PFLP slams betrayal of right of return

April 5, 2010

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

PFLP denounces Fayyad's betrayal of the right of return

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine sharply denounced Ramallah Palestinian Authority prime minister Salam Fayyad's remarks about the right of return to the Zionist newspaper Ha'aretz as a betrayal of Palestinian rights and the national cause, and carrying no political authority whatsoever.

The PFLP's statement, issued on April 2, 2010, said that the right of return is sacred and inviolable, and that Fayyad's comments violate our national rights and our national consensus, as well as international law and all principles of human rights, noting that Palestinian refugees are entitled to return to their homes and lands from which they were forced in 1948, not merely to “the future State of Palestine” as envisioned by Fayyad in his April 2 interview with Ha'aretz.

Furthermore, the PFLP statement demanded that Fayyad immediately demand the unconditional release of all prisoners and detainees and end the attacks, harassment and arrests of the resistance, noting that such actions will never help to achieve real Palestinian self-determination or independence.

The Front warned Fayyad against any actions or initiatives attempting to legitimize his vision of “state-building” at the expense of Palestinian refugees' inalienable rights, noting that any such initiative is far beyond the scope of his authority as prime minister of the Ramallah PA. Furthermore, the Front statement said, Fayyad is guilty of continually promoting illusions that only help the occupation to continue its crimes against the Palestinian people, as the occupier continues to attack our people and commit atrocities while Fayyad and his ilk chat with Zionist publications about the “peace process,” the deception of negotiations, and promote reliance on the occupation's strategic allies in Washington.

The Front called upon the Palestine Liberation Organization and its Executive Committee to shoulder their responsibilities and end their silence and immediately denounce Fayyad's comments as harmful to our national cause. Furthermore, the Front called upon the Palestinian people at home and in exile, and all political and social forces, particularly the right to return movement, to mark the anniversary of the Nakba, to engage in strong anti-normalization campaigns, and to defend, uphold and protect the right of return everywhere and expose any attempts to weaken or undermine our national rights. Furthermore, the statement called for activities to publicize the history of the Palestinian people and make clear the brutal crimes and historic injustice of the occupier and demand the full realization of our national rights, particularly the right to return.

The Front emphasized that this is a deeply serious matter, and reiterated once more that the futile “peace process” and deceptive road of negotiations must come to an end, instead saying that there is an urgent necessity for a Palestinian and Arab strategy of struggle and unity to end the national crisis and confront the dangerous threats to our national cause and national rights.