Comrade Mohammed Kana’aneh, a leader of the Abna’a el-Balad movement of Palestine ’48, called on February for a boycott of the Knesset elections, stating the commitment of the Abn’a el-Balad movement to build and escalate the boycott of the elections among Palestinians in occupied Palestine ’48. “The Zionist regime is engaged in systematic destruction and displacement of our people,” he said. “We are boycotting not to battle against the Arab parties but to escalate our struggle with the occupation.”
Kana’aneh responded to the description of a combined Arab list running in the elections as a “dream” of Palestinian Arabs in ’48, noting that this is only a dream for those individuals and political parties who sought to unite parties to participate in accessing the Knesset. “This is not the dream of the Arab masses and the Palestinian people – that dream is real liberation and return, Palestinian independence and ending the occupation on the entire land of Palestine.”
“We recognize these new developments [in the creation of the United Arab List.] We do not see any justification for retreating for our principled position to call for boycott of the elections. On the contrary, we must escalate our political struggle around this principled position on the issue of the Knesset and its role in the structure of the Zionist occupation,” Kana’aneh said.
He noted that the primary target of the boycott campaign is not the Arab parties or their list, but with the occupation and its embodiment in the highest body of the state. The Knesset is the center of racist legislation that has brought nothing but killings, displacement, destruction and expulsion to the Palestinian people, said Kana’aneh. “The Knesset is not a parliament…it is a legislative council built on the ruins of our people, our right to self-determination and to build our state. For those who enter this election, they must recognize Israel as a ‘Jewish and democratic state,’” Kana’aneh noted, saying that this is why the Zionist state wants to beautify its image by having Arab parties participate in the election while having no opportunity to secure meaningful political power.
“After March 17, we will be in the same trench with all Arab parties, all the voters and the boycotters, to confront the racist Zionist policy directed against all of us. But we emphasize that participating in the elections is an unacceptable compromise of fundamental issues for our people…We are one Palestinian people, but to go into the Knesset means normalization with the occupation through participation,” said Kana’aneh.
“In 1948, the year of the Nakba, the Zionist gangs with the support of US and European imperialism occupied Palestine…we do not consider the Zionist occupation to be something that began in 1967, but instead in 1948, which created the Zionist Knesset upon the ruins of our people,” he said.
He emphasized that even if there is a higher percentage of voters this year among Palestinians in ’48, Abna’a el-Balad and the boycott campaign will not change their principled positions, which cannot be subject to bargaining. “The accomplishments of the Palestinian Arab masses inside ’48 have come through popular struggle, demonstrations, and the unity of the masses. Over 67 years, Arab MKs have not achieved on any national issue for the Palestinian people in the Knesset; they have confessed that they are unable to exert any influence in the Knesset,” he said.
“On the contrary, the Arab voice in the Knesset is required by the Zionist state as a fig leaf covering the nakedness of the occupation, paying lip service to the symbolism of ‘democracy in the Middle East,’” Kana’aneh said. During one session of the Knesset, both Benjamin Netanyahu and Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, praised “Israeli democracy,” Kana’aneh said, noting that “Netanyahu said, look at the Arab MKs who are able to scream, shout and cut off the Prime Minister from his speech, unlike in Syria or other Arab states;” in fact, the presence of Palestinians in the Knesset was used to present a false “democratic” image of the racist state.
Kana’aneh noted that Zionist organizations in the United States and elsewhere in the world use the participation of Palestinian Arabs in the Knesset and voting in images and advertisements to display a so-called “democratic Israel” to the world.
PFLP commemorates first anniversary of killing of Comrade Moataz Washaha
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine commemorated the first anniversary of the occupation forces’ murder of the struggler, Comrade Moataz Washaha, visiting the tomb of the martyr and his family’s home in Bir Zeit village. PFLP leader Comrade Khalida Jarrar joined a delegation of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, led by Khitam Saafin, and of the Progressive Democratic Student Pole at Bir Zeit University.
Comrade Jarrar spoke at Washaha’s graveside, pledging to continue the struggle and the resistance until we achieve the goals of the Palestinian people: return and liberation.
Also on the occasion on the first anniversary of the killing of Washaha, the Zionist occupation forces attacked hundreds of young Palestinians near Atara checkpoint, wounding 8 with rubber-coated metal bullets.
Jarrar presented a honorary plaque to Washaha’s family in a visit to his family home, pledging to remain true to his commitments to Palestine; it was received by his mother, who said that “Moataz remains in the hearts, the thoughts and the conscience of all freedom fighters of our people.” Washaha was murdered by occupation forces on February 27, 2014, shot 62 times as he was attacked in his home and refused to turn himself over to the occupation army, assassinated in cold blood.
Palestinian organizing builds for World Social Forum in Tunisia
Palestinian organizations are continuing preparations to participate in the World Social Forum, which will take place in Tunisia between March 24-28, where it is anticipated that Palestine will be a strong presence in the activities of the Forum.
Yousef Habash, a member of the Forum’s international coordinating committee and a representative of the Palestinian national committee for the Forum, said that Palestine will have a strong presence at the biannual Forum, which represents the largest gathering of civil society organizations and social movements globally. The theme of this year’s forum is “Rights and dignity,” Habash said, noting that Tunisia is hosting this global event for the second time in a row.
The hosting of the event in Tunisia is of great importance, Habash said, particularly in light of the momentum of the Palestinian and Arab national cause in the countries of the Maghreb. There will be opportunities to address the Palestinian cause from a number of angles, including issues facing youth, women and other social sectors, he noted.
The Palestinian committee for the Forum is also organizing cultural activities, including film screenings, art shows, photo galleries, and other cultural events. The focus on Palestine will peak on the last day of the Forum, March 28, when participants are expected to march in the tens of thousands in the “March of Palestine;” this march will take place two days before Land Day, March 30. Palestinians will participate from all areas of occupied Palestine, the refugee camps, and the broader Palestinian diaspora.
There are at least 121 Palestinian organizations and institutions participating in the WSF, which recognizes its importance as a platform for confronting neoliberalism in Palestine and globally, for highlighting the struggle of the Palestinian people, and for building solidarity among movements and leftist organizations engaging in the forum, he said, noting that it is also an opportunity to highlight the centrality of the Palestinian cause in the Arab struggle.
The activities will not end in the Forum, Habash emphasized, noting that the forum’s international coordinating committee is planning to hold its first meeting following the forum in the Gaza Strip, to break the siege and support the Palestinian people. This initiative will also work with Brazilian organizations and institutions who will be organizing delegations to break the siege on Gaza.
The Palestinian organizing committee will also be building for a Palestinian Social Forum, and to follow up with large delegations of Palestinian youth for a future forum in Tunisia in the summer to invite international youth movements to participate and build support for the struggle of Palestinian youth under occupation.
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