A joint political statement issued by the Communist Party of Israel and the Palestinian People’s Party

Communist Party of Israel

April 6, 2010

www.maki.org.il, interelations@maki.org.il  

The future of East Jerusalem is not like Tel Aviv but like Ramallah and Nablus!

The City of Ramallah hosted this week a meeting between leaders from the Communist Party of Israel and the Palestinian People’s Party. The meeting was devoted to discuss the latest political developments and means to reinforce bilateral ties between the two parties.

The delegation of the Communist Party of Israel was headed by Secretary General of the Party Mohammed Naffa’ and the members of the delegation consisted of Politburo members Issam Makhoul, Tamar Gozansky, Abdullah Abu Ma’rouf and Aida Touma. The delegation of the Palestinian People’s Party was headed by Secretary General Bassam al-Salhi, with Politburo members Hanna Amireh, Afaf Ghatasheh, Rida Nateel, and Fadwa Khader.

Both sides strongly condemned the Israeli escalation led by the extremist right wing government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu against the Palestinian people and the current measures, in terms of settlement campaigns in the city of Jerusalem and in the West Bank, and the attacks against the holy sites, in particular al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. They also condemned the occupation army act of killing in cold blood four Palestinian young men in the district of Nablus, and other measures.

Both sides denounced the Israeli criminal siege which is still imposed on Gaza Strip, and which is still causing tragic results on the well-being of people there. They considered the siege a criminal form of collective punishment imposed on an entire people and a blatant violation of the basic laws of the international community and the Geneva Conventions. Both sides demanded the immediate end of the siege and promised to continue struggling towards achieving this goal.

Both parties agreed on the dangers of the Palestinian internal split which is being exploited to pass the most dangerous occupation conspiracy with support from the United States. The conspiracy aims to abort the national rights of the Palestinian people, mainly the right for self-determination and independence. Both sides affirmed that the issue of the split is not a private affair between two Palestinian sides but a danger facing the future of the Palestinian people and their strategy for liberation. They demanded restoring political and geographic unity between the two parts of the homeland and view that signing the national reconciliation paper, which was formulated by Egypt, is the right step to achieve unity in order to frustrate the schemes of the enemies of the Palestinian people and those who count on the split to achieve their expansionist schemes and eliminate the Palestinian national project.

The Communist Party of Israel stressed on the organic relationship between the occupation and oppression of another people and the attacks against freedoms inside Israel, pointing out that the policy of expansion and occupation increases tension and signs of racism against the Arab citizens inside Israel. The Communist Party of Israel added that these acts escalate the attacks and violations against the Jewish democratic forces that struggle to end the occupation, halt settlements, and end all aggression measures against the rights of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian People’s Party commended the Israeli Communist Party and its allies in the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality and the Israeli Arab and Jewish forces that oppose the occupation as they are engaged in a continuous and determined struggle alongside the adamant popular resistance against the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in and Ni’lin, which has become a unique model and symbol of the struggle.

Both sides affirmed on their historical position which stipulates that the just and permanent solution of the Palestinian cause is through recognizing the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people and their right in establishing their national state with sovereignty over all Palestinian territories that were occupied in 1967 with al-Quds as its capital and to solve the Palestinian refugees cause in accordance with UN Resolution 194. This is the sole path to achieve the two state solution where the two states can live in peace and stability. Both parties stressed that trying to circumvent the two state solution as mentioned above , will only lead to consolidation of the state of occupation and denial of the rights of the Palestinian people in self-determination no matter how radical these solutions seem.

In this context, both parties reject the demand of the Israeli establishment to recognize the Jewishness of the Israeli state; they consider this request as a tool to exclude the Arab national minority in Israel and to deny their civil and national rights on the one hand; and in the aim of making of this demand a racist political minefield in the path to achieve any political progress and find a just solution to the Palestinian refugees cause on the other. Both parties said this request cannot be accepted and stressed on the need to struggle and expose its dimensions and frustrate it.

Positions of both parties agreed on the uselessness of any direct or indirect negotiations, with   (as long as) the current extremist right wing government (which) continues with provocative settlement campaigns in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in Occupied East Jerusalem. Both parties affirmed that Occupied East Jerusalem is not like Tel Aviv, as claimed by Netanyahu, but is like Ramallah, Nablus and the rest of the Palestinian cities and villages under occupation and what applies to the rest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip applies to Occupied East Jerusalem. Both parties said that there is no meaning in demanding from the Palestinians to return to the negotiations table without preconditions; they both stressed that it is futile to return to negotiations without preconditions that would lead to end of the occupation and liberation of the Palestinian people and their independence and implementation of the international legitimacy resolutions.

Both parties also agreed on the position that there is a need to demand first binding terms of reference for the negotiations based on final withdrawal to the 1967 borders and total and comprehensive halt of settlements as a condition to join any negotiations. Both parties also agreed on the need to start comprehensive political moves at the international level to push Israel towards abiding by international legitimacy resolutions. They stressed that counting and depending on US sole mediation will not do any good because of the strategic partnership between Israel and the United States, and this makes the US policy part of the problem rather than a part of the  solution. Both parties pointed out that depending on the sole option of negotiations has exhausted its purposes and that it is necessary now to activate and develop other strong factors in the Palestinian position, especially the escalation of popular struggle and resistance, and to place the international community and the Security Council and the various international organizations in front of their responsibilities in order to exert pressure on Israel to end its occupation and abide by the international law and international legitimacy resolutions. They stressed on support to the Communist Party of Israel and its allies in their battle to activate the peace  moves in the Israeli street that opposes occupation, settlements and provocations in Occupied East Jerusalem, just like what happened in Sheikh Jarrah recently.

At the end of the meeting, both parties agreed on continuation of regular meetings and on coordination and cooperation in the various political, trade union, students, women, and other popular fields and decided to form committees to follow up these matters.

March 25, 2010