PalestinianAuthority &mdash; Fight Back! News https://fightbacknews.org/tag:PalestinianAuthority News and Views from the People's Struggle Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:18:55 +0000 https://i.snap.as/RZCOEKyz.png PalestinianAuthority &mdash; Fight Back! News https://fightbacknews.org/tag:PalestinianAuthority USPCN: Our Response to the PA’s Recent Mass Arrests of Palestinian activists https://fightbacknews.org/uspcn-our-response-pa-s-recent-mass-arrests-palestinian-activists?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). !--more-- USPCN uplifts the demands of our people who have called on us to shed light on the so-called Palestinian Authority (PA), its corruption, and its use of brutal force to silence, murder, and imprison dissenting voices! We demand freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners who have been targeted by the traitorous PA and its security apparatus in the past few days. Every branch is an enemy to the cause of liberation, and the PA never has been and never will be a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The PA is only empowered because of Oslo and its funders; and because its source of power are those who ethnically cleanse and oppress the Palestinian people, we are not surprised by the PA’s recent mass arrests of dignified Palestinian activists following its murder of the esteemed shaheed, Nizar Banat. Those arrested include Ubai al Aboudi and his wife, Hind. Ubai played a critical role in framing USPCN’s Campaign for Liberation and Dignity, which has raised over $65,000 of unconditional aid for the people. Fortunately, Ubai and Hind were released hours ago and are now safely in the company of family. Meanwhile, the PA furthered its corruption with vaccine deals, squandered conditional aid money to fund its Western tastes, and sat with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken while doing the bidding of the Zionist enemy, Israel. Banat was killed for pointing out these patterns. After targeting Hind and Ubai, former prisoners, journalists, professors, students, and lawyers have all been rounded up for arrest as well. Mays Abu Ghosh is one of those arrested, and managing to release a text message before her phone was taken away, she shared that all were taken away for interrogation. They collectively refused to sign an agreement, and then the women and men were separated. Some have reportedly been beaten, according to Mays. Please share these posts and continue to press for the release of all Palestinian and Arab political prisoners from Israeli and PA jails. #FreeAllPalestinianPoliticalPrisoners #CondemnThePA #FreePalestine Until Liberation and Return, USPCN #UnitedStates #Palestine #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #PalestinianAuthority #USPalestinianCommunityNetwork div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).

USPCN uplifts the demands of our people who have called on us to shed light on the so-called Palestinian Authority (PA), its corruption, and its use of brutal force to silence, murder, and imprison dissenting voices!

We demand freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners who have been targeted by the traitorous PA and its security apparatus in the past few days. Every branch is an enemy to the cause of liberation, and the PA never has been and never will be a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The PA is only empowered because of Oslo and its funders; and because its source of power are those who ethnically cleanse and oppress the Palestinian people, we are not surprised by the PA’s recent mass arrests of dignified Palestinian activists following its murder of the esteemed shaheed, Nizar Banat.

Those arrested include Ubai al Aboudi and his wife, Hind. Ubai played a critical role in framing USPCN’s Campaign for Liberation and Dignity, which has raised over $65,000 of unconditional aid for the people. Fortunately, Ubai and Hind were released hours ago and are now safely in the company of family.

Meanwhile, the PA furthered its corruption with vaccine deals, squandered conditional aid money to fund its Western tastes, and sat with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken while doing the bidding of the Zionist enemy, Israel.

Banat was killed for pointing out these patterns. After targeting Hind and Ubai, former prisoners, journalists, professors, students, and lawyers have all been rounded up for arrest as well. Mays Abu Ghosh is one of those arrested, and managing to release a text message before her phone was taken away, she shared that all were taken away for interrogation. They collectively refused to sign an agreement, and then the women and men were separated. Some have reportedly been beaten, according to Mays.

Please share these posts and continue to press for the release of all Palestinian and Arab political prisoners from Israeli and PA jails. #FreeAllPalestinianPoliticalPrisoners #CondemnThePA #FreePalestine

Until Liberation and Return,

USPCN

#UnitedStates #Palestine #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #PalestinianAuthority #USPalestinianCommunityNetwork

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/uspcn-our-response-pa-s-recent-mass-arrests-palestinian-activists Wed, 07 Jul 2021 14:57:52 +0000 New Yorkers protest demands justice for Basel Al-Araj https://fightbacknews.org/new-yorkers-protest-demands-justice-basel-al-araj?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Enter a descriptive sentence about the photo here.") New York, NY – About 40 protesters gathered at Lexington and 65th, the location of the Palestinian Mission, to join an international day of action demanding justice for Basel Al-Araj and an end of the collaboration between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israeli forces. The protest was called by the New York chapter of Palestinian Youth Movement. !--more-- Basel Al-Araj was a Palestinian youth freedom fighter against the violent and brutal Israeli regime. He and five of his fellow activists were imprisoned by the PA last year. They were tortured and beaten throughout their captivity for planning opposition to Israel. Al-Araj and his comrades launched a hunger strike and were released after eight days. However, once they had secured their release from the PA prison, they were pursued by Israeli forces. While Israel was able to capture four of the six, Al-Araj was able to escape and had been on the run since last year. On March 6, Israeli forces found Al-Araj’s hideout and bombarded it with rockets and bullets. Al-Araj was effectively executed without trial or due process. Despite an impending blizzard, protesters were in high spirits as they chanted in Arabic and English. One of the chants was, “Israeli Zionists - number one terrorist!” Towards the end of the protest, people from the crowd went to the center and spoke up regarding Palestine, the Israeli apartheid and the movement in the U.S. Michela Martinazzi spoke on behalf of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Network and said, “Basel was on the run from the Israeli forces when they found him and extra-judicially executed him. He bravely fought them off for two hours before he died amongst bullets and rocket fire. Basel's unrelenting passion for freedom and justice should be an example for us all. Basel was a hero and freedom fighter. And we have to honor him by securing liberation for Palestine!” She also reminded the crowd that Samidoun hosts weekly protests on Fridays, where each week a Palestinian political prisoner or liberation fighter is highlighted, and how this week they chose Al-Araj. The crowd continued to chant for the next hour until it became dark. One of the organizers of the event thanked the crowd and protesters walked away chanting, “We’ll be back!” #NewYorkNewYork #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #PalestinianAuthority #BaselAlAraj #MiddleEast div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Enter a descriptive sentence about the photo here.

New York, NY – About 40 protesters gathered at Lexington and 65th, the location of the Palestinian Mission, to join an international day of action demanding justice for Basel Al-Araj and an end of the collaboration between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israeli forces. The protest was called by the New York chapter of Palestinian Youth Movement.

Basel Al-Araj was a Palestinian youth freedom fighter against the violent and brutal Israeli regime. He and five of his fellow activists were imprisoned by the PA last year. They were tortured and beaten throughout their captivity for planning opposition to Israel. Al-Araj and his comrades launched a hunger strike and were released after eight days. However, once they had secured their release from the PA prison, they were pursued by Israeli forces. While Israel was able to capture four of the six, Al-Araj was able to escape and had been on the run since last year. On March 6, Israeli forces found Al-Araj’s hideout and bombarded it with rockets and bullets. Al-Araj was effectively executed without trial or due process.

Despite an impending blizzard, protesters were in high spirits as they chanted in Arabic and English. One of the chants was, “Israeli Zionists – number one terrorist!”

Towards the end of the protest, people from the crowd went to the center and spoke up regarding Palestine, the Israeli apartheid and the movement in the U.S.

Michela Martinazzi spoke on behalf of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Network and said, “Basel was on the run from the Israeli forces when they found him and extra-judicially executed him. He bravely fought them off for two hours before he died amongst bullets and rocket fire. Basel's unrelenting passion for freedom and justice should be an example for us all. Basel was a hero and freedom fighter. And we have to honor him by securing liberation for Palestine!”

She also reminded the crowd that Samidoun hosts weekly protests on Fridays, where each week a Palestinian political prisoner or liberation fighter is highlighted, and how this week they chose Al-Araj. The crowd continued to chant for the next hour until it became dark. One of the organizers of the event thanked the crowd and protesters walked away chanting, “We’ll be back!”

#NewYorkNewYork #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #PalestinianAuthority #BaselAlAraj #MiddleEast

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/new-yorkers-protest-demands-justice-basel-al-araj Tue, 14 Mar 2017 19:43:35 +0000 Palestinian Authority told to end repression against Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine https://fightbacknews.org/palestinian-authority-told-end-repression-against-popular-front-liberation-palestine?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 21 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. PFLP demands PA security forces end campaign of arrests and persecution against its members !--more-- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the West Bank demanded the Palestinian Authority security apparatus and its intelligence services immediately halt the campaign of arrests and persecution of its supporters and members in various parts of the West Bank on March 20. Specifically, the PFLP statement pointed to al-Azza refugee camp, where 5 PFLP supporters were arrested, dozens of homes raided, and 5 others being pursued by PA security forces. The PFLP denounced the Authority’s security forces’ campaign against a Palestinian national faction that is targeted by the Zionist occupation, which is increasing its aggression against our people everywhere, including targeting our comrades with murder and mass arrests. The PFLP demanded that the PA end security coordination with the occupation, which has been a scourge upon our people, including the arrests of many honorable activists. It recalled that the past days have seen several occasions in which the Zionist occupation has arrested Palestinian activists and freedom fighters hours after they were released by the PA security apparatus. The Front demanded that the PA must learn that these practices are rejected by the Palestinian people. It is the proper task of any Palestinian security force to protect our people, their activists and their freedom fighters and not become a whip to lash at the rising of their own people and their activists. #Palestine #PopularFrontForTheLiberationOfPalestine #PFLP #PalestinianAuthority #PoliticalRepression #MiddleEast div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 21 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. PFLP demands PA security forces end campaign of arrests and persecution against its members

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the West Bank demanded the Palestinian Authority security apparatus and its intelligence services immediately halt the campaign of arrests and persecution of its supporters and members in various parts of the West Bank on March 20. Specifically, the PFLP statement pointed to al-Azza refugee camp, where 5 PFLP supporters were arrested, dozens of homes raided, and 5 others being pursued by PA security forces.

The PFLP denounced the Authority’s security forces’ campaign against a Palestinian national faction that is targeted by the Zionist occupation, which is increasing its aggression against our people everywhere, including targeting our comrades with murder and mass arrests.

The PFLP demanded that the PA end security coordination with the occupation, which has been a scourge upon our people, including the arrests of many honorable activists. It recalled that the past days have seen several occasions in which the Zionist occupation has arrested Palestinian activists and freedom fighters hours after they were released by the PA security apparatus.

The Front demanded that the PA must learn that these practices are rejected by the Palestinian people. It is the proper task of any Palestinian security force to protect our people, their activists and their freedom fighters and not become a whip to lash at the rising of their own people and their activists.

#Palestine #PopularFrontForTheLiberationOfPalestine #PFLP #PalestinianAuthority #PoliticalRepression #MiddleEast

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/palestinian-authority-told-end-repression-against-popular-front-liberation-palestine Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:56:56 +0000 A critical response to the Palestinian Authority September statehood bid https://fightbacknews.org/critical-response-palestinian-authority-september-statehood-bid?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statements from US Palestinian Community Network. !--more-- US Palestinian Community Network’s response to the Palestinian Authority September statehood bid In recent months, the Palestinian Authority has been intensifying diplomatic efforts to declare statehood at the United Nations. Wasting no avenue, the PA has been seeking to mobilize popular forces in Palestine and in the shatat (diaspora) behind this initiative. Students, community associations, solidarity campaigns, and organizers, across the US, have all been called upon to “make Palestine the 194th state.” We call on all Palestinian and Arab community associations, societies and committees, student organizations, solidarity campaigns, to reject fully and unequivocally the Statehood initiative as a distraction that unjustifiably and irresponsibly endangers Palestinian rights and institutions. Any diplomatic initiatives, including the initiative at the United Nations this September, must preserve the status of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people at the United Nations and protect and advance our inalienable rights. The current Statehood initiative does neither, and is therefore an unacceptable threat to the Palestinian national movement. We call on all Palestinians across the United States to participate in strengthening the campaign for direct elections to the Palestinian National Council by participating in Palestinian Movement Assemblies and Community Meetings for Democratic National Representation. Held throughout the summer, these meetings will continue through the fall and throughout the country. They will grow as the campaign grows, building a critical mass for our demand for democratic representation. You can find more information and when a PMA will be taking place near you here. Let us all join the rally at the United Nations on September 15. The march will take place on Thursday, September 15 in New York City, with a 4:30 gathering in Times Square followed by a 5:30 march to Grand Central and the United Nations. Coordinated by a broad coalition of organizations and campaigns, the Palestine UN Coalition demands the United Nations hear our voice. We are the people of Palestine, we are the allies of Palestine, and we will be heard by the General Assembly. USPCN’s Coordinating Committee has attached a comprehensive statement titled, “Liberation and Return are the Demands of the Palestinian People: A note of caution to our people and our allies,” to this press release, which further clarifies USPCN’s position, articulates an alternative to the Palestinian Authority’s subversive maneuvering, and explains the current statehood bid within the context of the broader Palestine liberation movement and its goals. uspcn.org Liberation and Return are the Demands of the Palestinian People: A note of caution to our people and our allies In recent months, the Palestinian Authority has intensified diplomatic efforts to declare statehood at the United Nations. Wasting no avenue, the PA has been seeking to mobilize popular forces in Palestine and in the shatat (diaspora) behind this initiative. Students, community associations, solidarity campaigns, and organizers, across the US, have all been called upon to “make Palestine the 194th state.” While the call sounds attractive, many community members wonder what to make of it. Will this initiative bring Palestine closer to liberation? Will it help Palestinians achieve their right to return? Some have remarked that, if nothing else, it will not hurt. The US Palestinian Community Network, a grassroots community-led network of democratically elected chapters across the US, asserts that such initiatives, in fact, do hurt. They are not benign exercises, but can cause great damage to achievements made through the hard, brutal, struggle of generations of Palestinians. As has been recently revealed, this initiative in no way protects nor advances our inalienable, and internationally recognized, rights—fundamental of which are our right to return to the homes and properties from which we were forcibly expelled, our right to self-determination, and our right to resist the settler colonial regime that has occupied our land for more than 63 years. The Palestinian people, wherever they are, hold these rights. They are non-negotiable. No one can barter them away for false promises of “peace” and “stability.” The cynical irony of turning a UN resolution enshrining our right to return under international law (UNGA Res. 194) into a rhetorical ploy should give anyone pause. That it is being advanced at a time when the PA does not even have the political mandate of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza through Palestinian Legislative Council elections must also give us pause. Our inalienable rights give us the foundational principles with which we seek liberation and return. When these two things are achieved, it is then that we will achieve independence. Not before, and not without the mandate of the entirety of the Palestinian people. Indeed, it is in struggle and the emboldening of our emancipatory spirit that we free ourselves. Resistance is our first independence. But, the question remains. Who protects our inalienable rights? Who speaks in the name of the Palestinian people? In our long Palestinian revolutionary struggle, no matter where we lived, we fought for our right to determine our own destiny; pave a path to freedom that would be of our own design, our own democratic will. In 1968, we rescued the Palestinian Liberation Organization from Arab regimes, and through a generation of struggle and sacrifice, transformed it into the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, recognized by the Arab League and by the United Nations. Through the PLO, and its countless popular committees, associations, unions, and camp formations, many (though not all) Palestinians had a voice within their movement. Indeed, it is that popular democratic mobilization that gave the PLO its legitimacy. And in its continued role as legitimate representative, the PLO, and only the PLO, has the legal mandate to advance the political will of the Palestinian people. Any diplomatic initiatives, including the initiative at the United Nations this September, must therefore preserve the status of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people at the United Nations and protect and advance our inalienable rights. The current Statehood initiative does neither, and is therefore an unacceptable threat to the Palestinian national movement. We say this knowing full well that, in the last few decades, the PLO has been decimated by corruption, ineptitude, collaboration, and betrayal. It must be reclaimed, cleaned, revived and rebuilt. It is we, the Palestinian people, across the shatat and in the homeland, who will do it. It is ours. We will not allow it to be stolen from us. The PLO must expand to truly represent all Palestinians, inside Israel, in the West Bank and Gaza, in the camps, and across the shatat. It is we who give it legitimacy; it is we who give political mandate to our leadership; it is we who will breathe new life into our long too dormant national institutions through popular democratic mobilization. In the mean time, we hold the current occupants of PLO positions ultimately responsible for protecting the PLO’s role as the representative of the Palestinian people. A failure to do so must have consequences. We call on all Palestinian and Arab community associations, societies and committees, student organizations, solidarity campaigns, to reject fully and unequivocally the Statehood initiative as a distraction that unjustifiably and irresponsibly endangers Palestinian rights and institutions. We need not be concerned that to do so would be to stand with the interests of the US or Israel. Lack of US and Israeli support for the statehood initiative is a red herring, meant to distract us from the continued support that both have provided for an Authority and “peace process” that daily cost the Palestinian people their liberty, self-determination and lives. However, such an initiative nonetheless has potential to positively impact our struggle. It clarifies for us that we must return to a framework we once had, but one that has been thwarted by decades of endless and cynical negotiations, diplomatic stunts, and “peace deals.” We must return to a framework of genuine struggle and a cohesive and coherent strategy built upon our inalienable rights. The first step in such a strategy must be an escalated focus on Palestinian mobilization for direct elections to the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the legislative body of the PLO. It is the PNC that holds the mechanism by which Palestinians can collectively determine the strategy the PLO must execute in our name. Its democratization is key to cohering us, bringing back to us our collective force. Indeed, democratization of our movement must reach into all aspects of our political work, in each of our community associations, as well as all our student, labor and popular formations. We therefore call on all Palestinians across the United States to participate in strengthening the campaign for direct elections to the Palestinian National Council by participating in Palestinian Movement Assemblies and Community Meetings for Democratic National Representation. Held throughout the summer, these meetings will continue through the fall and throughout the country. They will grow as the campaign grows, building a critical mass for our demand for democratic representation. You can find more information and when a PMA will be taking place near you here. Organize an assembly, community meeting, or town hall in your area. USPCN will be with you every step of the way, with support, guidance and coordination. We can only demand of our struggle what we put into it. We are indivisible from the Palestinian people. We must activate and elevate our role in the shatat for our common liberation and return. To students, solidarity campaigns and allies, we caution you against this distraction of resources, time, and energy. The path for solidarity and mutual struggle is clear. We must continue the work of building our common struggles for all forms of emancipation and liberation. We must continue to isolate Zionism, and strengthen the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in the United States by getting involved in the growing campaigns across the country. We must return to international institutions with our inalienable rights intact, and utilize all legal instruments, vigorously, to challenge Israel’s impunity for its continued and unceasing crimes in Gaza. We must support the legal campaigns against Israeli war criminals, shame them, hound them, and try them at the International Criminal Court for their continued crimes against our humanity. And we must also take to the streets. Let us all rally at the United Nations on September 15 (more info). The march will take place on Thursday, September 15 in New York City, with a 4:30 gathering in Times Square followed by a 5:30 march to Grand Central and the United Nations. We demand the United Nations hear our voice. We are the people of Palestine, we are the allies of Palestine, and we will be heard by the General Assembly. To our beautiful brave Arab people, from Tripoli to Cairo to Homs to Sana’a to Amman to Manama, we salute you and stand with you. In devoting ourselves to our liberation, we honor your sacrifices and struggle for our Palestine and for our Arab future. Stand with us, open the gates and crossings that besiege us, and rest assured: we will not stop until the banner of freedom flutters above the skies of our Jerusalem. Until liberation and return. US Palestinian Community Network August 27, 2011 #UnitedStates #Palestine #PLO #PalestinianAuthority #MiddleEast div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statements from US Palestinian Community Network.

US Palestinian Community Network’s response to the Palestinian Authority September statehood bid

In recent months, the Palestinian Authority has been intensifying diplomatic efforts to declare statehood at the United Nations. Wasting no avenue, the PA has been seeking to mobilize popular forces in Palestine and in the shatat (diaspora) behind this initiative. Students, community associations, solidarity campaigns, and organizers, across the US, have all been called upon to “make Palestine the 194th state.”

We call on all Palestinian and Arab community associations, societies and committees, student organizations, solidarity campaigns, to reject fully and unequivocally the Statehood initiative as a distraction that unjustifiably and irresponsibly endangers Palestinian rights and institutions.

Any diplomatic initiatives, including the initiative at the United Nations this September, must preserve the status of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people at the U