US Palestinian Community Network’s response to the Palestinian Authority September statehood bid

28.8.11

US Palestinian Community Network’s response to the Palestinian Authority September statehood bid:

For Immediate Release

US Palestinian Community Network’s response to the Palestinian Authority September statehood bid

Media contact:

Andrew Dalack

Email: ajdalack@gmail.com

Telephone: 734-645-6860

August 27, 2011

In recent months, the Palestinian Authority has been intensifying diplomatic efforts to declare statehood at the United Nations. Wasting no avenue, the PA has been seeking to mobilize popular forces in Palestine and in the shatat (diaspora) behind this initiative. Students, community associations, solidarity campaigns, and organizers, across the US, have all been called upon to “make Palestine the 194^th state.”

We call on all Palestinian and Arab community associations, societies and committees, student organizations, solidarity campaigns, to reject fully and unequivocally the Statehood initiative as a distraction that unjustifiably and irresponsibly endangers Palestinian rights and institutions.

Any diplomatic initiatives, including the initiative at the United Nations this September, must preserve the status of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people at the United Nations and protect and advance our inalienable rights. The current Statehood initiative does neither, and is therefore an unacceptable threat to the Palestinian national movement.

We call on all Palestinians across the United States to participate in strengthening the campaign for direct elections to the Palestinian National Council by participating in Palestinian Movement Assemblies and Community Meetings for Democratic National Representation. Held throughout the summer, these meetings will continue through the fall and throughout the country. They will grow as the campaign grows, building a critical mass for our demand for democratic representation. You can find more information and when a PMA will be taking place near you here.

Let us all join the rally at the United Nations on September 15 (more info). The march will take place on Thursday, September 15 in New York City, with a 4:30 gathering in Times Square followed by a 5:30 march to Grand Central and the United Nations. Coordinated by a broad coalition of organizations and campaigns, the Palestine UN Coalition demands the United Nations hear our voice. We are the people of Palestine, we are the allies of Palestine, and we will be heard by the General Assembly.

USPCN’s Coordinating Committee has attached a comprehensive statement titled, “Liberation and Return are the Demands of the Palestinian People: A note of caution to our people and our allies,” to this press release, which further clarifies USPCN’s position, articulates an alternative to the Palestinian Authority’s subversive maneuvering, and explains the current statehood bid within the context of the broader Palestine liberation movement and its goals.

uspcn.org

###