Carrying approximately 310 passengers -including workers, students, public figures and activists- the convoy was packed with symbolic food supplies which the besieged strip is deprived of, as a result of the Israeli-imposed siege and Egypt’s refusal to allow these banned items through. The convoy was co-organized by various Egyptian entities including syndicates; political parties and organizations active in supporting the Palestinian cause. Our convoy action came in light of Egypt’s decision on 1 June 2010 to “open” the Rafah border crossing “indefinitely.” If applied as spin-doctors marketed it to public opinion, Egypt’s pledge would practically end the siege of Gaza and the suffering of its people, which is why it was hailed by the state-run media as a “master … [read more]

We thank the many hundreds of dedicated activists for the rights of the Palestinian people and for justice and freedom that made the long way from different parts of Palestine and from all over the world and shared with us their enthusiasm and insights through three long days of networking, discussions and commitment to struggle together for the just cause. We thank the many hundreds of organizations and individuals that couldn’t come to attend the conference but send us their warm greetings and supportive messages or signed the petition in support of the goals of the conference. We want to assure all of you that our common effort was not in vain. The conference was an important step forward for analyzing the roots of the racist regime, critically study many different experiences … [read more]

Palestinian and European youth worked jointly in renovating a building, which had been destroyed in the successive sieges and bombardments of the camp. The restored building became a multipurpose community centre, a place of interchange, memory and civil commitment, a meeting point for all the young Palestinian of the refugee camp: the Cultural Centre “Sumud”. This year, Sumud starts the second phase: a new brigade will go to the camp. With the help of the collected donations, further restoration and furnishing works will be carried out in the centre. The target of this year is even more ambitious: beside the voluntary works in the building, a film making workshop will be held for Palestinian and Lebanese youth, as well as for the international volunteers, whose task will also be … [read more]

As Palestinians living inside Israel commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba; Israel continues its political persecutions of Palestinian leaders, recently arresting two veteran activists: Dr. Omar Said, a political activist and Mr. Ameer Makhoul- director of Ittijah and chairman of the Popular Committee for the Defense of the Political Freedoms. The arrests were conducted in fierce violation of basic human and civil rights and mark an alarming escalation in Israel's political persecutions to anyone who defies its institutionalized policies of discrimination. Ameer Makhoul and Omar Said join a long list of political persecutions routinely practiced by Israel's General Security Service 'Shabak', including denying professor Noam Chomsky, a Jewish political activist, … [read more]

The fronts to look at are: US plans, the Iraqi collaborator class, the regional politics, Iraqi armed resistance forces, and then the bulk of Iraqi population having to survive and find their ways within the mounting chaos. Within each of these there are conflicts with complex dynamics. And all the fronts are really fields that overlap, rapidly influencing each other if sudden shifts occur Therefore only vague trends with relative persistence are possible to detect. And I address myself here to these at the Iraqi public level, and how it sees the other fronts. Same divisions? These are contradictory tends. On the one hand we have sectarian-ethnic entrenchment, shown by people mostly voting as largely sectarian and ethnic groups, as promoted by the occupation. One … [read more]

United against Israeli apartheid and colonialism The Second Haifa Conference for the Return of the Palestinian Refugees and for the Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine (28-30 May 2010) The goals of the conference are to: • Raise awareness and interest in a solution based on the return of the refugees and the democratic secular state locally and internationally. • Provide a forum for the free exchange of opinions and experiences between the supporters of the project, leading to common activities. • Create follow-up and coordination mechanisms to build the movement. Lawyer Salma Wakeem, from the preparatory committee of the conference, sees the conference as “a qualitative step in the building of a world-wide progressive movement that is based on the … [read more]

Last week, the Secretary-General of the PFLP -through written answers to Reuters- has warned against more peace talks with Israel, saying a resumption of negotiations will not achieve Palestinian goals and deepen divisions among Palestinians. He said the Middle East conflict could only be resolved through the creation of a state shared by Palestinians and Jews. The talks proposed by the United States to revive the two-decade old peace process aimed to hide “American impotence” and US President Barack Obama’s failure to make good on promises of a new beginning with the Muslim world, he said. (sources: the News.com / … [read more]

* Stop ethnic cleansing. For the return of the Palestinian refugees to all the areas from which they were expelled. * Put an end to all forms of occupation, Apartheid, racism, discrimination and oppression. The Palestinian people should re-unite and live as a free nation in their homeland. * The returning refugees and all the residents of Palestine will live in one democratic state, without discrimination. This state will ensure human rights, equality, prosperity and full participation in building the new society for all its citizens. To ensure these rights, the prospective state will adopt a constitution that will prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, class or any other reason. We support the call for building an international … [read more]

In an interview with Reuters released on May 5, 2010, conducted in written responses obtained through his lawyer, Comrade Sa'adat emphasized that any negotiations will not achieve the objectives of the Palestinian people and will only deepen internal divisions. Comrade Sa'adat said that the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders and the right of return are considered a step towards the resolution of the historic conflict. However, he stressed that the indirect negotiations being pushed by the United States are only a cover for the "continuation of an Israeli policy built on the continuation of occupation." Comrade Sa'adat condemned any Palestinian participation in these indirect negotiations, asserting that they frustrate any attempt to restore national unity. Said … [read more]

Declaration of the Preparatory Committee of the Second Haifa Conference For the Return of the Palestinian Refugees and the Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine Endorsed by the committee in its meeting in Jaffa, 9/4/2010 The Preparatory Committee The preparatory committee is a group of activists and individuals from different political movements and parties, human rights organizations, civil society and various sectors of public life such as the arts, academic research and culture. We have decided to work together to convene this conference out of conviction in the importance of its message. Why we call for the Return of Palestinian refugees and the Democratic Secular State? The Palestinian people suffer from the denial of their national and human rights, from … [read more]

In a speech, Leyla Zana had praised Abdullah Ocalan for his tireless work for the Kurdish causes and announced him as the Kurdish national leader. She also stated that if Erdogan is intending to solve the Kurdish issue he should take Ocalan as the interlocutor and instead of travelling to Diyarbakir he should visit Ocalan in his solitary confinement in the Island of Imrali Prison. In another speech Leyla Zana expressed his admirations to the PKK and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan's importance to the Kurdish people to the importance the brain and heart have to humans. "They have created a new life for the Kurdish people, so that a people that used to be ashamed of its existence gained a spirit of freedom and resistance, Zana said" Leyla Zana the winner of the Sakharov Prize … [read more]

«The Iraqi resistance has been waiting years for you to stand condemning Iran for its participation in the invasion of Iraq, and dissemination of sectarian strife, but you do not do, unfortunately! It seems you are with Iran even with its occupations the Iraqi lands, in Fakka for example, and kill thousands of Iraqis and playing the most serious role in hitting the Iraqi resistance in coordination with America, which makes you practically movement loyal to America by supporting Iran the most dangerous party in the implementation of US- ZIONIST schemes to divide Iraq,. This support to Iran IS very strange because Iran is playing the role of the first partner for America in the invasion and destruction of Iraq and the invasion of Afghanistan.» Salah Al-Mukhtar A first … [read more]

In its first meeting the Preparatory Committee agreed about the following issues: • The conference will be held under the title: “For the Return of the Palestinian Refugees and for the Democratic Secular State in Historic Palestine”. • The conference program will include: o An opening plenum on Friday evening 28/5 o Workshops for presentations and discussions on Saturday 29/5 o Consultative meetings for the establishment of an international coalition – Sunday 30/5 • The call for the conference will be in the name of the preparatory committee, which will start its activities immediately, with the participation of all the attendees. The committee will prepare a detailed program for the conference and mobilize supporters of the cause and the general public to … [read more]

Since G. W. Bush has labeled Iran a "rogue state", a brutal campaign of demonization against this country with a multimillenial history and its government is going on; it is a campaign based on lies which is clearly meant to clear the way for military aggression. We all remember how the war on Iraq was prepared. As the sanctions and the embargo caused half a million deaths (mainly children, because of the lack of medecine, milk and necessary goods), Iraq was accused to store "weapons of mass destruction". How can we forget the great play-acting through which Colin Powell, in order to justify what was going to be the biggest massacre after Vietnam, went as far as deceiving the UN Assembly by showing the famous "smoking gun"? The United States, which defend their global supremacy with … [read more]

In this sense the centre already started several programmes: 1. Dialogue table: some youth groups’ representatives meet around the table in the centre to discuss their concerns. That can root the principle of dialogue in order to find common grounds and the base to real cooperation. 2. Novels club: this programme is designed to offer to the youth the basics of writing. This can fertilize the field for cultural production. The inputs can give motivation to find the way of the future, full of insistance to stand against suffering and oppression. 3. Palestinian girl club: this is a very ambitious project. Group of girls aged 10-14 come to the Sumud centre to develop their skills, to practice hobbies, make plans... The base of this club is self-governance, Nashet only … [read more]

by Jonas FellerIsrael, which has recently been condemned by the UN Human Rights Council because of their war crimes (1), asks Germany to build them two new warships – for free. (2)After the German chancellor Merkel argued in front of the US congress that “whoever threatens Israel, threatens us” (3), it seems as if Israel will get what it wants. This wouldn’t, however, be anything new: At the turn of the millennium, Germany financed three submarines spending 560 Million Euros on them. In 2012, there will two additional submarines, this time German tax payers will have to pay 333 Million Euros. (4)If the German government is going to deliver weapons to Israel, they are therefore directly responsible for taking part in the Zionist terror against the Palestinians, the … [read more]

An o pen Letter to the Board of Governors of Trondheim University By Abnaa el-Balad- The Student Movement, Haifa, 5 November 2009  We are Arab students at the Israeli universities writing to you in support of the proposed academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions. We believe that the boycott is timely and hopefully will help in upholding moral values of fairness, justice and equality which have been sorely missed in our region. While the reason for the boycott is rightly what has been going on in the 1967 occupied territories, we propose another angle which affirms the need for boycott, namely our daily experience as Arabs in Israeli institutions. We are the lucky ones who have been able to pursue our studies in institutions of Higher Education, to which we arrived against … [read more]

The illegitimate Israeli occupation military court in Bir Saba today extended Sa'adat's isolation for six additional months.As actions across Palestine and around the world in support of imprisoned Palestinian national leader Ahmad Sa'adat continue, the illegitimate Israeli occupation military court in Bir Saba today extended Sa'adat's isolation for six additional months. Take action today to say that we will not allow these abuses to continue!Ahmad Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, continued his boycott of the occupation courts, stating that these courts are illegitimate, invalid and can produce nothing but a mockery of justice, and that these courts are part and parcel of the war machine that continues its aggression against the … [read more]

First reportOur work brigade has now been in Lebanon for four days, and in the camp for two days.Upon our arrival, permission to enter the camp was refused by the Lebanese military even though all the bureaucratic steps had been taken: the reason given by the military was they are not used to such large groups asking permission to enter, but we suppose that political matters also played a role.While we were staying outside of the camp, with the help of our comrades in Nashet we managed to arrange two meetings with Lebanese political parties.The first one was with the Popular Democratic Party, a Marxist-Leninist party with a clear anti-imperialist outlook which supports resistances worldwide, and to whom of course the Palestinian Resistance is a crucial point; they also have been carrying … [read more]

2.    Even the Western media had to admit that it is the poor who strongly support the president. His allegations of corruption promptly gained him the epithet “populist” in the West—an indirect admission that he enjoys broad support from below.3.    The capitalist establishment around Rafsanjani (number two of the regime and chairperson of the Assembly of Experts) and a broad coalition of Islamic forces from the “left” to the “right” actually didn’t support Ahmadinejad, but his contender Mousavi. Ayatollah Khamenei (number one and successor to Khomeini), after the elections sided with the victor; however that doesn’t mean that Ahmadinejad was his favourite candidate, because Ahmadinejad’s fiery … [read more]