A media release from the Stop the Wall Campaign regarding tomorrow’s planed Palestinian unity protests…
March 15 protests: Palestinian youth for unity and PLO reform
Date: Tuesday, March 15 2011
Time: 1 pm
Place: Ramallah, al Manara and central squares, West Bank and Gaza cities
Palestinian youth, inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, have called for mobilizations which will take place in the main squares in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as in some cities around the world.
In their statements and calls, the March 15 Group (Gaza and West Bank), the June 5 Group (West Bank and Gaza), Youth for Change (Gaza) and student groups have all demanded for an end to the divisions within Palestinian politics, and in particular between the West Bank and Gaza. Moreover, they add in one of their statements:
“As youth we demand a radical solution and not the maintenance of the status quo. First of all, we demand that elections for a new National Council of the PLO are held and that they are implemented through an electoral mechanism that guarantees the participation of all parts of the Palestinian people around the world (the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians inside the Green Line, the refugees, and Palestinians in the Diaspora).
[…]This is our day to clearly demand elections for the Palestinian National Council as a beginning to reorganize our ranks internally and rebuild our national project with the aim of resisting Israeli oppression in all its forms.”
In their words, this mobilization is set to challenge the current mood of defeatism within parts of the Palestinian liberation movement and push for efforts on all levels to guarantee Palestinian inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, an end to Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid, as well as the right of the refugees to return to their homes.
They finally caution of attempts by some groups to endorse the activities of March 15 in the interest of partisan political goals.