The WFTU is taking part in the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in Vienna, Austria on November 29th. The WFTU is represented by Petros Petrou member of the WFTU Working Youth Committee in this meeting.
Below his speech:
Dear colleagues,
Brothers and Sisters,
Allow me to convey to you the warmest greetings and International solidarity on behalf of 95 million workers in 130 countries in the five continents who struggle through the lines of the World Federation of Trade Unions for the right of every people to decide freely and democratically on their present and the future. In this Framework, following our fundamental principles which are the guidelines of our class family since 1945, we defend and struggle for the non-negotiable right of the heroic people of Palestine to live in its free and independent state in conditions of peace and prosperity.
The World Federation of Trade Unions, welcomes the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and reaffirms its stable internationalist support and solidarity with the brothers and sisters in Palestine. We also welcome the related decisions and resolutions of the International Community and International Organizations such as the UN General Assembly Resolution 32/40 which declares that “A just and lasting peace in the Middle East cannot be established without the achievement, inter alia, of a just solution of the problem of Palestine on the basis of the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of the return and the right to national independence and sovereignty in Palestine, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.”
However, what matters for the Palestinian People is not the resolutions and the declarations but the grievous truth which testifies the bloody reality of a continuous crime, lasting for decades, against Palestine and the whole humanity.
Over the last year, the Israeli aggressiveness has been further escalated. The building of the Israeli settlements in Palestine is intensified. The murder of hundreds of unarmed Palestinians protesting against the occupation are daily, thousands of civilians are severely injured by the air and land strikes and the approval of the “Nation-State” racist law by the Israeli parliament is cruel. Moreover, the decision of the President of the USA to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer there the USA embassy further deteriorated the position of our Palestinian brothers and sisters.
This is the inhuman situation which is imposed by the imperialist allies in order to satisfy their geostrategic interest for the control and exploitation of the wider area of the middle east and its resources.
The Palestinian people are not alone. The peoples all over the globe firmly support the fair fight of the Palestinians and stand by them demanding the recognition of the independent Palestinian state, within the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital.
In this direction the World Federation of Trade Unions intensifies its struggle in favor of the Palestinian people demanding:
– The recognition of the independent state of Palestine with east Jerusalem as its capital, within the 1967 borders
– The withdrawal of the Israeli army from all occupied territories of 1967.
– The end of the settlement activities and the withdrawal of all settlers beyond the 1967 borders.
– The demolition of the unacceptable wall in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.
– The lifting of all blockades and exclusions against the Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza Strip.
– The returning of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland.
-The immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners from the Israeli jails.
This is the firm and solid position of the World Federation of Trade Unions, based on its fundamental principle and the historic and strong ties of the class-oriented trade union movement with the Arab peoples, which were forged through the common struggle against colonialism, foreign occupation, the plundering of the natural resources of their land. This relationship is formed through common struggles and sacrifices. This relation is confirmed and strengthened even more over the last period with several initiatives and struggles of the World Federation of Trade Unions, such as the international solidarity week with demonstrations, strikes and protests in the five continents on 15-21 December 2017, the international campaign for the release of Ahed Tamimi and the political prisoners during the first Semester of 2018 and several international, regional and national meetings, conferences, struggles and initiatives over the last months.
We are continuing in the same militant direction, with our call to the members and friends of the WFTU to organize protests and demonstrations at the embassies of Israel in their countries, as well as other militant initiatives on the occasion of the today international day of solidarity. We also support the call of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, ICATU, for a general strike in all Arab countries on November 29th, in protest against the Israeli occupation in Palestine.
We ensure the Palestinian brothers and sisters that the World Federation of Trade Unions is relentlessly standing on their side. Your struggle is a struggle of the whole working class. We will not stop as long as the crime continues in your land, we will not stop until the final victory of your people.
Long live the Peoples’ fraternity and solidarity
Long live Palestine