We condemn in the strongest terms the threats emanating from institutions associated with the Palestinian Authority towards the leadership of American Muslims for Palestine, whose president Osama Aburshaid (pictured above) was threatened with physical harm due to the organization’s opposition to unconditional US funding for the PA. The PA must be held accountable for its collaboration with the Zionist occupation and for murdering Nizar Banat and must respect Palestinian national and human rights.
We will not stand by silently as leaders in our community are threatened with death. We take these threats very seriously and we seek to expose agents of PA violence in Palestine, the US and the rest of the world. PA actions are inseparable from the Zionist project and its agenda of silencing Palestinian voices calling for liberation of our people.
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is a signatory of the following statement. We urge all members of our community to add your names, organizationally and individually, to the following statement condemning the Palestinian Authority’s attacks on leaders of our community.
U.S. Palestinian Community Stands Against the Palestinian Authority’s Attacks on Palestinian Leaders
We, the undersigned Palestinian community members, leaders and organizations condemn the recent attacks and threats made against Palestinian-American leader and Executive Director of American Muslims for Palestine, Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid.
On September 30th, Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid revealed that he had received threats to his life from other Palestinian-Americans acting on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) due to his positions critical of the PA’s policies of repression and the assassination of activist Nizar Banat.
Dr. Osama also revealed that operatives in the US working on behalf of the PA placed the American Muslims for Palestine logo on a forged letter with a forged signature of Dr. Abu Irshaid oddly addressed to the Honorable Patricia Lynn. The letter was designed to create suspicion and confusion of Dr. Osama’s and American Muslims for Palestine’s intentions and work for Palestine in the US. Furthermore, based on the forged document written by PA proxies, a video made by a media outlet affiliated with the Palestinian Authority security services maligned and demonized Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid as an enemy of the Palestinian people. The video and the letter falsely accuse Dr. Osama and American Muslims for Palestine of lobbying the US government to cut aid to Palestinian prisoners, refugees and families.
These tactics of harassment, intimidation and threats toward Palestinian leaders are unacceptable and are wholly rejected by the Palestinian community in the United States. We demand that the PA and those affiliated with it in the U.S. cease immediately and to stop disrupting the work for Palestine in America. The PA’s ineptitude and incompetence in managing the affairs of Palestinians has never been clearer. It is also clear from this experience and that of so many others, that those who work on behalf of the PA in the US are only interested in disrupting the incredible work of Palestinian-Americans working to uplift this cause and people.
We call on the Palestinian Authority, those who represent it and act as proxies of it in the United States to immediately end their intimidation, harassment and threats to Palestinian-American leaders and organizations. We demand an outing of these individuals and an end to community collaboration with the PA in the U.S. Our work for Palestine in the US is non-factional and we will not accept any attempts by those committed to factionalism to coerce our work for their own benefit. As such, no Palestinian activist or organization in the US should operate as unregistered foreign agents. It is detrimental to our work, makes us vulnerable to attacks and undercuts the decades of work that has built a vibrant and effective movement for Palestine in America.
The Palestinian community’s work to advance Palestinian rights and freedom in the US over the past several decades has been nothing short of incredible. One of the biggest obstacles we face in our work is the PA, its security collaboration with the Israeli occupation and its inability to understand the value and importance of our advocacy. We will not allow the PA to disrupt our work, hijack it, or factionalize it. We will not allow the PA and those affiliated with it to turn Palestinian communities against each other.
Signed,
Organizations
Al Awda Palestinian Right to Return Coalition
Palestinian Youth Movement
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
National Arab American Women’s Association
Palestinian Assembly for Liberation
Yalla Indivisible
New Generation for Palestine
Nablus Association in USA
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Eyewitness Palestine
Palestinian American Women’s Association
Council on American Islamic Relations
US Palestinian Community Network
NY Muslims United for Civic Engagement
Palestinian American Women’s Association – Southern California
Individuals
