issue no 103

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Issue No : 103 15th September , 2014

Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia | 1


Palestinian Cultural Organization MalaysiaMalaysiaM

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Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia

Haniyeh urges Abbas to go to the ICC to prosecute Israel

20,000 Malaysians gather to celebrate Gaza victory

Mishaal meets Tunisia’s el-Marzouki over Gaza reconstruction

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FEATURED STORY

Articles & Analyses

Read in This Issue

Resistance strategy and the negotiations approach

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Hamas: There will be no direct talks with IsraelP6

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EU delegation: Israel committed genocide in Gaza

Israeli ministers: Israel is going for early elections

P12Malaysia & Palestine

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CONTENTS

News of Palestine :

Haniyeh urges Abbas to go to the ICC to prosecute Israel 4

Mishaal meets Tunisia’s el-Marzouki over Gaza reconstruction 5

Hamas: There will be no direct talks with Israel 6

EU delegation: Israel committed genocide in Gaza 7

Autopsy suggests Israel tortured prisoner to death, falsifying the killing as suicide 7

Hamas: there is a chance ahead for the unity government to survive 8

Settlers raid al-Aqsa mosque in a daily bases 9

PPS raises alarm bells over deteriorating health of Palestinian prisoners 9

Israel Insider

Israeli ministers: Israel is going for early elections 10

Israel›s trade deficit increases by 7.9% over eight months in 2014 11

Malaysia & Palestine

20,000 Malaysians gather to celebrate Gaza victory 12

Articles & Analyses

Resistance strategy and the negotiations approach 13

Photos Gallery

Malaysia celebrates Gaza Victory 16

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News of Palestine

Haniyeh urges Abbas to go to the ICC to prosecute Israel

Deputy Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, called on the Palestinian Authority President, Mah-moud Abbas, on Thursday evening, to sign the Rome Statute and join the ICC in order to prosecute “the Israeli war criminals”.

In a press statement, Haniyeh said, “The Palestinian factions and Palestin-ian community all agree on the need for Abbas to go to the ICC and sign the Rome Statute in order to prosecute the leaders of the Zionist enemy for their crimes committed against the Palestin-ian people”.

He added, “Hamas signed the docu-ment urging Abbas to sign the Rome Statute, and the signing of this is the right of all the victims. Stalling the sign-ing of the Statute is considered a con-cession of their rights and offensive to the Palestinian people and their strug-gle.”

In a related context, Foreign Minister Riad Malki could not be reached for comment regarding the publication of a letter revealing that the Palestinian Au-thority has so far prevented the launch of a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC), ac-cording to Al-Jazeera journalist Clay-ton Swisher.

In a confidential letter published on Memo on Thursday, ICC’s top prosecu-tor Fatou Bensouda said she “did not receive a positive confirmation” from Malki that a request for an investiga-tion had the Palestinian government’s

Palestinian FM Malki evading ICC questions

approval- a prerequisite for the ICC to take up the case.

On July 25, PA Justice Minister Saleem al-Saqqa and Palestin-ian General Prosecutor Ismaeil Jabr submitted a letter to the ICC via a French law firm calling for an investigation into alleged war crimes during the recent military offensive.

However, according to ICC regulations, “only the Head of State, Head of Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs” can grant the international body jurisdiction to investigate.

According to her letter, Bensouda asked Malki during their meet-ing in August for confirmation that the request had the Palestinian government’s approval, which she did not receive.

Swisher attempted to contact Malki via his office for a comment on the findings but was repeatedly told: “He’s in a meeting--call back.” He also tried to contact him by text messages but was unsuccessful.

The Rome Statute is a treaty established by the ICC. It was ad-opted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on July 17 1998 and put into force on July 1 2002. As of May 2013, 122 states are party to the statute.

Signing this agreement is considered a step towards the Pales-tinian Authority and leadership heading to the ICC to prosecute Israel for its “violations” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 12/9/2014 Source: Agencies

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Mishaal meets Tunisia’s el-Marzouki over Gaza reconstruction

Mishaal said, during a press con-ference, the meeting went over ways to boost the Gaza recon-struction process and provide assistance to the hundreds of homeless families.

Mishaal further appealed to el-Marzouki to take advantage of his legal expertise and take Gaza’s case to international courts so as to impeach Israeli war criminals.

“We have no other option than to keep going in the reconciliation path and restructure our internal affairs,” he declared when asked about the reconciliation process. Mishaal briefed el-Marzouki on the tragic situation in the block-aded Gaza Strip, which requires an immediate launch of the re-construction project.

The Hamas leader urged the na-tional unity government to take up its responsibilities in Gaza and the West Bank, alike, without fur-

ther procrastination or delay. Mishaal also spoke against the smear and ad hominem campaigns targeting Hamas movement in the wake of the Israeli offensive, calling for the need to stop backbiting and opt for direct communication.

“Before the launch of the offensive we started to re-arrange our inter-nal affairs. Once the fight started off we fought hand in hand both in the battleground and in politics to have all of our demands met,” he stated.

Along the same line, Mishaal denounced Israeli premier Benjamin Ne-tanyahu’s attempts to whitewash the crimes he perpetrated in Gaza by tossing accusations promulgated in Western pro-Israel media out-lets, like comparing Hamas to Da’ash and dubbing the movement a terrorist group.

“But this is a plain game that will not manage to pull the world’s legs,” he maintained.

According to Mishaal, Gaza and the Palestinian resistance have given the world prototypical lessons via the knack and creativity they have been exhibiting throughout their fight for freedom.

The Palestinian leader further confirmed that direct talks with the Is-raeli side are neither laid on the movement’s agenda nor put up for discussion. Hamas’s adopted policy rather opts for indirect talks with the colonizer.

Mishaal hailed Tunisia’s unyielding support for the Palestinian people and its “ onourable” pro-Palestine positions.13/9/2014 Source: PIC

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Deputy chairman of the political bureau of Hamas Ismail Haneyya has affirmed that his Movement will not engage in direct talks with Israel.

He told reporters and media person-nel in a meeting in Gaza on Saturday that the whole process of negotia-tions that have been going on for the past 20 years should be re-evaluat-ed.

He affirmed that resistance’s weap-ons would never be out for bargaining, adding that weapons would not be sur-rendered in return for reconstruction or any other issue.

Resistance’s weapons are legitimate and would remain so until the libera-tion of Palestine, Haneyya said. The Hamas leader stressed that recon-struction of Gaza should be sparred political wrangling and/or blackmail.

Hamas: There will be no direct talks with Israel

In a related context, member of Hamas’s political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk said that the indirect talks with Israel are expected to resume in Cairo next week to finish dis-cussing several contentious issues.

In a political symposium held Wednesday in Gaza, Abu Marzouk explained that the talks are intended to address outstanding issues that have not been settled during the ceasefire meetings, especially with regard to the blockade on Gaza and the entry of construction materials.

On August 26, the Israeli and Palestinian sides had reached a long-term truce under the auspices of Egypt. The deal obliged Israel to open its commercial crossings with Gaza and expand the fishing zone, and delayed the discussion of unsettled issues for no later than one month after the ceasefire agreement.

Despite its obligations under the truce agreement that had been signed two weeks ago, Israel has not started tak-ing concrete steps to lift its blockade on Gaza or end its movement restrictions at Gaza crossings.

13/9/2014 Source: Agencies

Indirect talks with Israel might restart next week

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EU delegation: Israel committed genocide in Gaza

Autopsy suggests Israel tortured prisoner to death, falsifying the killing as suicide

An official European Parliament delegation that visited the be-sieged Gaza Strip after the re-cent Israeli onslaught on the blockaded area says Israel has committed “genocide” against the defenceless Palestinians, Press TV reports.

The delegation, which includes 13 members of the European Parliament, has called on the EU to break diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against Israel because of the war crimes it has committed against the Palestinian people.

“I don’t think it is too strong a word, not when you think of how geno-

The head of the PA’s Detainees’ Com-mittee, Issa Qaraqe’, has declared that 37 year old prisoner Raed Abdul-Salaam al-Ja’bari died as a result of severe and repeated torture by Israeli interrogators. The autopsy on the vic-tim revealed signs of torture but noth-ing consistent with hanging, indicating that Israeli forces staged al-Ja’bari’s supposed suicide in his cell.

Qaraqe’ accused Israel of attempt-ing to conceal the true cause of death, extreme and brutal torture, by falsifying the prisoner’s death as sui-cide by alleging he hanged himself in his cell.

In a press conference conducted at al-Ja’bari’s family home in Hebron, Qaraqe’ revealed the results of the autopsy, carried out at the forensic center in Abu Dis, near occupied East Jerusalem, which confirm the cause of death as torture.

The autopsy proved that al-Ja’bari

cide is described; it’s described as the par-tial or the whole de-struction of people; and what we are see-ing happen in Gaza, in Palestine, is the destruction of Pal-estinians,” Martina Anderson, an Irish member of the Euro-pean Parliament, told Press TV.

The delegation, which has just returned to the Belgian capital, Brus-sels, from the Middle East, has also accused the West of turning a blind eye to the Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

The politicians also accused Tel Aviv of continuing to break interna-tional law by engaging in land grabs to build settlements in Palestine.

12/9/2014 Source: Press TV

suffered a brain hemorrhage with his body showing clear signs of torture. Crucially the victim’s neck showed no evi-dence consistent with hang-ing, leading to the inevitable conclusion that Israeli claims that the tortured prisoner “committed suicide by hang-ing himself” are false and evident fabrications.

Dr. Saber al-‘Aloul, head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, attended the autopsy but was prevented from commenting by Israeli officials.

“After we received the body of al-Ja’bari, we moved him to the Forensic Center in Abu Dis. All reports clearly show al-Ja’bari was tortured to death; he was brutally and savagely tortured by the Israeli interrogators,” Qaraqe’ stated. “The main cause of death is repeated blows to the head and face, leading to hemorrhage, eventually resulting in his death.

Raed Abdul-Salam al-Ja’bari died on the 9th of September 2014. He worked as a car mechanic technician and leaves a wife and five children. He was ini-tially arrested and detained by Israeli soldiers on the 26th of July after a traffic accident in which he was accused of having intentionally rammed a settler.

11/9/2014 Source: PNN

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The Palestinian Islamic Movement Hamas said on Friday that the Palestinian unity government has a chance to survive “if it deals justly” with the Gaza residents.

Sami Abu-Zuhri, Hamas spokesman, said in a statement sent to mass media: “There is a chance for the government to survive if it is committed to the needs of the Gazans.”

Hamas accuses the unity government of not carrying out its duties towards Gaza residents and not trying to contact employees in the ministries’ offices in Gaza.

Meanwhile, rival secular Fatah movement accuses Hamas of having a show government in the Gaza Strip and this government is taking the role of the unity government.

Both movements signed a reconciliation agreement on April 23 after around seven years of divi-sion. The agreement included the formation of a unity government. The government was sworn in and took up its responsibility in the occupied West Bank, but it is still inactive in the Gaza Strip.

In June, the reconciliation was tested when Fatah did not pay civil servants hired by the Hamas administration, but did pay those affiliated with Fatah who had lost their jobs after Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Hamas Chief Khalid Meshaal called for Fatah to think of working together with Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank. “Let’s think of working as partners not on the basis of replac-ing each other,” he said.

7/9/2014 Source: MEMO

Hamas: there is a chance ahead for the unity government to survive

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Settlers raid al-Aqsa mosque in a daily bases

PPS raises alarm bells over deteriorat-ing health of Palestinian prisoners

Israeli settlers on Thursday morning broke into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from Mughrabi Gate guarded by Special Israeli occupation police . Israeli settlers tried to ascend Dome of the Rock, but guards of Aqsa and all the worshippers tackled and forced him out of the mosque.

The director of the media in the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage Mah-moud Abu Atta told “Safa” that the two groups of settlers stormed Aqsa morning and someone tried to ascend the of Dome of the Rock and began trying to perform some Talmudic rituals, but the worshipers confronted him.

He explained that Holy Aqsa Mosque wit-nessed intensive presence of the people of Jerusalem and occupied Palestinian terri-tories, who were distributed on courtyards and in the roofed tribal (Qebali) mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

He pointed out that clashes erupted be-tween the occupation forces and Palestin-

The health status of a number of Palestin-ian prisoners held at Ramla prison hospital has remarkably exacerbated due to medi-cal neglect inside of Israeli jails, lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said on Thursday.

The Israeli prison service (IPS) had trans-ferred prisoner Adnan Muheissen, diag-nosed with triple paralysis, to the Israeli Ofer jail handcuffed, paying no heed to his critical health status, the lawyer said quot-ing prisoner Muheissen, from Bethlehem.

Prisoner Muheissen suffers from serious backaches and urinary tract infections, causing him several blackouts.

ians worshipers in the mosque while confronting the Israeli storming.

Abu Atta said that a state of extreme anger involved the courtyards of Aqsa because of the repeated storming of settlers and Israeli occupation soldiers.

He explained that Israeli occupation authorities follow a certain policy to escalate the conditions in al-Aqsa mosque.

Source: ALRAY 12/9/2014

Health status of prisoner Mootaz Abidou has been no less critical as the latter suffers from paralysis in his left foot, stomach injuries sustained in Israeli random shots of ex-plosive bullets in 2011. Abidou sustained another wound in 2013 and is currently in need of three urgent medical surgeries.

Prisoner Rabi’ Rezq Subh, from Bethlehem, spoke out against the systematic medical neglect he was subjected to in Israeli jails. The IPS doctors gave him medicines that caused frequent hemorrhages and cardiovascular disorders.

Injured Palestinian detainee Ashraf Abu al-Huda, from Nablus, suffers from a critical health condition and is in need of continuous medical follow-ups and therapeutic sessions to be able to stand on his own two feet again.

11/9/2014 Source: PIC

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Israeli ministers: Israel is going for early elections

After the Israeli war on Gaza and attempts by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu to market his defeat as a victory on the Israelis, the political sphere in Israel has turned ambiguous.

During the last week a number of Israeli min-isters either clearly said or hinted that Israel is going for early elections after the Israeli feasts.

Before the party’s conference on Sunday Naftali Bennett, head of the Israeli party Jew-ish Home, held a special meeting for some 30 activists to persuade them to approve a constitution and a new term for him in his po-sition in the party.

When asked about the reason for the hasty measures, Bennett said that the issue must be decided quickly because Israel is going to the ballot boxes after the Jewish feasts.

This week Netanyahu met with Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah and

Israel Insider

both sides considered the meeting successful.

Gafni said the meeting was not about the new tax law or the current government coalition, but it was about the would-be coalition after the upcoming elections. He said that Netan-yahu directly asked them whether they would support him for Prime Minister in the coming elections. Gafni said they would consult their rabbis.

During the Israeli war on Gaza Hatuna party threatened to withdraw from the coalition if it would not accept the ju-daisation law drafted by Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu, Bennett and Livni agreed on passing it in the government last Sun-day.

The meeting was cancelled because of a difference be-tween Netanyahu and his Financial Minister Yair Labid on the budget, according to Labid’s aids.

Government sources said on Friday that the reason behind Yair’s refusal to approve the budget was his desire to go for elections soon. He believes he is in the strongest position on the political scene and would be able to obtain the best results in the elections.


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Israel›s trade deficit increases by 7.9% over eight months in 2014

A monthly report on Israel’s foreign trade, issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics Israel (CBS), on Thursday, said that the deficit in the Israeli trade balance during the first eight months of this year rose by 7.87 per cent to 36 billion shekels ($10 bil-lion), compared to the same period last year.

According to the report, a copy of which was ob-tained by Anadolu News Agency, the deficit of the first eight months in 2014 increased by 2.6 billion shekels ($743 million, compared to the correspond-ing period last year), reaching approximately 33.4 billion shekels ($9.27 billion) until the end of August 2013.

According to the CBS data, Israel’s total imports of goods during the current year (until the end of August) is nearly 175 billion shekels ($48.6 billion), compared to exports, which amounted to 139 billion shekels ($38.6 billion) during the same period.

The report highlighted the decline in imports of raw materials during the first eight months by 9.5 per cent compared to the same period last year; while Israeli technological exports continued to decline (no percentage was specified in the report).

In the past five years, Israel advanced technology industry has excelled, and was one of the first glob-al countries to deal with high-tech exports, with total exports of technological commodities amounting to

$40 billion in the past year out of $93 billion in ex-ports of goods and services in total.

The report states that Israel’s goods exports fell by 14.2 per cent at an annual rate due to the decline of global economies, and the decline of the Ameri-can dollar against the shekel during the first eight months of last year, as well as the European boy-cott of settlements.

The import of consumer goods in Israel fell by 1 per cent at an annual rate in June-August 2014, while the imports of non-durable goods declined by 4.2 per cent at an annual rate.

The report also mentioned that Israel’s total imports of fuel (crude oil and coal) during the first eight months of 2014 amounted to 32.3 billion shekels ($9 billion), with a 12.5 per cent decline in compari-son with the same period last year.

Israel’s imports of fuel (coal in particular) dropped due to the transition to natural gas for power gen-eration in Israel as a substitute for coal, which re-duced the volume of the Israeli imports of fuel.

Israeli exports to the Palestinian Authority during the past year (2013) reached almost $4 billion, in-cluding $3.5 billion from Israel, and $500 million from settlements, while Israel’s imports from the Palestinian Authority reached about $550 million in 2013.


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20,000 Malaysians gather to celebrate Gaza victory

Malaysia & Palestinian Cause

In a rally organized by Aman Pal-estin, more than 20,000 people from all over Malaysia gathered tonight at Stadium Nilai along with hundreds of Palestinians in Malaysia to celebrate the victory achieved in the 51-day Battle of Gaza.

The participants showed their support to the Palestinian resis-tance by wearing the headband and uniform of Hamas armed wing (Al-Qassam Brigades) and loudly chanting “We are all Al-Qassam”.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Aman Palestin, Ustaz Awang Suffian Awang Piut, the presence of thousands of Malay-sians proves that Malaysia fully supports the struggle of the Pal-estinians in facing the Israeli ag-gressions.

In his speech in the rally, Usama Hamdan who is Hamas’ Chief of International Relations, thanked the government, organizations and people of Malaysia for their “great stance towards Palestinian people and resistance during the Israeli war on Gaza”.

“Malaysian Prime Minister has phoned the Palestinian leadership during the very first days of the war and expressed his support to the Palestinian people and their resistance.” Hamdan added.

Hamdan also stressed the importance of concentrating the efforts on rebuilding what the Israeli war machine has demolished in the Gaza strip.

The famous Arab Nasyid Group (Waed Band) from Lebanon also at-tended the rally and performed several inspiring songs for Palestine.

The rally witnessed the launching of Fund for Gaza Reconstruction and Development (TDPPG), which targeted the collection of RM 50 million to contribute to the rebuild of Gaza.

The Fund was officiated by the former Director General of the Crimi-nal Investigation Department, Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), Tan Sri Mohd Zaman Khan Rahim Khan.

13/9/2014 Source: Agencies

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Resistance strategy and the negotiations approach

Dr Fayez Rasheed

Palestine’s many experi-ences with Israel, espe-cially that of resistance and the steadfastness of our people, not least in facing up to “Operation Protective Edge”, highlight the fail-ure of the negotiations ap-proach as the sole political and strategic option.

The example of all nation-al liberation movements demonstrates that resis-tance, in all its forms and manifestations, especially armed struggle, is capable of forcing Israel to accede to the legitimate rights and demands of the Palestin-ians. Resistance has forced Israel to recognise the pres-ence of the Palestinian peo-ple after a long era of de-nial, even if some officials and politicians still deny our existence. The resistance also strengthened our na-tional identity and gained broad international recogni-tion for our people and their national cause. At the same time, it acted as a source of pain and loss for the Zion-ist project as a whole, and prevented the enemy from achieving the goals behind its attacks on the civilians of the Gaza Strip.

Articles & Analyses

Since they were founded, all of the Palestinian resis-tance factions have adopt-ed the concept and tactics of “a long-term popular war” in our conflict with Israel, and insisted that Palestine, from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, is the natural and historic Pales-tinian homeland. The devia-tion of some from this, ei-ther in the PLO’s Ten Point Programme; in the build-up to the Oslo talks or follow-ing the Oslo Accords; in the elimination of the Palestin-ian National Charter claus-es related to the armed struggle in 1996; or by set-ting negotiations as the sole strategic option which has only brought about destruc-tion to the Palestinian cause and the rights of our people; all of this has resulted in Is-

rael merely granting a de-gree of autonomy for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This, of course, all happened before the political division and the emergence of two “Palestinian Authorities” and their supervision of the administrative and daily is-sues of the residents of both areas, but there have been no signs of sovereignty. The negotiations only led to Is-rael’s increased appetite for Palestinian concessions, more settlements and more massacres. Israel has nev-er, even after the Oslo Ac-cords, stopped arresting, torturing and killing the Pal-estinian people, destroying their trees and stealing their land and homes, in what amounts to a form of geno-cide.

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US Secretary of State John Kerry is pressing to get the “peace negotiations” back on track after the US re-fused the (tripartite) plan launched by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the grounds that it comes from one side and there must be agreement from both sides. Kerry’s previous tours in the region and his talks with both sides, the Is-raelis and the Palestinians, have resulted in a distorted American solution that is based on an Israeli perspec-tive, the content of which is a framework agreement for a temporary mini-state that lacks sovereignty, any part of Jerusalem and the return of refugees. This mini-state would be nothing more than self-governance for the Pal-estinians, which already ex-ists; a dismembered canton without any geographical links to Gaza, as well as an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley area, that will become permanent.

In addition to this, there is another fact we must ac-knowledge. The US can-not be an honest broker between the Palestinians and Israel. I do not say this

lightly, but do so based on the content of the US stra-tegic guarantees letter sent to Israel in 2004, which sets out a number of principles, most notably America’s commitment to Israel’s se-curity and its promise not to pressure Israel to accept any solutions or compromis-es with which it is unhappy. The PA must accept that the US is committed fully to an Israeli solution, without adding or omitting anything from it. The position of the American and Israeli allies regarding an agreement are very similar, as Washington rejects the right of return for the Palestinians and un-derstands that Israel wants to keep Jerusalem “united” as its “eternal capital”. On this basis, shortly after they are elected, all US presi-dents promise to transfer the American embassy to Jerusalem, and this is very significant. The only con-flict between the Israeli and American positions lies in the issue of Israel’s illegal settlements. Washington is not actually against settle-ments, but it supports a temporary freeze in their construction in order to fa-

cilitate the negotiations and push the parties to reach an agreement.

It is important to note that the negotiations strategy has only led to Palestin-ian concessions, and it will lead to more in the future. Other national revolution-ary movements whose land was occupied have only en-gaged in negotiations with their enemies after condi-tions were met; they usu-ally started talks at a stage in the conflict when the revolutionaries were on the verge of victory. They also based their negotiations on real achievements on the ground, and these have only ever been achieved by resistance, usually armed. On top of that, they did not bargain and compromise away any of the national and human rights of their people because, as a result of the large and unsustain-able losses sustained by the usurpers in economic and human demographic terms, it was the occupiers who were in need of a peace deal. It was always neces-sary to have a mass popular movement supported po-litically by many countries.

It is important to note that the negotiations strategy has only led to Pales-tinian concessions, and it will lead to more in the future

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If the leaders of the Pales-tinian cause had relied on revolutionary struggle and a strategy that did not con-cede the people’s rights, the Arab masses from the Atlan-tic Ocean to the Gulf would have supported them. It is clear, therefore, that there is no alternative to a revo-lutionary resistance move-ment; it alone can win.

Another condition to be insisted upon is the con-tinuous reference to the achievements being made on the ground, as negotia-tions are not only a require-ment for the revolutionary movement, but also for the enemy. The current nego-tiations process is basically intensifying the division in the ranks of the Palestinian people and the Arab world, while the approach of resis-tance is uniting them.

The Vietnamese national liberation movement (the National Liberation Front) engaged in negotiations with the US occupier in Par-is, some rounds of which only lasted a few minutes. During these talks, the Viet-namese would put their de-mands on the negotiating

table, and if the Americans responded, they would con-tinue; if not, then the Viet-namese would withdraw from the negotiations. Of course, there is a huge dif-ference between the nature of the Palestinian struggle and that of the Vietnamese, and there are differences in the relative situations, both in the subjective and objective sense, but this negotiations experience was experienced by many national liberation move-ments in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Examples of this include the experience of the African National Con-gress and its allies in South Africa and the negotiations that took place with the apartheid regime (the or-ganic ally of Israel); Rhode-sia’s experience; and even the Palestinian experience itself during the first phase of the revolution (before the Oslo Accords), which was the armed struggle.

Resistance, especially armed resistance, is a cen-tral strategy adopted by any national liberation move-ment to free a nation whose land is occupied and public

will usurped. I challenge anyone to name one na-tional liberation movement that did not adopt armed resistance as a part of its struggle. The notable ex-ception which proves the rule is the mass civil dis-obedience movement led by M K Gandhi against British rule in India. In the general, though, the rule is that armed resistance is the way to achieve free-dom.

All that is left to say is that we have had enough of the negotiations with the Zionist enemy; enough of caving in under American and international pres-sure. It is time to end the division, the media spats and the accusations be-tween Fatah and Hamas; we must review the previ-ous stage and commit to a strategy of resistance and its revival amongst the Palestinian factions that still consider negotia-tions to be the sole tacti-cal, political and strategic approach against Israel. There can be no truce as long as the occupation re-mains in place.

Resistance, especially armed resistance, is a central strategy adopted by any national liberation movement to �ee a nation whose land is occupied and

public will usurped.

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Malaysia celebrates Gaza Victory

Photo Gallery

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issue no 103

Documents

palestinian people

palestinian factions

palestinian authority

icc questionsapproval

gaza victorymishaal

rome statute

israel tortured prisoner

mahmoud abbas