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Venezuela hosts 1st Latin American Congress on Palestinian Right
of Return </h1>
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Ramona Wadi </dd>
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Wednesday, 22 April 2015 10:29 </dd>
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<b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/politics/18188-venezuela-hosts-1st-latin-american-congress-on-palestinian-right-of-return">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/politics/18188-venezuela-hosts-1st-latin-american-congress-on-palestinian-right-of-return</a>
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<p>Last Friday, Venezuela hosted the first Latin American Congress
of the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine. The initiative
brought together Palestinian solidarity activists from various
countries across Latin America, including Chile, Cuba, Ecuador and
Argentina. According to Palestinian ambassador Linda Sobeh Ali,
the event strengthened Venezuela's stance as the focal point for
the Palestinian cause in the region.</p>
<p>"This is an international struggle against a common enemy," said
Nicola Hadwa Shahwan of the Chilean Committee in Solidarity with
Palestine. "The same enemy that besieges Venezuela, that wants to
seize the wealth of Venezuela, is the same that wants to seize the
wealth of the Middle East and the rest of the world."</p>
<p>Isak Khury from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
stressed the need for a broad approach. "We must combine all forms
of struggle: diplomatic, legal and political together with armed
resistance," he insisted.</p>
<p>Venezuelan support for Palestine is a legacy of the late
President Hugo Chavez, whose anti-imperialist stance emulated that
of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution and ultimately emerged as
a fulcrum for internationalism against colonial and imperialist
dominance. Venezuela's current President, Nicolas Maduro,
consolidated the foundations initiated by Chavez and exhibited a
commitment to a holistic approach, in particular with regard to
Gaza's reconstruction.</p>
<p>While the UN conspired with Israel to develop a mechanism mired
in bureaucracy, Venezuela embarked upon a humanitarian and
political approach that combined immediate relief for children
maimed or orphaned during the war, as well as providing
Palestinian youth with the opportunity to further their studies in
Venezuela, notably in the field of medicine. The tertiary
education programme offered by Venezuela is also set to expand and
include other academic specialisms, including architecture and
teaching, thus providing Palestinians with opportunities for
self-reliance and dignity, as opposed to the UN's deliberate
conspiracy of entrenching and normalising displacement, in blatant
violation of international law.</p>
<p>A lot of discussion about the Palestinian right of return is
based upon international law, yet scant attention is given to the
fact that the narrative enshrined within legislation eliminates
Palestinian memory and embarks upon an isolation process that
seeks to detach the Palestinian struggle from internationalism. As
diplomacy overshadowed resistance, the Palestinian right of return
retained its priority as an embellishment rather than as a right;
it was often reduced to a statement quoted at random for
convenience and public displays of support, but was nothing of
substance. Its implications were smothered by prevailing talk
about compromising with Israel's colonial project in the form of
the two-state paradigm, thus rendering the Palestinian right of
return into a memory severed by international oppression and
complicity.</p>
<p>The conference in Venezuela could well serve to highlight such
discrepancies, not only from an academic viewpoint — which has
caused displeasure among Israelis — but also from the perspective
of a country that has not wavered in its support for Palestine
while battling imperialist intervention within its own territory.
While Venezuela's support for Palestine is exemplary, however,
Maduro can also avail himself of the opportunity to declare
himself in favour of the anti-colonial struggle and total
liberation by abandoning rhetoric pertaining to the two-state
compromise. The latter stance, although overlooked, remains a
blemish upon a country that has otherwise proved itself to be
consistent in its internationalist role.</p>
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