The PCP vehemently condemns the detention by the Israeli Army of Khaleda Jarrar, a Member of the Palestinian Parliament, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - which integrates the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Khaled Jarrar, who is the Chairperson of the Palestinian Parliament's Committee for Palestinian Prisoners and a well-known activist for the rights of Palestinian women, was detained on April 2, when several dozen elements of the Israeli Army assaulted her home, in Ramallah.

Khaled Jarrar's detention is yet another, particularly serious, example of the crimes of arbitrary arrests and political persecution which are carried out by Israel, which has in its jails over six thousand Palestinians, of whom 454 under administrative detention.

This provocative action against the legitimate Palestinian institutions and against the Palestinian people, is part and parcel of Israel's criminal policies which, following the recent elections, are intensifying the manoeuvres of occupation and repression in Palestine and of destabilization of the entire Middle East. Policies which, at a regional level, were clearly expressed in Israel's attempts to boycott the sign of détente which an agreement with Iran on the "nuclear issue" represents for the entire region.

The PCP demands the immediate liberation of Khaled Jarrar and of all Palestinian political prisoners, and reaffirms its permanent solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle, certain that a solution to the extremely serious problems affecting the
Middle East requires the recognition of the Palestinian people's national rights, in accordance with the United Nations' resolutions.