Statement regarding events at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the PLO

“We condemn the behavior of the Palestinian officials and consider it to be outside national and moral values and principles.” – Dr. Fawzi Ismail

Brussels – Union of Palestinian Communities and Organizations – Europe

The Union of Palestinian Communities and Organizations in Europe responded to the reports in Palestinian and Arab media from a number of reliable sources regarding the attack by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against the Palestinian struggler Khalida Jarrar, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, at the meeting of the PLO Executive Committee in occupied Ramallah.

Dr. Fawzi Ismail, president of the Union, said that “the statements by Mr. Mahmoud Abbas against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners’ movements, and his attempts to prevent Khalida Jarrar from expressing the position of her party and confiscating the rights of others showcase the level of political and moral degeneration in the official leadership of the Palestinian institutions, and reveals the reality of the crisis of leadership that can no longer be tolerated by our people.”

He pointed out further that this suspicious political behavior is also reflecting the serious response of the official Palestinian leadership to the American and Israeli liquidation projects and the so-called “Trump proposals,” which are in fact the terms and program set for action and implementation rather than discussion. “This behavior of exclusion practiced by Abbas is a clear expression of weakness and disorientation.”

“It is true that no one takes Mahmoud Abbas seriously,” said Ismail; however, he warned of the seriousness of the conduct of the official leadership “because of the political position occupied by Mahmoud Abbas, monopolizing official representation through exclusion and exploitaton of internal Palestinian disputes rather than seeking Palestinian dialogue, participation and unity. He is the owner of the failed Oslo project and is running the institutions of the PA and the PLO as if it were a farm or a grocery store in the market and not a national liberation movement of over 12 million struggling people.”

The president of the Union of Palestinian Communities and Organizations in Europe called on “the Palestinian youth, organizers and strugglers to participate widely in political and community action, in the fields of public struggle and in the media, universities and trade unions; do not accept the path down which Mahmoud Abbas is attempting to send the Palestinian society…This phase of confronting Oslo requires sacrifices, collective struggle, and clear and firm national positions.”

He concluded his statement by demanding that Mahmoud Abbas make an official public apology to the struggler Khalida Jarrar, to the Palestinian people, and to the Palestinian prisoners’ movement for his behavior outside all national and democratic norms and values.

Dr. Fawzi Ismail
President of the Union of Palestinian Communities and Organizations – Europe
3 June 2017