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

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine strongly condemned the action of the Italian authorities in denying entry to Comrade Leila Khaled, member of the Political Bureau of the Front, canceling her visa and forcing her to board the next plane to Amman. She was invited to Italy for a series of political events organized by the Arab Palestinian Democratic Union in Italy to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the launch of the PFLP.

The Front emphasized that this action followed upon a racist campaign waged by the Zionist movement and the forces of the fascist right wing in Europe over the past months against the Popular Front and the Palestinian and Lebanese Resistance. This action by the Italian authorities is part of this ongoing campaign, which will only be met with more insistence on transmitting the voice of our people to the world.

The Front further considers that the leading role of the struggler Leila Khaled and her revolutionary and symbolic role on a Palestinian, Arab and international level has enraged the Zionist state and its allies in Europe, pushing the forces of the Zionist movement to demand her arrest or deportation. They have failed to prevent her from giving public talks and appearances in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere in Europe.

Further, the Front emphasized that this action on the part of the Italian authorities is a blatantly political decision in favor of the occupation state and racist Zionism. It does not reflect the position of the progressive, democratic forces in Italy or the values of the Italian people who reject war, racism, fascism and occupation.

The PFLP emphasized that it will, in cooperation with friends and supporters in Europe in general and in Italy in particular, continue to pursue the issue of the expulsion of Comrade Leila Khaled on political, media and legal levels.

The Front also praised all of the Italian and European voices, personalities, parties and organizations that expressed their condemnation of this unjust decision and their support for the rights of the Palestinian people and their just struggle for liberation, return and the establishment of an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

The PFLP expressed its appreciation of the comrades in the Arab Palestinian Democratic Union for refusing to cancel the scheduled events honoring the launch of the Front despite the wave of incitement, pressure and Zionist provocations.

The Front urged all left-wing forces and supporters of Palestine in Italy to expand the campaign to boycott the Israeli occupation state and build campaigns of solidarity with the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.

It saluted all of the efforts being made in this period against the Giro de Italia, an international cycling competition, demanding an end to the collaboration with the occupation state and that the launch of the route be removed from occupied Palestine, where it is scheduled to begin in May 2018.

In conclusion, the Front emphasized that the voice of the resistance, represented by the struggler Leila Khaled and all of the progressive and freedom-loving forces in the world, will not be silenced and will continue to pursue the occupation, its allies and supporters everywhere.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

November 29, 2017

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