PFLP Statement re the Jericho Prison assault

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Condemns
the Arrest of Its General Secretary and Calls on All to
Shoulder Their Responsibilities

by The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

15 March 2006.

Arabic original at http://www.pflp.net.

Ramallah- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
condemns all those who directly or indirectly caused the
criminal arrest of its General Secretary, his comrades,
Brother Fu'ad ash-Shawbaki, and numerous other militants of
various patriotic and Islamic forces who were subject to
arbitrary political imprisonment based on American-Zionist
dictates. The PFLP declares that the invader forces
committed the crime of that arrest, as well as the attack
on the Jericho prison and the destruction of the Muqata'ah
building inside, with the complicity of America and
Britain, as the officials of the Palestine Authority --
their minds controlled by the fear of the Israeli response
to anything that they might do -- trembled and wavered.
This followed the naïve faith they had put in agreements,
even those under the protection of America and other such
countries. Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, sought at this moment
to prove to the Israelis that he is the spitting image of
Sharon so that he and his party might gain politically and
in the coming elections.

The PFLP states that it had delivered an official
memorandum in the name of its Political Bureau to the
Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation
Organization and its Chairman in the presence of the
Patriotic and Islamic forces in which it demanded that the
order of the Palestine Supreme Court to release the General
Secretary of the Popular Front be carried out and stated
that the PFLP took full responsibility for his life and
security. But this document was not treated seriously.
Nor was serious attention paid to the American and British
warnings issued on the 8th of March that indicated that the
Anglo-American protection of the prison was going to be
lifted.

The Popular Front declares that it holds the Israeli
occupation and the leadership of Israel and its security
agencies responsible for any harm that might be done to the
life of the General Secretary of the Popular Front or his
comrades. It also holds responsible America and Britain,
which abandoned their commitments to protect the prisoners,
thereby confirming the Anglo-American collusion and
participation in the crime.

The Popular Front declares that the battle to free Ahmad
Saadat and his comrades has not ended and would never end
until he is released. The PFLP, and with it all the
patriotic forces, will continue to press the Palestine
Authority to carry on pursuing the case inasmuch as it is
an assault on its sovereignty and a violation of an
abominable agreement signed under a hail of bullets in the
Muqat'ah in Ramallah.

The Popular Front calls on the Patriotic and Islamic
forces, the organizations of Palestinian civil society, and
all the forces for freedom and justice in the world to
continue to act in rejection of this American-backed
Israeli piracy and to press for the liberation of the
General Secretary from his new place of imprisonment.

The Popular Front declares that this crime will in no way
reduce its will, which has been baptized in the blood of
the martyrs and is experienced in the ways of struggle.
Its response to the crime will be painful. The PFLP calls
for an end to depending on illusions connected with
agreements that are violated before their ink is dry. The
flimsy excuse that the continued confinement of the General
Secretary and his comrades was for their protection has
been torn apart by the treads of tanks and bulldozers.
Protecting him outside the prison would have been easier
than leaving him inside the facility where at every minute
he could be targeted for death.

The Popular Front concludes its declaration by appealing
for an end to pinning hopes on the promises of America and
others that yield nothing but temporary, transitional
agreements that bring us back to the Oslo whirlpool. The
PFLP calls for a continuation of the comprehensive
Palestinian national dialogue aimed at strengthening
national unity on clear and deeply rooted bases that
bolster the steadfastness and resistance of our people. It
also calls for the establishment of a patriotic coalition
government and for the rebuilding of the Palestine
Liberation Organization on democratic bases and with the
participation of all, inasmuch as it is the supreme
authority of our people and their sole, legal
representative wherever they are located.


________________________________________________________
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"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
—Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)
See also:
http://www.pflp.net


see also:


The Palestinian territories have come to a halt during a general strike called in protest against an Israeli siege of a West Bank jail. The Palestinian Authority is already in a heightened state of alert after the raid on the Jericho jail provoked a wave of abductions and threats of revenge against the Jewish state.

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/15029/index.php

or

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/47AAE50A-8113-4959-8804-F85AD0CEA7C5.htm

and

Jericho residents and Palestinian security men began cleaning up the debris after Tuesday's massive Israeli aggression. And the scene outside Jericho's prison remained tense on Wednesday morning following a day of violence when Israeli occupation troops seized Ahmad Saadat a Palestinian leader of the PFLP. The operation, could strengthen the position of interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert' as the campaign for March 28 general election begins. -- "Palestinians stage protests and go on strike after Israeli occupation capture Saadat They accuse US and Britain of involvement"

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/15031/index.php

or

http://www.almanar.com.lb/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=646412

and


When Nelson Mandela was in prison on Robben Island, it was for his role in organizing armed struggle. The South African racists did not murder him. They left him in prison. When the South African racists found they could not maintain Apartheid, they released him. Unlike Apartheid in South Africa, and more like Nazism, the culture of Zionism is one of outright murder. -- henry lowi - "Jericho: Hands off Ahmad Saadat! Don't touch one hair on the heads of political leaders of the Palestinian people!"

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/15025/index.php


and

...The ease and impunity with which the occupation forces attack Palestinians everywhere serves to remind us that these territories remain today, as they have been since 1967, under full Israeli military dictatorship. It is a mistake
to keep referring to a "Palestinian government," because this gives the false impression that Palestinians under occupation are in control of their destiny. ...The missing contextual facts are
that the PFLP killed Ze'evi in retaliation for Israel's murder of its leader Abu Ali Mustafa (Mustafa al-Zibri) in August 2001. Al-Zibri was not carrying arms or fighting, but sitting at his desk when an Israeli Apache helicopter fired a missile at him blowing him to pieces...Ze'evi was
the leading advocate in Israel for the destruction of the Palestinian people, calling for their wholesale expulsion,...Israel, as we have seen once again, is a rogue state which acts not only with impunity but with the active support of
western powers who promise to starve its victims.... -- Ali Abunimah- " Ali Abunimah: Some background on Israel's attack on Jericho"

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/15023/index.php


and

...Among those who surrendered was Ahmed Saadat, leader of a PLO faction and mastermind of the 2001 assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister, the Israeli military announced on Tuesday...."The Americans and British left 15 minutes before the operation started. The Israelis asked the police([search]) and security forces to drop their weapons and not resist. If they refused, they said they would assault the compound," Abu Khussa said. -- "Israel captures jailed Palestinians"

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/14968/index.php

or

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8F1D3402-082D-41DA-B3A3-863947BB2DA7.htm

and

"At this moment, large numbers of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have invaded Jericho and are surrounding the prison and governmental
compound of the Palestinian Authority (PA) with tanks, jeeps and Apache helicopters. They are demanding the surrender of six members of the
PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) who are imprisoned for the assassination of Israeli minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. One of the prisoners is Ahmad Sa'adaat, the secretary-general of the PFLP.

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/index.php?limit_start=10

or

http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/14967/index.php
See also:
http://bc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/15023/index.php