From: "Stasi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Peoples War] PFLP: Address By George Habbash From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (The Independent Palestinian Information Network) Date: Thu, Aug 30, 2001, 2:42pm (CDT+8) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (News List) Subject: Address by Dr. George Habash ______________________________________________ i n f o p a l -- The Independent Palestinian Information Network ______________________________________________ Contents: *** [1] Address by Dr. George Habash *** [2] PFLP: Letter to Our Comrades *** [3] Shedding Crocodile Tears +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- [1] Address by Dr. George Habash Address by Dr. George Habash to the Comrades, the Palestinian people, and the Arab masses on the occasion of the assassination of the general secretary of the PFLP, Abu Ali Mustafa 27 August 2001 To the Palestinian people To the Arab masses Today I received with great sadness the news about the assassination of the leader Abu Ali Mustafa by Sharon and his Zionist gang. This heinous crime that has robbed us of our long- standing comrade for over half a century, reaffirms that the Zionist enemy is determined to annihilate the leaders of our revolution and its cadres in order to force us to surrender. This enemy has apparently not learned the lessons of history. The enemy has not yet learned that the Palestinian people, who have offered hundreds of leaders and thousands of fighters, will not kneel in surrender. On the contrary, we will persevere in the struggle no matter how long it takes to regain our rights and the rights of our nation. We will remain steadfast in the struggle until the Zionist, colonialist project is defeated. On this day we remember Ghassan Kanafani, Guevara Gaza, Al Amassi, Abu Jihad, Abu Iyad, Faisal Husseini; and before them we remember Al-Qassam and Abd al-Qader Al-Husseini, and countless others who have fallen in the battle for Palestine. Their sacrifice and their memory motivates us to persevere. As I convey to our people and to the Arab Nation the loss of Abu Ali Mustafa whose determination, courage, and strength distinguished him over so many years, I assure you that the shedding of his blood will not be in vain. His comrades and his people will inhale the strength of his soul and become stronger and more determined to continue the struggle for freedom and independence. We are proud to remember that until his death, Abu Ali Mustafa proclaimed loudly and clearly that the foul war of Sharon will not frighten us. Neither will it subdue us or force us to deviate the path of revolution -- the path to freedom and victory. Our people, who have lost a teacher and a leader, know that Abu Ali Mustafa was an exceptional man who had the charisma of a great leader. Our people will continue to learn from him and from his spirit of resistance -- his patience, his determination, his strong will to force out the occupier and fulfill the dream of the right to return and the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. On this sad and painful occasion, I turn to all brave comrades of the PFLP and all members of the Palestinian revolution at home and abroad: I call on them to remain faithful, not only to Abu Ali Mustafa but also to all those who have sacrificed their blood for the sake of Palestine and for the Arab Cause. We promise you, dear Abu Ali, that the Popular Front that you helped to establish on the foundation of a spirit of resistance will continue to march on the same road, no matter how long and treacherous it is, no matter how much we will have to sacrifice. The destructive tactics of the enemy will never kill our steadfastness or our will to resist. ______________________________________________ PFLP Official Website: www.pflp-pal.org +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- [2] Letter to Our Comrades 29 August 2001 Dear Comrades, Yesterday was a sad day in the history of the PFLP. It was also a sad day for the Palestinian people, the Arab World, and the world's internationalists. Yesterday the Palestinian people marched in Ramallah for the last time with Abu Ali Mustafa. More than 50,000 mourners, women, men, and children, joined the procession, making it one of the biggest funerals in Palestinian history. Indeed, many more would have come from all over Palestine, if not for the barbaric restrictions of movement imposed on our people by the Israeli occupation army. Thousands of people in all Palestinian cities, as well as thousands of others in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, paid tribute to Abu Ali Mustafa by organizing symbolic funerals. Mourning ceremonies to receive condolences took place all over the world. Dr. George Habash, Al-Hakim, addressed the Palestinian people and the Arab masses and offered condolences for the loss of his long-standing comrade and friend. Israel's assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa is not only a political assassination. It is an attempt to assassinate all the progressive values represented by the PFLP. The reaction of people all over the world to the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa reveals their tremendous respect for and solidarity with the vision of the PFLP made tangible in the person of Abu Ali Mustafa. The Zionist forces assassinated Abu Ali Mustafa because they realized that the Popular Front is on the right track. Abu Ali Mustafa knew that he was targeted by the Zionist forces. Recently, he made the statement: "We all are targeted as soon as we begin to be mobilized. We do our best to avoid their guns, but we are living under the brutal Zionist occupation of our lands, and its army is only a few meters away from us. Of course we must be cautious, but we have work to do, and nothing will stop us." After having lost momentum over the years, the PFLP was strengthened considerably under the leadership of Abu Ali Mustafa who was able to unify the party and renew its energy. He articulated the vision of the Popular Front in a radical, simple language that was accessible to everyone. He emphasized the Arabic depth and the internationalist dimension of the Middle East conflict. He worked for a unified Palestinian strategy to confront the occupation. Abu Ali Mustafa was a unifying figure not only among the party's own structures, but among the various Palestinian political parties as well. Since his election as PFLP general secretary, the number of members and supporters of the PFLP increased significantly. The most recent poll, conducted shortly before his death, showed that the PFLP enjoys the endorsement of 8.3 % of the Palestinian population. Real numbers would show an even greater percentage of popular support. Dear comrades! Although the loss of Abu Ali Mustafa seems too great to bear, you should not be discouraged. The PFLP has a solid history, strong party structures, and popular support to sustain it. Our struggle for freedom and independence continues! We will not surrender, and neither should you. Victory is coming! The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ______________________________________________ PFLP Official Website: www.pflp-pal.org +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- [3] Editorial: Shedding Crocodile Tears The Jordan Times August 29, 2001 [From Rick Rozoff] IT IS totally incorrect to describe the Israeli rocket attack which killed Palestinian leader Abu Ali Mustafa as an escalation because Israel in its ferocious war against the Palestinian people has long reached the ultimate peak. It is very bizarre that while the Israelis continue to commit their maximum military capabilities to destroy the Palestinians, subject them to the most inhuman, racist humiliations and intolerable hardships, all the pathetic appeals for ending the violence are directed at the victims not the perpetrators. Paradoxically, such appeals, as the one coming from US President George W. Bush recently reaffirming previous statements, placing the responsibility entirely on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by demanding that he again exert 100 per cent effort "to stop the violence," are in fact constituting both an exoneration and an encouragement of Israel to intensify its unabashed onslaught. Should there be any honest intentions or meaningful efforts on the part of the US, the Europeans, the UN and all the others who appear to weep for the cause of peace, to arrest this dangerous deterioration then it is the time to have the courage and the strength to abandon hypocrisy and euphemism, and face and pronounce the truth. The truth is that Israel is an occupier and an aggressor. Israel is violating international law, it is committing war crimes, practising apartheid, discrimination and pure racism against more than three million Palestinians who have been subjected to the harshest and longest occupation for decades. By sitting above international law, above all acknowledged human values and principles, Israel is pushing the entire region into the abyss of a certain disaster from which the Jewish state itself will be unable to escape unharmed. Vague and indeed empty calls for both sides to stop the violence and head towards the negotiating table have, so far, led nowhere. Such self-serving pronunciations are misleading, irresponsible and wrong. Israel is not fighting a war of self-defence or fighting terrorism as false propaganda suggests. The first reality to be acknowledged is that Israel is occupying unlawfully and illegally Arab lands and that occupation has to end. Israel is compounding all this by using its superior military force to oppress, punish, suppress and kill innocent, unarmed civilians simply because they resist occupation and demand their rights. Towards that end Israel is committing the ugliest form of state practised terrorism, by assassinating civilian leaders, demolishing homes, destroying farms, putting entire towns and villages endlessly under siege, deliberately shooting innocent children, arming and sending racist settlers after unarmed civilian Palestinians to kill them, and systematically destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian National Authority and overall Palestinian life. The latest tragic assassination is an act in a continuing war. It is an indication that Israel is bent on a military solution for its predicament repeating past dramatic failures. It is proof that peace is not on Israel's agenda. All those who have been expressing vague concerns and making vague calls for negotiations are invited to define their intentions and to qualify their statements. The road to peace will only be unblocked by removing the occupation, not only in Palestine but in all the other Arab lands; and by allowing the Palestinian people to be free in their own state. Until that end is reached, the Palestinians' struggle for independence should be recognised as legitimate and right. They deserve and should receive support encouragement and international protection, and nothing less. (c) Jordan Times +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- ++ for educational and non-profit use only ++ +---------------------------------+ best viewed in courier font | I N F O P A L | | Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Web: http://www.infopal.org | _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
