The statement below was issued today at a protest in Beirut outside the Palestinian embassy. It follows an interview Mahmoud Abbas gave to Israeli television where he said he has no right to live on the land he was displaced from inside Israel. This was understood by many as a rejection of the Palestinian right of return. The protest is yet another sign of the crumbling edifice of the Oslo Accords and the centrality of the right of return to Palestinians and Palestinian political discourse.
Palestinian Youth Statement from Lebanon
In his latest statement, Mahmoud Abbas, the term-expired president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), reiterated the PA’s commitment to the futile negotiations process and compromised Palestinian historical rights, foremost among them the Right of Return (RoR).
A protester holding a poster of the Palestinian cartoon character
Handala kicking Mahmoud Abbas. Handala was created by the
artist Naji Al-Ali and represents Palestinian refugees. The poster
says, “Whoever doesn’t want to fight for liberation should get the
hell out.” (Photo: Facebook)
Abbas’ recognition of the Zionist entity is a blatant violation of our right to Palestine, undivided, and our right to return to it. Such statements are an insult to the sacrifices of our martyrs and the struggle of our people. Furthermore, his characterization of armed struggle as terrorism flagrantly undermines our right to practice to all forms of resistance, particularly under occupation, which is a right enshrined in international law.
We confirm our commitment to the original spirit of the Palestinian National Charter, and we reiterate that our people’s sacrifices of martyrdom and struggle should be solely invested toward the goal of liberating all of Palestine.
We are here today to demand the revocation of the Oslo Accords; the abandonment of the negotiations discourse; and the dissolution of the Palestinian authorities, which have burdened our people with internal divisions along political factions and political arrests.
We are here today to reassert our reclamation of all of historic Palestine, and to reiterate that we are the daughters and sons of this land.
We demand that the leadership of the PLO:
1. Hold Mahmoud Abbas accountable for his statements that are detrimental to the national spirit among Palestinian people worldwide;
2. Pressure Abbas to issue a public apology to all Palestinians, and Palestinian refugees in particular;
3. Reaffirm the Right of Return;
4. Immediately halt all processes of security coordination with the Zionist entity and cut off all channels of political, security and media cooperation;
5. Immediately release all Palestinian political prisoners and activists currently held in the prisons of both Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza;
6. Seek unity and take meaningful steps towards ending the Palestinian political division;
7. Immediately set in motion a process for electing a new Palestinian National Council involving all Palestinians worldwide;
8. Revive and reactivate the PLO, constructing a Palestinian National strategy that upholds the original spirit of the Palestinian Charter and guides the struggle of all Palestinian political groups;
9. Hold accountable any party that compromises historically enshrined Palestinian rights, creating internal divisions.
Together on the path of victory, return and self determination
Also note the rally this afternoon in New York:
http://al-awdany.org/2012/11/friday-nov-9-rally-for-the-right-to-return
http://www.facebook.com/events/295693450532955
Who is ‘Palestinian Youth’?
In time Abbas will be an alternate choice for Quisling in the lexicon.
The idea of making sure the PLO is freshly revitalized by an election by ALL Palestinians is important, because any treaty negotiated by the PLO SHOULD [1] be made in the name of all Palestinians and [2] should (somehow) be RATIFIED by all Palestinian people.
I don’t know how [2] could work, but it is important that no “peace” traty be negotiate AND ratified by a quisling (or corrupted, as PA leadership is widely thought to be) PLO.
Abbas’ recognition of the Zionist entity is a blatant violation of our right to Palestine, undivided, and our right to return to it. Such statements are an insult to the sacrifices of our martyrs and the struggle of our people. Furthermore, his characterization of armed struggle as terrorism flagrantly undermines our right to practice to all forms of resistance, particularly under occupation, which is a right enshrined in international law.
The right to all forms of resistance is not enshrined in international law. The UN has long since ordered both sides to refrain from any more threats or use of force. There is no legal obligation under the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention to repatriate displaced persons, so long as the belligerents are still engaged in armed conflict. So armed resistance is counter-productive to the interests of refugees.
The two sides in this conflict spent a decade threatening each other with a fratricidal war and committing acts of violence and reprisal against each other before the UN adopted a decision to partition Palestine.
Resolution 194(III) only recommended that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so.” – it said nothing at all about the rights of the belligerent parties to use armed resistance to unify the country. In fact, the Security Council and the General Assembly Mediator ordered a cease fire and accepted the Armistice Agreements. So the proposition that Israel is an occupying power inside the Green Line is really a non-starter.
The Security Council ordered the two sides to terminate all of their belligerent claims (resolution 242) and to negotiate a “just settlement of the refugee problem”. The fact that this group has given up on “futile negotiations” doesn’t alter the legal situation. It was the General Assembly that finally ordered Abbas and “the Palestinian Authority to undertake visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt and restrain individuals and groups conducting and planning violent attacks” as part of one of its “Uniting for Peace” resolutions adopted during the 10th Emergency Special Session. See A/RES/ES-10/15, 2 August 2004. –http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F3B95E613518A0AC85256EEB00683444