Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine again demanded an end to the renewed so-called “negotiations” on August 12, noting that the latest announcement of yet more occupation settlement construction once again reveals the deceptive nature of the so-called “peace process” as a means to mislead Palestinian, Arab and international public opinion. The Front said that the negotiations and “bilateral solutions” only contribute to building false illusions and deceiving the Palestinian people, while harming the national struggle, the unity of the Palestinian people and their political institutions, and the international solidarity movement with Palestine.

The Palestinian cause is a universal issue of justice. The destructive and dangerous negotiations only undermine our cause. Instead it is time to return to our people and their institutions and restore national unity. These negotiations are scheduled to take place under the shadow of the construction of settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the terrorism of the settlers, the tightening of the siege on Gaza, ongoing war crimes and violations against the Palestinian land and people, as well as the manipulation of the issue of the prisoners. The negotiations serve only to support the decisions and intentions of the occupation to engage in war crimes while labeling it a “peace process.” By participating in the negotiations, Palestinian parties help to achieve the goal of the occupation.

Furthermore, the Front said that while the U.S. and European countries pay lip service to opposing settlement construction, nothing is done to hold the occupation accountable and punish it for its crimes, and it is clear that in reality the only thing that matters to these countries is that we continue to play the game of negotiations and “peace process” in service to its goals in the region and at the expense of the Palestinian people, their sacrifices and struggle.

Comrade Emad Abu Rahma, a member of the PFLP’s Central Committee said that the decision to return to negotiations was an individual one by Abu Mazen and his associates with no regard for the decisions of the Palestinian people and Palestinian institutions that rejected any return to negotiations without a total end to settlement construction, UN resolutions as a reference and the release of prisoners and detainees. Abu Rahma said that the Israeli announcement of building yet more settlement housing units reveals the entirely deceptive intent of these negotiations, which are providing political cover for settlement schemes in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

He emphasized that this current stage is the result of the path of Oslo that must be rejected. He pointed out that the decision to return to these negotiations in light of the continued settlement construction undermines any attempt to build an international position or UN action against the settlements on the basis that the settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, in particular to hold Israel accountable in the International Criminal Court, while Palestinian officials are negotiating with the occupying. Abu Rahma said a clear position must be made to withdraw from the negotiations and instead build a program of resistance to confront the aggression.