Democratic Palestine : 1 (ص 26)
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- Democratic Palestine : 1 (ص 26)
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PFLP 16th Anniversary — Mass Rally
On December 9th, the PFLP celebrated the 16th anniversary of its founding at a mass rally in
Yarmouk camp, near Damascus, Syria. Over 10,000 people attended, most from various parts of Syria;
some also came from Lebanon to celebrate the glorious occasion. The rally was held in an atmosphere
of revolutionary joy with the masses chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian revolution and
saluting the Front’s 16 years of struggle. Among the honored guests attending were a broad spectrum of
Palestinian leaders, several leaders of the Lebanese nationalist forces, representatives of progressive
Arab organizations, and diplomatic representatives of many friendly countries.
Opening the celebration, the PFLP’s dance troupe and band, Al Ard (The Land), played music.
and performed the traditional Palestinian debka folkdance. Following the entertainment, there were
speeches by three of the honored guests at the rally. The first was delivered by Tawfiq Salha, regional
leader of the Arab Socialist Baath Party. The second speaker was Comrade Hadi Ahmad Nasser on
behalf of the Yemeni Socialist Party. The third speaker was Comrade George Hawi, General Secretary
of the Lebanese Communist Party. (See following pages for synopses of their speeches.) Then, amidst
the cheering of the masses, Comrade George Habash, General Secretary of the PFLP, began the main
speech, which follows in excerpt:
Comrade George Habash
We meet today to renew the promise
to our Palestinian and Arab masses and
our friends around the world, to
continue the struggle until Zionism is
eradicated from Palestine, and we
establish a democratic state in all of
Palestine, and a united, socialist, Arab
society...
Today, the nature and objectives of
the Zionist-imperialist attack in the area
are clearer than ever before. I say this
based on a set of evidence that shows
the nature of the political situation we
will be facing in the coming year. All of
you heard about the recent visit of
Shamir to Washington, about the
strategic US-Israeli alliance, and the US
and Israeli air raids that followed,
against the positions of the Syrian
forces, the Lebanese nationalists and the
Palestinian revolution — present side-
by-side on the confrontation line with
the enemy.
This period witnesses a clear, inflex-
ible US policy — intensification of
Zionist-imperialist intransigence... What
are the objectives of this attack? How
can we stop it?
This attack aims to implement Camp
David in the whole area. It aims to sub-
jugate Syria, the Lebanese nationalist
movement, the Palestinian revolution
and every Arab country that stands
firmly opposed to the imperialist plans.
After imposing Camp David on the
northern front (Syria, Lebanon and the
Palestinian revolution), US imperialism
will turn to our comrades in Democratic
Yemen in an attempt to destroy this
bastion...Moreover, it will turn to Al-
geria, Libya and the entire Arab arena in
26
order to make Camp David prevail,
whereby imperialism and Zionism will
be the masters of the area...
This is the challenge facing us this
year and in the coming years. How each
nationalist organization and regime
combats this challenge will be the
scientific measure for evaluating them...
It is important to point out that in order
to impose their objectives, US impe-
rialism and Zionism need not use all
their military might...While preparing
for aggression, they are also employing
other methods to subjugate the national-
ist forces. If these fail, they will direct
the painful blows...
The yardstick of nationalism
As nationalist, democratic and
revolutionary forces, how can we
confront this plan? What is the yardstick
for judging the position of every regime,
force and party?
First is a decisive political position to
confront not only ‘Israel’, but also US
imperialism, which is the primary
supporter of ‘Israel’. The yardstick of
nationalism today is not to be anti-Israeli
only, but mainly to be anti-US
imperialism. If the Arab nation had
been facing ‘Israel’ only, it would have
been able to put a limit to Israeli
aggression and defeat it...What makes
‘Israel’ so powerful is maximum and
unconditional US aid — military,
economic and political...Whoever wants
to confront ‘Israel’ must combat US
imperialism. From now on, we are not
ready to describe any regime or party as
nationalist on the basis of formal or
‘He who
verbal opposition to ‘Israel’.
Some Arab regimes want to put on
the veil of nationalism by having an anti-
Israeli position, but the Arab people’s
long history shows this to be deception.
is content to talk about
combating ‘Israel’, without knowing
that the real battle is with US
imperialism, is not a nationalist. _
Still some Arab regimes do not dare to
deal with these facts. Why? I read the
statement of Saudi Arabia on the
International Solidarity Day with the
Palestinian People. It says that ‘Israel’ is
strong because there is a big power
supporting it! Saudi Arabia does not
dare to mention the name of this
power...Arab reaction professes support
to the Palestinian cause; meanwhile, all
their money pours into the banks of
imperialism, particularly the US. What
kind of logic is this?
We do not expect these regimes to
have a strategic alliance with the Soviet
Union... The Soviet Union supports our
cause politically, diplomatically and
militarily, yet many Arab states do not
have diplomatic relations with the
Soviet Union. What kind of Arabs are
these? If these Arabs still think that the
US holds “99% of the cards of the
solution in the area”, as expressed by
Sadat, it is about time that the people
and nationalist vanguards in these states
present the solid facts — The US does
not hold 99% of the cards.
In the historical perspective, the US is
a declining power. Look at _ the
movement of history...I remember very
well during the 1936 revolt in Palestine,
Britain was the Great Empire; the sun
never set on its territories. Today Britain
is a limited power. The same logic
applies to the US. In 1945, US industrial - هو جزء من
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