The World Federation of Democratic Youth and the World Peace Council carried out a solidarity mission to Palestine from September 18-22, with the participation of 20 delegates coming from the member Organisations of WFDY and WPC from 14 countries. The International mission which took place upon invitation of the Palestinian Committee for Peace and Solidarity (PCPS), met with representatives of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA),the Organisation for the Liberation of Palestine(PLO), the Palestinian Legislative Council (Parliament),the political parties (FATAH, PPP, PFLP, DFLP), youth Organisations and movements. The two international Organisations met also with representatives of the Peace Movement in Israel as well as with the Communist Party of Israel and the Front for Peace ad Equality (Hadash) of the Knesset.Following the very successful Solidarity Mission to Palestine, the World Peace Council and the World Federation of Democratic Youth reaffirm their commitment, side by side with the hundreds of millions of peace loving people in the world, to the Youth and Students in all corners of the world, stand in total and unconditional solidarity with the people of Palestine which is suffering a slow genocide under the occupation of its territories.
The case of the ongoing occupation of Palestine by the Israeli regime constitutes a crime against humanity and a flagrant provocation against the thousands who suffered and struggled heroically for the noble goal of freedom and justice.

In this visit we witnessed and met: the consequences of the Wall that is tearing the West Bank apart; the growth of settlements that try to annihilate the viability of the Palestinian state; the suffering of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and their families; the destruction of the Palestinian olive trees that are the main source of income of Palestine and, in some cases, natural patrimony of hundreds of years; the dramatic situation of hundreds of thousands refugees in their own country that share the suffering with millions of Palestinians living abroad and prevented to return due to the brutal Israeli occupation and control of borders; the dozens of Israeli military check points in the West Bank and Jerusalem; the discrimination of Arab Israelis in all spheres of life and the demolition of their houses; the efforts of the Israeli government which aims in the Judaization of the Israeli state.

Despite the many concessions made from Palestinian side during the years in order to find a viable and just solution, the governments of Israel and the current one, refuse to accept the right of the Palestinian People for their independent State alongside Israel.

We express our sincere and full-hearted solidarity with the Palestinian men and women, the youth and the students in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in their desire to end the humiliation, the discrimination and the occupation. We express also our solidarity with the peace-loving forces inside Israel who are struggling side by side with the Palestinians for peace, justice, equality and the end of occupation of the Palestinian territories.

We condemn the support imperialism, first of all the USA, is giving throughout the years to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the policy of complicity of the E.U. which is pretending to keep “equal distance” from the aggressors and the victims, but in reality supports the aggressors.

The hand of imperialism was once again visible this year when, despite the reason and the massive support of countries throughout the whole world, the USA and its allies from the EU have blocked the UN resolution that would recognize the independent State of Palestine within the borders of 4th June 1967 and with East Jerusalem as its capital. This fact shows also their imperialist attitude to the will and decision of the General Assembly of the UN, which by majority supports the resolution on Palestine. We keep on supporting and demanding the recognition and affiliation of Palestine as a full member to the United Nations.

By standing by the side of the Israeli aggressor and occupier, these actors of the imperialist world order have revealed their true nature as they tolerate the arbitrary massacres, displacements, tortures and imprisonments of Palestinian youth and people and their continuation.
With this act they have proved yet again that when they were calling for and executing military interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya the imperialists only wanted to implement their imperialist plans, particularly the plan for a “New Middle East” with policies of bombing and pillage and not even for one second defend anyone’s human rights as they had hypocritically alleged.

In this critical moment, the WPC and WFDY underline their full support to the continuation of the Palestinian youth and people’s struggle, certain that the path of the popular resistance against the occupation and oppression may be long but it will for sure take us to final victory, the establishment of the independent State of Palestine, within the borders of June 1967 and with East Jerusalem as its capital!

As it is known throughout the entire world, during these days the United Nations is debating the Palestinian request to be recognized as full member of the Organization, having as correspondent territory the Palestinian land with the borders 1967.

To be recognized as a state by the UN, Palestine and the Palestinian people have agreed to put on hold the many other resolutions that defend them, such as the ones related to the thousands of the political prisoners illegally and unfairly held in Israeli jails or those commending for the conditions to be created for all Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

WFDY supports this inniative by the Palestinian Authority, since we consider that is more than time to bring the issue to the international arena, leaving the negotiations only between Israel, US and Palestine behind. We further remind those who claim for those negotiations to be restarted that, not only they have been incapable to reach a solution for the last 20 years, as they are no longer possible since Israel has shown that it will continue its illegal Wall around and in Palestine, seizing the Palestinian Gaza territory and building its settlements in Palestinian West Bank during the negotiations themselves, therefore despising any honest attempt for a solution.

WFDY denounces the already announced veto of the USA to the general will of the UN Assembly, expressed by more than 160 countries. As in the case of the illegitimate blockade to Cuba, the USA are proving their anti-democratic notion of the international relations and its commitment to sustain and support the biggest ongoing crime against mankind of our era.

WFDY denounces further the position of several European Union member states that are hiding behind a collective position of the EU. Such position reveals how coward the governments of those countries are, leading their countries to back the wishes of the big monopolies interests and despising the wills of their peoples and the sense of justice. Anyone that follows the developments of the international capitalist crisis in Europe won’t be surprised by this act, but it doesn’t make it any less shameful.

WFDY calls upon all its member and youth organizations to continue the wave of protests and demonstrations that has been sweeping the world. We are sure that it will be through our organized struggle and international solidarity towards the Palestinian people and youth that we will destroy the chains of the illegal Israeli prisons that hold thousands of Palestinians, that we will tear down the check-points, barbed wire and concrete that impose the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank, that we will see the millions of Palestinians refugees return to their homeland and that we will make the day of the Palestinian state recognized, with peace and development, arrive!

To the Palestinian people and youth we express our full solidarity and underline that in all moments and in all expressions of their resistance against their occupier we stand by them, as their struggle is part of ours against this common and brutal enemy: imperialism!

As announced before, between 18 and 22 of September, WFDY and the World Peace Council took forward a solidarity mission to express its support to the Palestinian people and youth in their struggle for freedom and independence. The dates of this important joint event that gathered 18 people from 14 different organizations of 3 continents were not chosen by hazard and aimed to coincide with the beginning of the discussions around the submission of the Palestinian request to be recognized as a member state of the United Nations.

During the days of the mission, WFDY and the WPC had the opportunity to meet with the Palestinian Peoples’ Party, the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine and Fatah, as well as with their youth wings. Furthermore, the delegation had the opportunity to express its support to representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Palestinian Authority.

Within the several days spent on the ground, the delegation also conducted interesting visits to important sights such as Jerusalem and relevant examples of the Israeli settlements and Wall that divide and occuppy the Palestinian territory.

From the contacts established both in meetings and in informal exchanges it was clear that only through the resistance it will be possible for the Palestinian people to bend its oppressor and only with more and better organized international solidarity it will be possible to finally overthrow this unjust, illegal and brutal occupation of Israel that shamefully the United States and many of the European Union insist in supporting.

Also as part of the visit, WFDY and the WPC delegations had opportunity to meet with the Communist Party of Israel and their elected members in the Parliement, as well as with the Young Communist League of Israel and other social movements, that very bravely fight inside the very hear of the war and killing machine against the Israeli occupation, for the rights and unity of Jews and Arabs and for their social rights - against the anti-popular policies of the Israeli government.

As main outcome of this visit, it is underlined the total support to the Palestinian peopla and youth right to have a state, free and indepedent, in full respect of the UN resolutions and the borders of 1967, together with the right for all Palestinian refuggees to return to their homeland and all the political prisoners detained in Israeli prisoners to be immediately released - such demands are nothing but a drop of justice to counter decades of imperialist and zionist oppression and occupation!