Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine by PFLP

Description

Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is a seminal political document that lays out the organization’s ideological foundation, political analysis, and revolutionary strategy for the liberation of Palestine. Published in 1969, this text reflects the PFLP’s Marxist-Leninist perspective and its commitment to armed struggle as a central component of the Palestinian national liberation movement. In this work, the PFLP presents a comprehensive critique of the regional and international forces it believes are complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people. The document argues that the Palestinian issue is not simply a humanitarian crisis or a refugee problem but rather the product of imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism working in concert to dispossess and displace the Palestinian people. The PFLP situates the Palestinian struggle within the larger context of anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movements across the Third World. The strategy outlined in the document emphasizes the need for a people’s war, led by a revolutionary vanguard and rooted in the mobilization of the masses—particularly the workers and peasants. It calls for the unification of Palestinian resistance forces under a clear revolutionary ideology and rejects what it sees as the reformist and compromising positions of other Palestinian factions and Arab regimes at the time. The PFLP identifies several key goals: The destruction of the Zionist colonial state of Israel. The establishment of a democratic, secular state in all of Palestine, where Jews, Muslims, and Christians can live in equality. The liberation of Palestine as part of a wider Arab revolution, aimed at overthrowing reactionary Arab regimes and ending imperialist domination in the region. The document critiques international institutions and negotiations, arguing that true liberation can only come through revolutionary struggle, not diplomatic compromise. It underscores the importance of guerrilla warfare, political education, and building alliances with other revolutionary and progressive movements worldwide. Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine is both a historical artifact and a radical manifesto. It captures the fervor of an era when many liberation movements around the world were influenced by Marxism-Leninism and armed struggle. For scholars, activists, and anyone interested in the history of Palestinian resistance, revolutionary theory, and the dynamics of global anti-imperialist movements, this document offers a critical window into the PFLP’s vision and strategy during a pivotal moment in the Palestinian liberation struggle.