The Israel-Arab Reader (60 page)
Read The Israel-Arab Reader Online
Authors: Walter Laqueur
O people of Palestine, O people of the PLO, O people of the unified national leadership. After its failure to put out the fires of the revolution through repression and terror, the occupation today is resorting to rumors and to spreading lies and forged statements allegedly signed by the Unified National Leadership in an attempt to cast doubt over our peopleâindividuals and groups. The occupation is trying to sow the seeds of factionalism and sectarianism. It is spreading rumors about arresting the editors of the calls of the Unified National Leadership. All this is aimed at weakening the front of the burning uprising. The Unified National Leadership is certain that our people will be able to confront all the false rumors of the occupation. It affirms that the Unified National Leadership is the people of the uprising, represented by all its strata, groups, and sectors.
The Unified National Leadership includes the great martyrs whose blood is daily watering the soil of the homeland. This leadership consists of the children and youths of the stones and Molotov cocktails, the women who miscarried from the gas bombs and poison gas, the women whose husbands and sons are languishing in the Nazi prisons. The leadership consists of thousands of peasants and workers who stopped work in the Zionist settlements and who are protecting their villages, camps, and towns day and night against the tyranny and repression of the settlers and occupation soldiers.
O masses of our generous people, O mothers of martyrs, detainees, and wounded, O all mothers of Palestine, the rulers of the Zionist entity believe that by mass arrests and night stormings they can break our back and weaken our faith. But they do not know that our people are an inexhaustible store of generosity and are accustomed to making sacrifices for the sake of the homeland. So no matter how harsh Zionist repression and fascist measures are and no matter how many heroes and men of the uprising are detained, the Zionist enemy will not be able to put an end to this sweeping revolutionâthe revolution of the holy stones. Our people today are unified like a mighty giant destroying all the theories of the Zionist entity, intensifying the tribulation and dilemma of the Zionists, and increasing the confusion of their soldiers. More generosity means the breaking of the dawn of freedom forging its way in the darkness of coercion and heralding the independent Palestinian state.
While we are on the threshold of the 5th month of our glorious uprising and while we are hailing these days the 40th anniversary of the battle of heroism and sacrificeâthe Battle of Al-Qastal and the commemoration of the martyrdom of hero commander 'Abd al-Qadir al-Husayniâthe Unified National Leadership affirms the following:
Call No. 16 (May 28, 1988)1. Denouncing attempts to disrupt the convocation of the Arab summit in the first half of April. The summit should be held as soon as possible to back the struggle of the people of the uprising on the land of Palestine. We assure the Arab kings and presidents that we do not want funds. We would rather starve and remain destitute than bow down. We would rather die martyrs than concede our rights before final victory. However, we want the summit to abide in practice by its previous resolutions by asserting our people's inalienable rights to establish our independent state under the flag of the PLO, the leader of our struggle and our sole, legitimate representative, and abide by an international conference with full powers with the participation of all parties, including the PLO in an equal and independent manner. We also call on the summit to close all Arab doors to the Shultz plot, which seeks to liquidate the uprising, by categorically rejecting it and closing Arab airports before his shuttle tours as well as to all other U.S. envoys. Shultz and all those Arab regimes colluding with him should know that his only address is the PLO. It is the party concerned and the sole, legitimate representative.
2. The Unified National Leadership and the masses of the uprising denounce the oppressive authorities' recent measures represented by isolating the West Bank and Gaza, imposing a curfew on Gaza for 3 days, and considering the West Bank a closed area to the movement of citizens and journalists in a desperate attempt to prevent the people of the uprising from commemorating immortal Land Day. We tell them that all these desperate attempts are doomed to miserable failure. The will of the revolution of the stones and the uprising shall triumph over all their fascist and Nazi methods.
3. Denouncing the occupation authorities' decision to consider the youth movement [
harakat al-shabibah
] illegal and to close a number of trade union complexes and establishments and considering these measures as contrary to the most fundamental human rights and all international pacts and norms. The Unified National Leadership affirms that these measures will only make us more determined to continue the struggle.
harakat al-shabibah
] illegal and to close a number of trade union complexes and establishments and considering these measures as contrary to the most fundamental human rights and all international pacts and norms. The Unified National Leadership affirms that these measures will only make us more determined to continue the struggle.
4. The Unified National Leadership and the masses of the uprising evaluate the unified collective stand taken by merchants of the Ramallah area who pledged at a public meeting attended by 30 merchants not to pay taxes and who adhered to their pledge in practice. We consider this experiment an example that should be emulated by all merchants in all parts of the West Bank and Gaza.
5. The Unified National Leadership greets the stand taken by the members of the municipal and village committees who responded to the call for resignation by the Unified National Leadership and the masses of the uprising. The leadership announces the squandering of the blood and property of the chairmen and members of the committees who have not resigned. We tell them that the masses of the uprising will trample upon whoever deviates from the stands of national unanimity and does not respond to the call and voice of the uprising.
6. The Unified National Leadership and the masses of the uprising evaluate the mass resignation of the tax and customs departments employees in Gaza and calls on the employees of these departments in the West Bank to follow their example. The leadership also evaluates the mass resignation of the policemen who responded to the call of the uprising and calls on municipality members to immediately resign from their posts. The Unified National Leadership urges all national popular committees to continue the work of setting up and generalizing cultivation, protection, and public order committees to prevent enemy authorities' attempts at sabotage and confusion. The Unified National Leadership also appeals to all our industrial firms to cooperation with the national popular committees in employing [resigning] policemen and tax and customs departments employees.
7. The Unified National Leadership urges agricultural engineers, owners of plant nurseries, and those with experience and capabilities to give every support and guidance to the masses of peasants, farmers, and striking workers to achieve maximum levels of self-sufficiency and to confront the measures of economic restriction used by the occupation authorities. Let us continue to reclaim and cultivate lands to meet our needs and support besieged areas. We should all realize the task of all the masses of the uprising is to intensify their work and to increase their production during our long struggle. We must realize that strike does not mean not working. The Unified National Leadership, while continuing on the long and difficult road of defeating the occupation and establishing our independent state, calls on the masses of the uprising to entrench the following struggle activities:
a. Declaring Monday, 4 April, a general strike day as an expression of the uprising masses' rejection of the plot by George Shultz, the secretary of U.S. imperialism. We reaffirm the PLO's stand and our determination to use the uprising to boycott any meetings with Shultz or any other U.S. envoy.
b. Declaring Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 4, 5, and 6 April, days of various struggle activities by the uprising, masses, committees, striking groups, and various national frameworks against Shultz' visit and in solidarity with the uprising and detainees and wounded, including sit-ins and various public and women's demonstrations.
c. Considering Tuesday, 5 April, a day of national action in which all national establishments and factories shall operate at full capacity in the interests of those affected by the uprising, such as the families of martyrs, wounded, detainees, besieged areas, and workers who lost their jobs for ceasing to work in Zionist settlements and projects and also those who resigned in response to the call of the uprising. The national committees in every city, village, camp, and quarter shall distribute the revenues of this day.
d. On the occasion of World Health Day on 7 April, the Unified National Leadership greets all doctors, pharmacists, and nurses who have performed the duty of providing health care and relief work to the wounded of the uprising by returning to work in the camps, villages, and cities. The leadership calls on all those employed in the health care field to receive more patients and provide more medical treatment.
e. Declaring Thursday, 7 April, the anniversary of the Battle of Al-Qastal and the martyrdom of Palestinian commander 'Abd al-Qadir a day of violent clashes with the occupation forces and the cowardly settlers. Tumultuous demonstrations must come out in the streets and all our camps, villages, and cities must turn into fortresses of confrontation and fortification for the uprising.
f. Declaring Saturday, 9 April, which is the anniversary of the martyrdom of the first group of martyrs in the uprising as well as the martyrs of the Dayr Yasin massacre, and the beginning of the 5th month of our uprising, a day of people's authority in which processions shall proceed to the graves of the martyrs, sit-ins shall be organized in municipalities and establishments, and demonstrations shall be staged everywhere. It should be declared a day of sweeping indignation against the occupation authorities and their oppressive measures. Let the ground erupt like a volcano under the feet of the invader occupiers.
g. Considering Friday and Sunday, 8 and 10 April, days of prayer for the repose of the souls of the uprising's martyrs. Processions and demonstrations shall be staged and sit-ins shall be organized in mosques and churches.
8. Monday, 11 April, shall be a day of general strike and of guiding the masses of our people on volunteer work for cultivating lands, developing Palestinian rural areas, and promoting environmental economy. O people of the uprising continue to move forward. O cubs of the stones march ahead. They will not pass. The uprising shall triumph, shall triumph.
In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. Call, call, call. No voice can rise above the voice of the uprising; no voice can rise above the voice of the Palestinian people, the people of the PLO.
O masses of our great people: Your triumphant uprising is now beginning its 6th month, defying the wounds; embracing the Palestinian sky through martyrdom and victory; challenging all kinds of oppression, tyranny, and killing which our enemy is pursuing; opening the door to our triumphant revolution and the originator of our struggle, the PLO; exposing our enemies' ugly faces before the whole world; foiling all the conspiratorial projects against our steadfast people; strengthening our people's unity around the PLO, the sole legitimate representative; and protecting our independent national decisionmaking. There will be no trusteeship or alternative except Palestine, the alternative which is baptized with the blood of our righteous martyrs.
O masses of our people, we are living the 40th anniversary of the Palestine disaster of 1948, the infamous day when tens of thousands of our people were expelled from their homeland and dispersed in all countries of the world, entrenching the presence of the colonialist Zionist occupation on our chaste soil under the shadow of Arab trusteeship over our people and through the defeated Arab regimes, which were under the influence of colonialist powers, especially Britain. Palestine was a victim of this trusteeship and weakness. From the bleeding wound emerged the Palestinian revolution, which declared at its birth in 1965 that there is no alternative to struggle against the usurping enemy through the methods of prolonged people's war and armed struggle until liberation and victory.
With the presence of the PLO and the continuation of the Palestinian struggle within its framework, and with the increasing number of martyrs, our triumphant revolution and our heroic masses were able to wrest their independent national decisionmaking at the 1974 Rabat summit conference. Our people won their independent decisionmaking, represented by declaring the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people everywhere. And despite all the desperate attempts to strike at our triumphant revolution and our enemies' efforts to circumvent this representation, the Palestinian giant was able to confront all its enemies and to turn our Palestinian cause into a central cause for the whole world despite the wounds, the rivers of blood, the large number of martyrs, and our people's immense suffering.
Then came our sacred uprising to renew our people's resolve to attain their legitimate rights no matter what the sacrifices or how long the wait. It has grown into a giant, striking terror in the hearts of all enemies. Your glorious uprising is delivering painful blows to the Nazi occupation, foiling its measures against our struggling masses. Despite the fascist oppression, our masses are ever rallying around the uprising and its sacred slogans through a commitment to the PLO and the unified leadership of the uprising, withholding taxes, boycotting occupation goods, resigning en masse from the Zionist administration, economizing on expenses, intensifying local agriculture, land reclamation, and education, and building al-ternative bodies via popular committees, neighborhoods, education, and health as a key prelude to civil disobedience.
Having despaired of squelching and aborting the uprising, the rulers of Tel Aviv committed the crime of murdering the leader, the symbol Abu Jihad [Khalil al-Wazir], in Tunis in an attempt to end it. O our heroic masses, comrades, and brothers of the martyr hero Abu Jihad [words indistinct]. Abu Jihad's blood will not have been wasted. All our people are Abu Jihad. We will continue the march along the path of struggle until victory. This escalation has been crowned by the international consensus on denouncing the Zionist entity and its fascist policies, the Palestinian-Soviet agreement, reconciliation with Syria, and reopening the intra-Palestinian dialogue toward developing the unity of the PLO.
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