resources, on the road to the dismantling of the Zionist state, a state of occupation, aggression and permanent warfare against the Palestinian and Arab people.

Second, rejection of the so-called Arab-American-Islamic Summit in Riyadh and its results, which aim to distort the main contradiction in the region with the Zionist project and the Israeli state and shift the conflict to one with Iran through the formation of a so-called “Sunni”-Israeli-American alliance. This is an attempt to tailor Arab politics to the requirements of the imperialist and Zionist project and confirm the dominance of the Zionist state in the region. It also aims to target Arab and Palestinian resistance forces, which were described in this summit, in the words of US President Donald Trump as “terrorism.”

Third, confrontation of the results of this summit with the broadest official and popular Arab alliance, uniting all Arab progressive forces struggling for liberation and freedom from imperialism and Zionism in the region. This struggle requires activating the role of the Arab Progressive Front based on clear strategies and tactics and comprehensive planning.

Fourth, ending all Palestinian and Arab reliance on the path of so-called negotiations, which have proven through experience to be painful, damaging and a complete failure in achieving any Arab or Palestinian objectives. Any reliance on a positive role played by Trump confirms the continued cultivation of illusions and losing bets. This administration comes in continuation and intensification of the ongoing strategic policy of US administrations, designed to ensure the security, stability, progress and technical and military superiority of the Zionist occupation. Therefore, it will only strive to impose a political solution in conformity with a U.S./Israeli vision.

Our choice is that of the Palestinian people, resistance and struggle for national liberation and ending all forms of absurd negotiations with the Zionist enemy. This includes full commitment to the resolutions of the Palestinian Central Council and PLO Executive Committee, including the end of negotiations and security coordination with the occupation, on the road to a complete break with the Oslo agreement, its political and economic consequences and its disastrous impact on the Palestinian liberation struggle and our rights.

Fifth, prioritizing the Palestinian reconciliation file and undertaking hard work to end the division. This begins by ending all actions taken against the Gaza Strip and collective resolution of the issue of the administration committee and implementing reconciliation agreements. This also includes the rebuilding and restoration of Palestinian national institutions, particularly the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the basis of national and democratic foundations. It is not acceptable to deal with these institutions as a site of exclusivity, domination and monopoly, and instead it is critical to open the field widely for all forces, institutions and social strata to participate in the management of Palestinian national affairs.

Sixth, our salutes and appreciation to the brave prisoners and their struggle in the battle for freedom and dignity that they fought for 41 days of empty stomachs, confronting the occupation and its inhumane policies. We affirm our full and continued support for the prisoners’ struggle until freedom, liberation and the return of our people to their homes, lands and homeland.

Glory to the Palestinian People, the Arab nation and the brave resistance!

Glory to the martyrs and freedom for the prisoners!

Victory is inevitable

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

June 5, 2017