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

PFLP rejects and calls for action against liquidationist return to direct negotiations

Comrade Maher al-Taher, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and leader of its branch outside Palestine, said on August 20, 2010 that the goal of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is to liquidate the Palestinian cause, not to reach a political solution, noting that it is clear from the events and actions of Israel that it is impossible to reach a political solution with an entity that demands total control of all aspects of Palestinian existence.

Said Comrade Taher, “After 40 years of slogans demanding an independent Palestinian decision, today the Palestinian Authority is a subject of the U.S. and Israel and we are a nation of prisoners. This is a great risk to the Palestinian cause.” It was clear, Comrade Taher said, that the Authority would enter these direct negotiations when the Higher Arab Follow-up Commission approved of them, saying that the statement issued by the Quartet in favor of these negotiations is farcical nonsense; it is clear that nothing will come of these negotiations except for harm to the Palestinian cause and such statements exist only to provide a fig leaf to cover the return to negotiations and an excuse for a shameful betrayal.

He emphasized that by returning to these negotiations, the Authority is entering a dark tunnel through which only it will provide concessions. Comrade Taher said, “What will come of these negotiations – the occupation will withdraw from Jerusalem?? It will recognize the right of return?? Unless there is to be any real gain, these negotiations are absurd!”

Comrade Taher said further that the action of the Executive Committee of the PLO in approving these negotiations makes it clear that independent Palestinian decision-making and democracy is a farce in these institutions, as the Palestinian people have clearly expressed their rejection of negotiations. He said that our people are determined to stand fast on our own land and that the PFLP will demand an end to this farce and take action, not only issue statements. Palestinian factions at home and abroad are committed to joint action against these negotiations, he said, noting that there is widespread refusal to return to negotiations while Israel builds settlements and Judaizes Jerusalem under the presence and authority of a U.S. agenda aimed at the entire region based on liquidation of national rights.

He concluded by saying that it is clear that our national priority must be to end the division and continue the resistance, saying that the Palestinian people will resist any attempts to give up their national rights through widespread popular refusal and rejection of the return to negotiations.

Comrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, member of the Political Bureau of the PFLP, also said on August 21, 2010 that the PA's entering into direct negotiations with Israel is a stab in the back of the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the resolutions of the Central Council and the will of the Palestinian people. Comrade Fuad emphasized that PLO officials are refusing to abide by any sense of democratic regulation or the decisions of the Central Council or the National Council. Comrade Fuad emphasized that the majority of factions in the PLO have opposed direct negotiations, and that any approval of negotiations in an Executive Committee meetings where more than half of the members are absent is illegal in form and content.

The PFLP condemned the Quartet's statement in support of direct negotiations, saying that it represents a tacit acceptance of settlements and siege, and full of nothing more than empty slogans about “peace” while the rights of the Palestinian people to return, independence and self-determination are being violated daily. Furthermore, the Front said in its statement, the Quartet is attempting to waive international law and UN resolutions and replace international legitimacy with its own dubious authority, saying that the Quartet has no legitimate or legal authority over the Palestinian people and cause.

The Front stressed that Palestinian factions, national consensus and the decisions of the Central Council all uphold a refusal to return to negotiations, saying that such negotiations only serve the plans of the Netanyahu regime to violate Palestinian rights further under a false excuse of “economic peace and security.”

The Front's statement emphasized that such negotiations are a dangerous trick and an attempt to force new concessions from the Palestinian people while providing cover for occupation crimes. Furthermore, the PFLP said, these negotiations are an attempt to serve the interests and plans of the U.S. for control and hegemony in the region, including consolidating and deepening internal Palestinian divisions, and betraying the sacrifices of the martyred, wounded and prisoners of our people.

The Front's statement concluded by calling on the Palestinian people everywhere, inside Palestine and in exile and diaspora, and all national and Islamic forces and institutions to raise their vigilance and take urgent actions to reject any indirect or direct negotiations. It said that a clear, serious, responsible and bold rejection of the entire path of Oslo and all of the results built upon its foundations is necessary, including its replacement with a national strategy that prioritizes the rights of our Palestinian people and reorganizes the Palestinian house in one united, democratic Palestine Liberation Organization including all Palestinian national and Islamic forces, preserving the rights of our people to resist, end the occupation and settlements, free our prisoners, achieve the right of return and establish our independent, sovereign Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

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