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freepalestine
6th May 2011, 04:21
On May 1: Palestinian workers lead the struggle for social justice and liberation

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The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement on May 1, 2011, marking International Workers' Day, saying that the working class are the leading strugglers for freedom, progress and social justice and recalling all of the martyrs of the working class in the world, the Arab nation, and our land of Palestine. Those martyrs, said the Front, proved with their blood that freedom, justice and progress can never be obtained by begging, but only through persistent struggle against exploitation and rejection of greed as a law governing human relationships.


The Front emphasized in the statement the suffering of poor people and workers due to unemployment, occupation and siege, saying that poverty has continued to grow as workers are deprived of their rights. It noted that the Palestinian Authority has been pillaging the pockets of the poor through increasing tax collection and the imposition of new taxes, while the economic situation deteriorates and the Palestinian economy is deeply enmeshed with the Zionist state thanks to the Paris Agreements. In addition, the Front noted the growth of a corrupt layer of bureaucrats in Palestinian society, the widening gap between rich and poor, the absence of a social safety net or protection for the poor - all while under Zionist occupation.


The Front statement said that on this International Workers' Day, the streets of Arab cities are full of rebelling poor and working people, confronting the machine of capitalist globaliation, aggression and exploitation, ranging from launching colonial wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine to the impoverishment of people around the world and the mortgaging of nations to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, promoting dependency and underdevelopment in order to ensure global capitalist control.


The PFLP said that this day comes amid an intensifying crisis of the global capitalist system and the failure of all attempts to repair it based on market mechanisms and continuing plunder and exploitation. Reactionary Arab regimes, built on appropriating the resources of the nation and the impoverishment of its people and denial of even minimal rights, have been deposed and a new Arab era of progressive democracy and steps forward toward social justice, self-determination and social control of Arab resources are developing, with great potential to break the cycle of dependency and underdevelopment.


The Front also emphasized that national unity in Palestine and democracy in Palestinian institutions must also apply in the Palestinian trade unions. The Front noted the troubling vacuum of labor organizing in Palestine, and the absence of democracy and elections within the Palestinian trade unions, saying that Palestinian workers must be organized to struggle to confront occupation and exploitation.


The Front called for an international campaign to support Palestinian efforts to disengage from the Zionist economy, cancelling the Paris Agreement as one of the treacherous results of Oslo, as well as for Palestinian efforts to promote productive national economic work, combat corruption, and reverse increased tax collection and imposition upon poor and working people.


The Front also called for the re-formation of the Palestinian trade union movement through democratic elections, from the rank-and-file to the highest positions, so that the trade unions can fulfill their role as the backbone of Palestinian civil society and a center of national and democratic struggle. These unions must be run democratically by workers, away from vote-trading and corruption, in order to struggle for social protections, including minimum wage protections and social insurance.


The Front appealed to the brave workers of Palestine to act to build popular economic efforts to combat dependency and impoverishment and to build the labor movement as a key part of our national movement essential to the victory of our people's struggle.
http://pflp.ps/english/?q=may-1-palestinian-workers-lead-struggle-social-jus

freepalestine
6th May 2011, 04:23
PFLP meets with NDA from Palestine '48 to discuss Arab revolutions and Palestine

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The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the National Democratic Alliance from Palestine '48 held a joint meeting at the PFLP office in Ramallah on April 27, 2011, discussing the Arab revolts sweeping through the Arab region, and their potential for Arab freedom, dignity, unity and struggle against Zionism and imperialism.


The joint meeting included Comrade Abdel-Rahim Mallouh, Deputy General Secretary of the PFLP, Comrade Khalida Jarrar, Political Bureau member, and a number of others; as well as Wasel Taha, chairman of the National Democratic Alliance; Awad Abdel Fattah, general secretary of the NDA; and other leaders including Jamal Zahalka, Haneen Zoabi, Dr. Mahmoud Mohareb, and Ayman al-Haj Yahia.


The participants engaged in an in-depth discussion of the Arab revolts, particularly the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, as well as the threats that continue today. They agreed that the current events in the Arab world are revolutionary events that have been anticipated for generations - a revolution of Arab freedom and human dignity against tyranny and corruption, regardless of challenges that arise amidst great changes.


The second topic of discussion was the impact of the Arab revolution on the Palestinian situation. All agreed that the Arab revolution is strongly in the interests of the Palestinian people, as the Arab people are victims of the Western colonial project, of which the Zionist movement is the spearhead. They called for the development of the youth and popular movement to end the occupation.


The two parties noted that the steps forward in Palestinian national reconciliation is the product of the positive effects of the Arab revolts, including the new, national Egyptian political approach toward Palestine.


The organizations also discussed the need to unite the Palestinian struggle to defeat occupation, establish Palestinian independence and self-determination, implement Palestinian refugees' right to return, abolish the apartheid regime in Israel and bring freedom and justice for the Palestinians of '48.


The delegations also discussed the hostility of Israel to democracy in the Arab world, as the expression of the will of the Arab masses means freedom from domestic tyranny and foreign domination and occupation.


The parties agreed to continue discussions together to benefit the Palestinian cause and the struggle to end occupation, apartheid and racism.




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Conference in Gaza commemorates Al-Hakim and discusses future of Arab left

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A conference, "Continuation of the Struggle on the Road to End Occupation and Unite the Arab Left," marking the third anniversary of the passing of Dr. George Habash, the founding leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Arab Nationalist Movement, was organized in Gaza on April 23-24, 2011.


The conference was organized by the Cultural Department of the PFLP in the Gaza Strip in the Assembly Hall in Gaza City. The conference was widely attended by leaders, cadres and members of the Front, academics, students, women's organizers, political activists and youth, and received presentations of a number of papers by Palestinian and Arab intellectuals and activists, reflecting different aspects of the history and legacy of Dr. George Habash.


The authors of papers at the conference included leading Marxist intellectual Dr. Samir Amin, Palestinian thinker and PFLP cultural leader Ghazi Sourani, writer Fadl al-Naqib, PFLP Political Bureau member Maher al-Taher, Egyptian political adviser Helmi Shaarawi, Palestinian writer Abdel-Qader Yassin, Palestinian writer Dr. Ahmad Qatamesh, Jordanian Marxist Hisham Ghassib, Egyptian writer Ahmad Bahaa Shaaban, Egyptian writer Abdul Ghaffar Shokr, Palestinian writer in Syria Salameh Kaileh and Lebanese Marxist Dr. Gilbert Ashcar.


The conference's contributions detailed the development of Al-Hakim's thought and action, alongside the development of the Palestinian, Arab and international movements against Zionism and imperialism. Participants discussed the role of the Arab left, the role - and present-day challenges to - reactionary Arab regimes, and the importance of a revolutionary party in achieving full victory and liberation for the Arab and Palestinian people.


Comrade Sami Fiqa'awi said that the conference was organized to enrich Marxist thought and Palestinian and Arab cultural discourse, noting that the Cultural Department planned to publish all contributions in the near future as an important reference regarding Al-Hakim's life and thought.

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