ACTION ALERT
For Immediate Release
11 November 2004
Al-Awda Mourns The Death of President
Yasser Arafat
Farewell Abu Ammar
With hearts full of sorrow, we, members
of Al-Awda-- the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, express
our deep sadness at the death of Yasser Arafat, President
of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
We hold the government of Ariel Sharon responsible for the
suffering he endured in the last three years of his life,
ultimately leading to his death.
President Arafat's pivotal role in advancing
the cause of Palestine and its people defies words. Abu
Ammar, along with other Palestinian leaders, were the primary
architects of the modern Palestinian national movement.
It was under their capable leadership that the PLO was transformed
into a broad-based national framework, a front of national
resistance groups who
were driven by an irresistible desire to return to a free
Palestine, and who were actively engaged in the struggle
to recover Palestinian rights.
Under Arafat's leadership, the PLO succeeded
in defining the Palestinian cause as one of a nation determined
to take matters into its own hands; a people made up of
refugees whose continued existence is organically, naturally
and historically tied to the land of Palestine. In fact,
the PLO, as the embodiment of Palestinian identity and hopes,
went beyond the role played by traditional national liberation
movements. The PLO fought to restore the national rights
of the Palestinian people and to end the colonial occupation
of Palestine. It also took it upon itself to
reconstitute the shattered Palestinian identity, society
and culture while, simultaneously, securing substantial
international political and diplomatic support for the Palestinian
cause.
Abu Ammar personified the Palestinian
struggle to the extent that the two became inseparable in
the eyes of many. The man who dedicated his entire life
to Palestine simultaneously shaped and was shaped by the
Palestinian struggle in all of its stages.
Most of all, Arafat embodied and personified
the unmatched Palestinian will to resist oppression irrespective
of the cost of such resistance. He personified the Palestinian
revolt in the face of overwhelming odds. When Palestinian
forces at the Jordanian village of Karama came under Israeli
assault in April of 1968, Arafat and his comrades insisted
on standing their ground. By doing so, they transformed
the Battle of Karama into a turning point in the history
of Palestinian and Arab resistance against Zionism and imperialism.
Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees
with his political tactics or leadership style, one thing
is clear: Yasser Arafat never retreated on any of the core
Palestinian objectives, namely independence, the right to
return and a free Jerusalem. And for his steadfastness,
Abu Ammar paid dearly.
In 1982, Arafat resisted military and
political pressures to abandon the Palestinian struggle.
Instead, he led an alliance of Palestinian-Lebanese-Syrian
resistance to Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Rebuffing offers
of safe passage out of the besieged city of Beirut, Abu
Ammar insisted on staying with his people and fighters.
In fact, after leading and personally participating in thwarting
Israeli attempts to occupy Beirut during the fateful summer
of 1982, Arafat was the last person to leave the city after
ensuring the safe departure of his forces.
During the summer of 2000, Arafat came
under intense pressure at Camp David to accept US-Israeli
dictates with regards to Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees'
right to return. However, the Palestinian leader refused
to sign or endorse any agreement that fell short of minimal
Palestinian demands. Arafat paid a heavy price for his refusal
to surrender his people's rights. A campaign of killing
and terror was unleashed against the West Bank and Gaza,
culminating in the reoccupation of major Palestinian cities
and towns, and the imprisonment of Arafat in the few parts
of his Ramallah headquarters which escaped Israeli destruction.
Despite repeated offers by Israel to ensure his safe passage
to another country, Arafat chose to remain in his destroyed
headquarters and with his people, fully aware of the devastating
effects the non-sanitary living conditions were having on
his frail health.
This is a day of grief and sorrow. However,
our grief for Abu Ammar should not be mistaken for resignation
and despair. The Palestinian people have a long, existential
struggle that transcends individuals. For this is what Abu
Ammar had always taught us.
This is also a day of unity for Palestinians
and all people of conscience; unity in sadness, but also
in determination to continue the struggle for which President
Arafat has paid with his life.
We reiterate our determination to challenge
any attempts by Israel or the US to impose a leadership
on the Palestinian people that suit their interests and
designs. The Palestinian people will not forgive those who
may try to surrender their fundamental rights, first and
foremost the rights to return and compensation.
We call on the Palestinian people to move
forward with the establishment and implementation of a national
unity program within the framework of a unified national
leadership that encompasses all segments of the Palestinian
people, including those living in the Diaspora.
As we bid him farewell, we will especially
remember Abu Ammar for his refusal to abandon the Palestinian
refugees' right to return to their original towns and villages.
Throughout his life, President Arafat insisted that only
the Palestinian people had the right to define the objectives,
strategies and tactics of their struggle without any external
interference. This is a message which many within the Palestinian
movement in North America would like to see the Palestine
solidarity groups adopt and adhere to.
Long Live Palestine
Long Live the Palestinian People
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org
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