PFLP on the 25th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of its Secretary-General, Comrade Leader Abu Ali Mustafa

The Popular Front: A comprehensive national dialogue to unify vision and action in the face of the occupation, to protect our cause and national rights.

To the steadfast masses of our Palestinian people, to the sons of our Arab nation, to the free people of the world,

Twenty-five years have passed since the martyrdom of the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Comrade Leader Abu Ali Mustafa, who was assassinated by Zionist rockets in his office in Ramallah on August 27, 2001. The occupation believed that his assassination would kill the idea and silence the voice of Palestine; but it was wrong. Abu Ali became a martyr, and his approach, his resistance, and his words: “We have returned to resist, not to negotiate,” remain a symbol of an unyielding national choice.

On the 25th anniversary, our people are facing a continuous war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, as well as violations, aggression, settlement expansion, and annexation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, a systematic destruction of people and the foundations of life, and deliberate and widespread attempts to target the national entity and Palestinian identity through displacement, dispossession, fragmentation of the land and people, and the liquidation of the cause, all the way to erasing the right of our people to return and self-determination.

Today, we remember Abu Ali as a living approach and a national compass of resistance. He was a leader who did not compromise on rights, who did not surrender to the occupation, and who did not betray all of Palestine. He believed that freedom is seized, and liberation is achieved through resistance, struggle, sacrifice, and steadfastness. He embodied resistance in word and deed until his martyrdom. He believed that national unity requires collective leadership and strong and effective national institutions. Therefore, rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization and activating its institutions, especially the National Council, to include all components of the national movement, is a condition for protecting national decision-making, strengthening resistance, and preserving the unity of our people.

We, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, on the 25th anniversary of the martyrdom of Comrade Abu Ali Mustafa, and in embodying his approach, his national and revolutionary choice, we reaffirm the following:

1. All Palestinian national efforts, with all their forces and capabilities, must be mobilized to stop the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, to stop the aggression, violations, and systematic destruction, to break the siege, and to protect our people. We must firmly confront plans for displacement, dispossession, and annexation, as stopping the aggression and saving our people is a national priority that takes precedence over all others and cannot be delayed.

2. Resistance in all its forms is a fixed and legitimate right, and it will remain present and capable of continuing its role, no matter how difficult the circumstances and challenges, as long as the occupation exists, because it is an authentic national choice that is not subject to compromise or seizure. We call for escalating resistance to the crimes of the occupation and the attacks of settler gangs, and for strengthening popular resistance, and for forming popular protection committees in the West Bank.

3. National unity is a condition for steadfastness and victory, and the strength of all components of our people and our national movement is a strength for the national project. We must manage differences through dialogue and partnership, away from internal conflict.

4. The seriousness of the current situation and the complexities of the Palestinian reality require launching a comprehensive and serious national dialogue, starting with a meeting of the Secretaries-General, with the participation of all forces, to end the division and build a unified national front in the face of the occupation and plans to liquidate the cause, leading to the rebuilding of our national institutions and the activation of the democratic path based on partnership, and to preserve the unity of the land, the people, and the national decision.

5. Rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian political system on democratic foundations and genuine national partnership, and activating its institutions and ensuring the participation of all forces and components, is a necessity to protect national decision-making and end the monopoly and favoritism.

6. Honoring and fulfilling the covenant to Comrade Leader Ahmed Saadat, and to his comrades, the heroes of the “Sacred Vengeance” operation, which came in response to the assassination of the martyr leader Abu Ali Mustafa, is a tribute to the blood of the martyrs and the approach of resistance. The Popular Front renews its commitment to support and stand by them, as well as to our female and male prisoners who are facing campaigns of Zionist harassment and repression, affirming that their freedom is a fixed national cause and a covenant that will not be broken.

The occupation assassinated the leader Abu Ali Mustafa, but it made a mistake when it thought that a fedayeen could be killed. Abu Ali was not a body in the line of fire, but an idea that is born, grows, expands, and continues, and a will that advances and does not break, and a voice for freedom that, whenever they tried to silence it, its echoes spread throughout Palestine. The leader has passed, but the fedayeen is still alive in us, and his blood is a covenant that will not fade, and his will is a compass that will not deviate, and all of Palestine remains our noble goal and our historical right that cannot be shortened or divided. Liberation, return, and self-determination are rights that cannot be forfeited, and unity, resistance, and steadfastness are a path that we will not change. We will remain faithful to the path of the martyrs, carrying their banner from generation to generation, until the projects of occupation, displacement, annexation, and liquidation are broken, and the will of our people prevails, and Palestine becomes free.

Glory and eternal remembrance to the martyr, leader Abu Ali Mustafa, and to all the martyrs of our people.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine