PGFTU: Israeli decision to deport thousands of Palestinians is racist

The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) has warned of the seriousness of the Israeli military decision, which coincides with the commemoration of the Deir Yassin massacre, to deport thousands of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. The Federation considered the decision a fresh attack on Palestinians and their land using the tactic of “transfer” and which will result in a deepening of the Palestinian tragedy and will empty the land of its indigenous population.

In a written statement obtained by Quds Press, the PGFTU said, “The Arab Palestinian people have the greater entitlement to the occupied Palestinian territory as the indigenous inhabitants of the land and not those who immigrated from various parts of the world on the pretext of distorted and misleading Biblical and Talmudic claims. The illegal Occupation does not have the right to expel any Palestinian from his homeland or to deem them intruders on the basis of racist laws.”

It stressed that the Israeli military decision would not undermine the Palestinians’ resolve in their attachment to their land, and their steadfastness and fortitude, and that the Palestinian people will stand strong in the face of all Israeli conspiracies and plots aimed at replacing them with Jewish settlers and extremists.

It pointed out that “the Israeli decision represents a new crime against the Palestinian people and is aimed at the land; its identity, principles and fundamentals and is in preparation for the implementation of Israeli plots. The decision represents a declaration of war on international law and humanity and is void politically, legally and morally. According to international law, forces of the occupation do not have the right to alter the status of the occupied Palestinian territory and its geographical and political unity or to change its geographical and demographic nature, neither do they have the right to harm its population and abuse their rights.”

The PGFTU stressed that the new Israeli crime would not be if it were not for the weakness of Arab-states, growing U.S. support and European complicity. Therefore, the Arabs and Muslims should organize their political, military and economic policies and establish a strong front against the occupation at all levels, as the PGFTU put it.

It also stressed the need to restore Palestinian national unity; to activate both Arab and Palestinian trade unions and popular movements against the crimes of the occupation, to activate and develop resistance in all its forms and to stop direct and indirect negotiations and security-related coordination with the Occupation.