PFLP condemns deportation of Palestinian legislators

July 7, 2010

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Deportation of Palestinian legislators’ part of attacks on Jerusalem

The Zionist government's decision to deport Palestinian legislators from Jerusalem is part of the occupation's policy of ethnic cleansing and ongoing attempts to empty the city of its indigenous people, said Comrade Emad Abu Rahma, member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In an interview with the “Voice of the People” radio station on June 21, 2010, Comrade Abu Rahma said that the fascist regime would continue these measures aimed at Judaizing and Israelizing the city, in order to obliterate its Arab and Palestinian character. He demanded that the Palestinian Authority immediately end any and all forms of indirect or direct negotiations with the occupier, as it continues to build settlements, ethnically cleanse Jerusalem, seize Palestinian land and wage a deadly siege on Gaza.

He emphasized the need to support the steadfastness of our people in occupied Jerusalem in all forms and methods, popular and official, on Palestinian, Arab and international levels, emphasizing that the occupation and annexation of Jerusalem is completely illegal under international laws and resolutions.

Comrade Abu Rahma's comments followed upon a statement issued by the PFLP that also noted that these actions make clear that the U.S. Obama administration has no intention of stopping the Zionist regime form its ongoing settlement expansion, noting that the continuation of indirect or direct negotiations only provides a cover for the occupation government and encourages it to continue its settlement expansion and colonization in Jerusalem.

The Front called upon the United Nations to take up its responsibility to stop the Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and called upon the Arab Parliamentarians Union to raise this issue in Arab and international forums to highlight the Zionist arrogance and abuse of our people.

Furthermore, the PFLP said in a statement that the occupation's ongoing approvals of new settlement housing units around Jerusalem, particularly while continuing the destruction of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, the land confiscation, and the attacks on the Arab Palestinian people of Jerusalem make it clear that the Israeli policy of “Greater Jerusalem” is a policy for ethnic cleansing, meant to undermine the status of Jerusalem as the political and cultural capital of the Palestinian people and as a central Arab, Islamic and Christian holy city. The “Greater Jerusalem” policy is focused on liquidating Palestinian rights to self-determination, sovereignty and return, said the Front.

The PFLP emphasized that every visit of U.S. officials to the region only emphasizes their ongoing deception and utter disregard for Arab rights and international law, and demanded that the Palestinian leadership end this situation by working to restore unity in order to fight the schemes of the occupation and protect Palestinian national rights.