PFLP protests against return to negotiations

A senior official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has said that the police crackdown would not stop protests against the resumption of talks with the Israelis without a general consensus.

Khalida Jarrar was speaking after Palestinian Authority police in Ramallah detained three PFLP members from their hospital beds in the city; they had been admitted for treatment after they were injured by the police response to the protests organised by the PFLP in Ramallah. A protest was also arranged to take place simultaneously in the Gaza Strip.

Jarrar condemned the police response to the peaceful protest in Ramallah. She said that it was intended to curb freedom of speech and called for those responsible to be held accountable. It will not, however, end the PFLP’s rejection of the negotiations, she insisted.

The organisation accuses Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of monopolising the Palestinian decision-making process by deciding to resume negotiations without even discussing the issue with other Palestinian movements.