We announce the establishment of the Progressive National Democratic Movement [Tayyar], which reflects our commitment to the right of return, self-determination, the achievement of the aims of the national struggle, and the unification of every element in Palestine and the Diaspora in order to strengthen their role in the national and social struggle, establish their presence in the political system, and influence national decision-making.
The Progressive National Democratic Movement was initiated as a necessary, objective response for the sake of uniting all efforts in order to confront the racist, colonial policies of the Occupation, which 60 years ago uprooted our people from their homes and lands in the most hideous act of ethnic cleansing in modern history. The Occupation has continued implementing its aggressive policies through the confiscation and Judaization of Palestinian land, killings, arrests, home demolitions, the Judaization of Jerusalem and the displacement of its Palestinian residents, confiscation of land for the construction of the Apartheid Wall, siege, and the establishment of military checkpoints, thus fragmenting Palestinian lands into isolated ghettos and cantons in order to impose a fait accompli on the ground and undermine the Palestinian national cause while using frivolous negotiations and Palestinian divisions to cover its repressive practices. The Occupation is benefiting from international silence, the collusion of the American administration, normalization with some Arab countries, and the absence of a unified national strategy for solving the Arab-Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The current intensification of the divisions in the Palestinian political arena has caused the greatest damage to the Palestinian national issue and the Palestinian national liberation movement. This has led into a dangerous quagmire, as what occurred in Gaza when internal differences were resolved through arms in June 2007. Along with this division, the progressive left has been in a state of fragmentation and disintegration that has negatively affected the reality of Palestinian society.
The way out of this situation requires the initiation of a comprehensive national dialogue to put an end to the current state of division and to restore national unity, the formation of a transitional authority to return the government to the people through presidential and legislative elections as well as activating and developing the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Work is to accommodate the participation of all forces and actors present in the Palestinian national arena and build national and social institutions and popular unions on a democratic basis according to full proportional representation while at the same time rejecting any attempts to retreat to the use of force, violence and arms in solving internal differences.
The Progressive National Democratic Movement was initiated as a positive response to the need for reforming the Palestinian political system so it can continue the battle of national liberation and independence for the sake of defending the dignity of Palestinian citizens and their legitimate rights to a free, decent life based on equal opportunities and honest competition in the framework of democratic institutions which believe in multilateralism and respect for reason, freedom of speech and action, and the rules and regulations of law.
The signatories of this statement are activists working on community and national levels, and represent a wide spectrum of diverse backgrounds, gathered by their belief in upholding national principles and values of social democracy embodied in the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, carrying a national progressive democratic project based on pluralism, tolerance, and openness in a society which believes in social justice, equality between men and women as well as respect for human rights and personal and collective democratic freedoms. The Progressive National Democratic Movement sides with the issues of the workers, the peasants and the poor, with sons and daughters of our people’s middle class and with anyone who fights corruption, which affects the interests of the overwhelming majority of our people. We confirm the following core issues:
1. Resistance to oppressive Zionist policies of occupation, including the denial of the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their homes, the Zionist refusal to implement UN Resolution 194, the ongoing confiscation of land, expansions of settlements, Judaization of Jerusalem, the building of the Apartheid Wall, and the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians. These policies will not stop the Palestinian people from continuing the struggle and pursuing our national rights by all means granted to us by international charter and laws. We will pursue the struggle through popular resistance, mass mobilization, and the involvement of the masses in decision-making as well as the development of a national strategy of resisting the Occupation and isolating it on the international stage while building alliances and fronts at home and abroad to enhance the steadfastness and rehabilitate the social elements of the Palestinian people.
2. Rejection of the use of arms in resolving internal disputes in the Palestinian arena, which has led to a situation of political and geographical divisions between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and served to complicate the situation of the Palestinian struggle. We stress that we are still in the stage of national liberation that requires dialogue and unity instead of conflict over power and influence and continuation of self-serving party policies and widely spread corruption that has heavily damaged Palestinian society and destroyed its moral values. The lack of political will to combat corruption and hold the perpetrators responsible threatens our national project
3. The Progressive National Democratic Movement is part of the Arab and international anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist movement for a new global order, based on respect for the rights of peoples to self-determination and the establishment of balanced international relations to ensure equitable and sustainable human development policies that lay the foundation for joint cooperation between peoples in order to serve collective interests based on concepts of justice and respect for human rights.
4. The Progressive National Democratic Movement is committed to strengthening democratic choice, power sharing, and national unity, and in so doing creating a base in order to defy the Occupation and build up Palestinian society; involving people in decision-making, communicating with them, and spreading values of solidarity, respect for transparency and the authorities; fighting against corruption, exclusion, domination; and developing mechanisms for transforming the program into actual practice on the ground.
We call on all those who believe in the ideas of the Progressive National Democratic Movement to unify their ranks and engage in daily battles against Zionist colonial policies and projects represented by the Judiazation of Jerusalem, the ongoing daily killings and arrests, the imposition of siege and starvation upon the masses of our people, and the Apartheid Wall. We call on those who believe in the struggle for dignity, a better livelihood and the respect of law to unite the forces of our people, represented in strong national personalities, federations, trade and vocational unions, civil society organizations and networks, to focus their exertions and efforts on the protection of the national cause and the labour of building a democracy through a rigid adherence to principles, national rights and social development.
The Progressive National Democratic Movement emphasizes commitment to its members, national and social rights, and the application of political pluralism in order to prevent the liquidation of the Palestinian national project and achieve freedom, justice and independence for the sake of our people.
July 2008
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