THE National Committee for Palestinian Popular Action, which brings together the four Palestinian national conferences alongside a number of independent Palestinian figures, has unequivocally rejected and strongly condemned the decision by the United States Department of the Treasury to designate the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad under the so-called ‘terrorism lists’.
In a statement on Sunday, the Committee affirmed that this decision lacks any recognised legal basis, was not issued by a competent judicial authority, and does not stem from a court ruling or a binding international resolution.
‘Rather, it constitutes a unilateral executive measure of a purely political nature, governed by power balances and political pressure, not by the principles of justice or international law.’
The Committee further noted the stark contradiction inherent in this decision: ‘The very entities that provide political, military and financial cover for organised terrorism, and that sponsor the ongoing genocide against our people in Gaza, are those that presume to appoint themselves arbiters in classifying peoples and institutions, distributing “terrorism” labels in accordance with their own interests and political agendas.
‘Such classifications, which entirely disregard the rules of international humanitarian law, the rulings of the International Court of Justice, and fundamental human rights principles, are devoid of any legal or moral legitimacy and create no obligations beyond the domestic legal framework of the state issuing them.
‘The National Committee for Palestinian Popular Action affirms that this decision will have no impact whatsoever on the course of its national and popular work, nor will it affect its steadfast partnership with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, or with all frameworks and institutions working for Palestine and for the inalienable rights of its people, foremost among them the right of return, the right to self-determination, and the end of the occupation.’
The Committee further stresses that Palestinian Popular Action Abroad ‘constitutes legitimate and lawful activity, carried out by institutions operating within the legal frameworks of the countries in which they are active. Attempts at criminalisation and defamation will neither break the will of the Palestinian people nor succeed in isolating their cause from the free people of the world.
‘In conclusion, the Committee reaffirms that Palestine will remain the compass. The standards of justice are not measured by lists issued by political administrations complicit in crimes, but by the rights of peoples, the resilience of the oppressed, and the inevitability of holding the perpetrators of genocide accountable, not persecuting those who oppose.’
