George Habash: Escalate the resistance in all its forms

On the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the founding of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the General Secretary of the Front,
George Habash, wrote an address to be delivered at a festive meeting in
Damascus.  Habash, in his address, demanded a "halt to the
on-going negotiations which are based on going it alone and relying on the
authority of the United States and Israel, and on the Oslo agreements."

Habash noted the importance of the pan-Arab dimension of the Palestinian
cause and called for bringing that aspect into play once again.

He voiced absolute support for the Declaration of the Twenty and sharply
criticised the Palestine Authority for its arrest and detention of activists
who had signed that declaration against official corruption.  Habash pointed
out that these repressive measures, "violate the most basic human rights and
the freedom of thought and expression."  Habash explained that while the
Popular Front sees the main contradiction to be that with the Zionist
occupation, this fact does not mean that the Front will not resist the
worsening corruption of the agencies and institutions of the Palestine
Authority.  It does not mean that the Front will not resist firmly the
policy of repression and suppression being practiced against Palestinian
society inside Palestine.

Habash called on the Palestinian masses, their social and union activists to
wage the broadest possible campaign to confront the practices of the
Authority, and he demanded the immediate release of the "imprisoned
militants."

The General Secretary of the PFLP called for the convening of a new Palestine
National Council chosen by the Palestinian people "in elections that all
the political forces and trends would participate in without exception."

The Popular Front's leader called for "the escalation of all types of
resistance -- mass, political, and military resistance -- for this is the
basic way to win back the national rights of the Palestinians."

Regarding Lebanon, Habash stated that the Palestinian fighters in Lebanon
would only function in the framework of the Lebanese patriotic resistance.
The PFLP General Secretary called for a "deepening of the Palestinian-
Lebanese alliance to confront the plans of settling" Palestinians
permanently outside Palestine.  "Confronting this plot," Habash noted,
"demands that we focus on the other side of the equation, that is, support
for the right of the Palestinian people to return to Palestine in accordance
with UN Resolution 194, and guaranteeing civil rights and a dignified life
to those Palestinians in Lebanon.

Habash reaffirmed the sovereignty and legal authority of Lebanon throughout
all of Lebanese territory, and he noted that the problem of the refugees was
a "sacred, patriotic subject that may not be played around with or dismissed
under any excuse."  "Our people," he stressed, "have rejected for the past
fifty years all plans for their resettlement and they have defeated many of
them.  Today talk again is rising about resettlement, particularly in
Lebanon, a fact that compells us to reaffirm our rejection of all
resettlement plans that conflict with the rights of our people to return to
their land and homes."  Habash also affirmed that Jerusalem is the eternal capital
of Palestine.
-- as-Safir newspaper, Beirut, 4 December 1999.