PFLP boycotts Palestinian National Council meeting

The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced on Wednesday that it is boycotting the planned meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) set to be held on 30 April in Ramallah, Quds Press has reported.

“We will not attend the meeting of the PNC for the same reasons that we boycotted its meeting held in 2005,” explained a member of the PFLP Political Bureau, Rabah Muhana. In short, the current PNC “does not unite” the Palestinians.

The PFLP is looking for a “unifying” PNC that brings all the Palestinians together, leads to national reconciliation and protects the Palestinian issue, he told Quds Press. “The PFLP will brief all the Palestinian factions, including Fatah, about the reasons for its decision.”

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Earlier this month, the PLO announced its plan to hold a meeting of the PNC in Ramallah. The PNC includes Palestinian representatives from occupied Palestine (Israel), the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. However, it does not include representatives from Hamas, which won the overwhelming majority in the last Palestinian elections held in 2006, or anyone from Islamic Jihad.

Most of the Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, do not agree to the PNC being held without expanding it to include proportionate representation for all factions.