Palestinian Municipalities have in the Past Caused the Failure of the "Villages’ League" Scheme and were, and Still, the Protectors of the National Project

31 May 2020
Palestinian Municipalities have in the Past Caused the Failure of the "Villages’ League" Scheme and were, and Still, the Protectors of the National Project

APLA Stresses not to Deal Directly with the Occupation State

Local Authorities will not Allow Anyone to Think of considering them as a Substitute for the Legitimate and National Framework

Municipalities will not abdicate their Responsibilities within the Framework of Palestinian Legitimacy

The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) affirmed the commitment of all municipalities and village councils to the decisions of the Palestinian leadership to dissociate itself from all agreements signed with Israel and the United States of America, and that the Israeli entity is to assume responsibilities as an occupying state in accordance with the provisions of international law, which came in response to Israeli plans to annex and impose sovereignty over parts of the Palestinian state. APLA, including all the Palestinian local authorities, stresses its commitment not to engage with any Israeli party and any initiatives and/or political and/or economic solutions that seek to undermine the role of the Palestinian Authority. APLA affirms its commitment to the prudent decisions taken by the Palestinian leadership to protect our national project.

The decision of the Palestinian leadership to dissociate itself from all agreements with the occupying state and America is the first practical step towards achieving national independence and represents an important step towards the liberation of the occupying power and dependence on it. Submission to the occupier is a betrayal of the aspirations of our Palestinian people. Therefore, the Palestinian municipal and village councils will not accept any form of direct interaction with the occupation authorities or their instruments, nor will they be a tool to pass the plans aimed at undermining the aspirations of our people for freedom, independence and the establishment of an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Palestinian local authorities will remain an integral part of the Palestinian national structure, and will not allow anyone to think of considering them to be a substitute for the legitimate and national framework under which they belong. They will continue to shoulder their national responsibilities, continuing to struggle as they did when they brought on the failure of the "Villages’ League" project in the 1970s and have been a protector of the PLO project and program over the past decades.

The next phase is sensitive and dangerous; its title is to maintain civil peace, and the struggle in it is, concurrently, both individual and collective. Every one of us must take responsibility for Palestine, so APLA calls on all citizens to give priority to the supreme national interest over any narrow interests and to respect the rule of law, in order to surround all the weak individuals who may depart from the national line in harmony with the plans of occupation to eat away our land and eliminate our cause. National immunity begins with the individual and then the group, so that we have a safe homeland from any targeting of our future and our aspirations for a free and independent living.

APLA, with all its authorities, has launched a broad international mobilization campaign with all partners and friends in the free world, in order to expose the occupation plans to annex parts of the Palestinian state and imposing coercive sovereignty over them, in flagrant contravention of all international laws and the human rights system; violated by the occupying state with organized daily terrorism, systematic killings, confiscation of land, demolition of homes, evacuation of population and daily arrests.

Association of Palestinian of Local Authorities – APLA

Palestine – May 31, 2020