1. PCP vehemently condemns the destruction, ordered by the Government of Israel, of the Palestinian village of Kahn al-Ahmar, located in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank. The destruction of Khan al-Ahmar, with the forced transfer of its inhabitants, represents further escalation in the process of undermining the creation of a Palestinian State in Palestinian territory, namely by fragmentation of the occupied territories in small parcels with no territorial contiguity, often separated by the illegal Wall of apartheid, built by Israel. PCP also condemns the continuation of the intolerable and barbarous daily massacre of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators, by the extreme-right government of Israel.
2. The destruction of Khan al-Ahar and the Gaza massacres of Israeli responsibility are joined by the grave decisions recently announced by the US on the Palestinian question, such as the cut in UNRWA’s financing, the UN agency created by its General Assembly in 1949 to support the Palestinian refugees; the cut in financing for Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem; the US announcement to close the Palestinian delegation and expel their Ambassador from Washington; or the explicit threats against the International Criminal Court (ICC), if it proceeds against Israel or the US, in a renewed confirmation that the ICC will never be used to prosecute crimes by imperialist powers. This offensive by the US and Israel aims to undermine the two State solution for the Palestinian question, solution proclaimed in UN resolutions for decades. It aims to impose, by force, a single State, of a confessional and racist nature, in nearly all the historic territory of Palestine.
3. The US and Israel offensive is inseparable from their vaster war plans in the Middle East, namely against Syria and Iran —as was made clear in Trump and Netanyahu’s speeches in the ongoing UN General Assembly session. The enormous dangers for Peace in the Middle East and in the world are the result of 25 years of war escalation and imperialist aggression that have systematically violated international law and replaced the principles of diplomacy and negotiation with violence and lies. Wars and aggressions that are the responsibility of the US, the European Union powers and NATO.
International law is flagrantly stomped on. Decades of promises to the Palestinian people are ignored. Israel continues to maintain thousands of Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated. The UN’s owns credibility, and that of other international institutions, is called into question. The Portuguese Government has the responsibility of acting, clearly and publicly, in defense of the principles of the Portuguese Constitution, in defense of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, in defense of international law and decades of UN resolutions, in the defense of the UN itself. Portugal must condemn the criminal policy of Israel and immediately recognize the State of Palestine.
4. PCP reaffirms its solidarity with the just struggle of the Palestinian people for their inalienable national right to the creation of a viable and sovereign State of Palestine along the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as capital, and ensuring the right of return of refugees. PCP also reaffirms its solidarity with all peoples of the Middle East, the major victims of the criminal offensive of imperialism to impose its global hegemony.
