The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the second largest constituent group of the PLO after Fatah, has decided to participate in the Palestinian parliamentary election, slated for May 22.
Founded in 1967 by the late George Habash, the militantly anti-Israel Marxist-Leninist group, which pioneered plane hijackings in the 1970s and opposes the Oslo Accords signed by Israel and the PLO, participated in the 2006 election for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) under a list named the “Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa List.”
It won only three of the 132 seats of the PLC.
The PFLP also participated in the 2005 Palestinian municipal elections.
Abu Ali Mustafa is the nom de guerre of Mustafa Ali Zibri, the former Secretary-General of the PFLP who was assassinated by Israeli forces in a targeted killing on August 27, 2001.
His successor, Ahmad Sa’adat, is serving a 30-year prison in Israeli prison for his role in the assassination of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi on October 17, 2001.
In a statement published on Sunday, the PFLP said that its central committee held a meeting during which it discussed the “major dangers aimed at liquidating our national rights, especially after the signing of the humiliating and disastrous Oslo Accords.”
The statement emphasized that the PFLP “affirms its categorical refusal to recognize the Zionist racist entity and insists on continuing the struggle [against Israel] in all forms, first and foremost the armed resistance, to liberate Palestine.”
On this basis, the statement read, the PFLP “decided to run in the elections according to its political program.”
The PFLP stressed that its participation in the elections “does not mean that it is a partner in the consecration of the humiliating and disastrous Oslo Accords.”
The PFLP added that it “rejects all political settlements” and demands that the Palestinian Authority revoke all agreements with Israel.
Fatah Central Committee Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub said that his group “highly valued” the PFLP’s decision to participate in the parliamentary election.
Rajoub expressed hope that the decision would encourage all Palestinians to participate in the “democratic process.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization recently announced that it would boycott the planned elections because they are being held under the umbrella of the Oslo Accords.
Hamas, however, has announced that it will participate in the vote although it too does not accept the Oslo Accords.