The youth of 6 countries in West Asia that resist US imperialism and Israeli Zionism came together for “Independent Palestine” at the conference organized by World Anti-Imperialist Youth Union (WAYU). The “International Youth Conference on Independent Palestine” composed of 11 youth organizations from Palestine, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen met online on 25 July 2021. The youth organizations stated “Against the Imperialist-Zionist Threat, For the Independent State of Palestine, We Are One Front and One Heart” in the final declaration of the conference.
About the World Anti-Imperialist Youth Union (WAYU)
Established in Turkey in 2014, the WAYU represents 40 anti-imperialist youth organizations from 6 continents and 25 countries since its second congress in 2018. Işıkgün Akfırat, Deputy Chairman of the TGB, is acting as the Secretary General of WAYU.
Akfırat made the opening speech of the conference, wished that the conference would be helpful in overcoming the differences between all resistance organizations and uniting against the common threat. He expressed the conference’s claim with the words “we will make it the most effective institution to unite the youth of the world under the flag of the Palestinian cause”.
Youth speakers from the forefront of the resistance
The speakers of the conference were the youth leaders of the organizations that fought on the front lines against the USA and Israel. Representatives of Palestine’s largest resistance organizations, Fatah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, gave vigorous speeches with concrete action proposals. The youth of Basij, the voluntary popular mobilization force affiliated to Imam Khamenei from Iran, were among the speakers. A youth leader of Hezbollah, the most important front organization of the resistance, and the Arab National Youth, a component of WAYU, took the floor from Lebanon. The youth of Bashar al- Assad, Revolutionary Youth Union and the National Union of Students executives addressed the audience. The youth representative of the Ansarullah Movement, which continues its resistance against the Saudi invasion and siege, spoke from Yemen.
Fatah, Hamas, PFLP all together
One of the most striking features of the Independent Palestine Conference was that it brought together the three largest organizations of the Palestinian resistance, Fatah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These movements, which had serious differences of opinion, had not come together since a long time. After Israel’s latest attacks on Masjid al-Aqsa, unity among the resistance organizations came to the fore even more. At the WAYU event, the Fatah Youth Movement International Leader Raed Debiy, the Hamas Youth Deputy Chairman Amjed Mizyed and Palestine Popular Front for the Liberation of Gaza Representative Awad Al Soltan gave consecutive speeches.
The Vanguard Youth pointed out the threat of ‘three Israels’
In the meeting, Turkey was represented by the Vatan Party Vanguard Youth and the President of the Youth Union of Turkey (TGB). The leader of the Vanguard Youth Barış Demiralay said, “It is not only Palestinians or Muslims who are under attack. American imperialism and Israeli Zionism is targeting the whole humanity!” Stating that they strongly oppose the attitudes that demonstrate the Palestinian people to be helpless and lonely, he emphasized that the Israeli attacks have failed and the Palestinian resistance is stronger than ever. Demiralay underlined that the Vatan Party was a party that gave martyrs for the Palestinian struggle in 1973. “For 50 years, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestenian State, the Palestinian people, resistance,” he said.
In his speech, Demiralay emphasized that “from the Black Sea to the Arabian Sea, there is a single front”. He presented the Three-Legged Plan announced by the Chairman of the Vatan Party, Doğu Perinçek, against Israel’s three-legged aggression. He called for the establishment of a broad front to defeat the Israeli occupation in Palestine, the attempt to establish a Second Israel in Turkey-Iran-Iraq-Syria, and the US-Israel-Greece-Greek Cypriot siege in the Eastern Mediterranean. The countries that compose this great front are Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, Russia, Azerbaijan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Libya, Algeria, Abkhazia… After saying that “we will establish an independent Palestinian State”, Demiralay concluded his words by saying “We will introduce the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to the world, we promise.”
The empowerment of the Turkish Republıc of Northern Cyprus to the world from TGB
Youth Union of Turkey (TGB) President Dilek Çınar also drew attention to the Three Israeli threats in her speech. The threat faced by the countries of the region is “to keep the first Israel alive, by using the pawns they produced such as imperialism, PKK-YPG, YPJ, PYD, ISIS, FETO, by using the countries that have surrendered to it, such as Greece, and by provoking the countries of the region against each other, and to establish the second and third Israel.” Pointing out that words of condemnation and laments are useless, Çınar said, “Occupation, oppression and tears end only when we unite and turn our barrels against the oppressors.” She emphasized that an active struggle front should be created.
Emphasizing that the TRNC is the front line against the common US-Israeli threat, Çınar said that introducing the TRNC to the world is of vital importance for the West Asian front. Saying that TGB and WAYU are ready for bigger missions, Çınar concluded her remarks by saying that “Good news, the oppressed are united! Good news, anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist world youth are uniting!”
“Occupier Israel and the USA are responsible for the blood shed”
Fatah Youth Movement International Leader Raed Debiy said that it is necessary to take steps that go beyond promises and empty slogans for the freedom of Palestine. He stated that resistance is the only weapon against the American plunder on the lives of Palestinians and the wars and disasters caused by the Zionist occupation and its ally, the USA.
He stressed that the USA was responsible for every blood drop spilled in Syria, Yemen, Beirut, Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad or Libya, where the occupiers and their allies are financing wars, killings and destruction in the region and in attempts to sell and divide.
Lebanese Arab National Youth Executive Mawas also stated that the Zionist state, along with the apartheid regime, continues to desecrate Muslims and Christians by applying the worst forms of arrogance and barbarism, and to persecute anti-Zionist Jews in Jerusalem.
“The sword of Jerusalem” has been raised in West Asia
Hamas Youth Vice-President Amjad Mizyed stressed that the conference came immediately after the victory in Operation Al-Quds Sword, which upset equations and calculations. He said that this operation “destroyed all attempts to eradicate the identity of the Palestinian people, the Zionist occupation and the American administration behind it.”
Underlining that the victory of the Sword of Jerusalem is proof of the social desire to end the division in Palestine and liberate the country, Syrian National Student Union Representative Ali Barakat said that it will be established as a single state from river to sea, not two states, whose borders will be the June 4 line and its capital will be Jerusalem.
Lebanese Hezbollah Youth representative Ali Hassan, on the other hand, stated that after this victory, it became clearer that the goal of liberating Palestine is a clear and definite goal, and said that the goal of eliminating American hegemony and military power from the region gained more importance.
“Resistance not only in our region, but in the world”
The Palestinian People’s Liberation Front Gaza Officer Awad Al- Soltan thanked in his speech the World Anti-Imperialist World Youth Union (WAYU) for organizing such an important conference on Independent Palestine. He underlined that all the forces participating in this conference should be united not only in our region, but all over the world and in order to fight against all kinds of of imperialism and Zionism.
“We are aware of the plans on our region”
Referring to Jamal Abdul Nasser, the Lebanese Arab National Youth Executive Mohammad Mawas, who underlined the will to eliminate the existence of Israel, drew attention to the new strategies of US imperialism and Zionism despite their success of the plans to divide and destabilize the countries of the region through terrorist organizations and ethno-sectarian policies in the past. He said that the plans were defeated as a result of the military and political victories of the West Asian countries resisting imperialism. “The Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq, the liberation forces in Yemen, the anti-imperialism movements in Turkey, Europe and Latin America under the leadership of Ansarullah in Lebanon and all the free peoples of the world support our resistance today,” he said.
“We are ready against colored revolutions”
The Lebanese Hezbollah Youth Educational Mobilization Official Ali Hajj Hassan said that they are aware of the USA attempts to organize “colored revolutions” in Lebanon and other regional countries through the NGO’s under the yoke of US embassies and its mass communication means and that youth is ready for these vicious plans on each front and area. Thus, the fact that the “colored revolutions” strategies mentioned in the Turkey reports of the RAND Corporation and other CIA-linked think tanks were tried to be validated in West Asian countries became evident once again.
“‘Deal of the century’ has been defeated”
Kasem Al- Shaghouri, the head of the International Relations Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Union of Syria (RYUS), pointed to the fact that the so-called Deal of the Century, signed in the previous US President Donald Trump’s term and which declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, has been defeated after Trump’s leaving the Office and due to the recent Sword of Jerusalem resistance.
Ali Barakat, the representative of the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS), said that one of the most important reasons why Syria has been exposed to this destructive war of terror for 10 years is the importance of Palestine for Syria and that Palestine, Lebanon and the Arab world cannot be surrendered without destroying Syria. He stated that their destinies were one.
Joint values and struggle of the West Asian youth
Hamas Youth Vice President Mizyed stated that they are ready to organize the youth against the occupation and malicious projects, to form the largest front of resistance against Israeli atrocities, fascism and racism in a way that will stand up to aggression.
Majed Al-Washaliy, the representative of the Yemeni Ansarullah Youth, also emphasized the need to strengthen the common values and common struggle of the youth, saying that the resistance produces solutions that advance youth, based on the struggle for independence and a rational approach.
Lebanese Hezbollah Youth Education Officer Ali Hassan also pointed out that the resistance and victories made the youth of the world aware of support to Palestine and Jerusalem from the East to the West, and that the most striking strategic development was the activities of the Palestinian youth committed to the Palestinian identity and ideal of the 1948 lands. Hassan said that this youth strength shows that not only the liberation of Palestine is achievable, but also the defeat of all the arrogant and oppressors in this world. He also emphasized that the youth of the resistance, who are present on every front and in every field, is the pioneer of the victories and the deepest strategic power of the resistance axis.
“Our promise, our position and our struggle are one”
Majed Al-Washaliy, the representative of the Ansar Allah Youth, who resisted the US- Saudi aggression in Yemen, pointed out that the conditions of the Yemeni youth are similar to those of the Palestinian youth, and said: “The equation established by the struggle forces and the liberation of Palestine with all factions gives us the unity of the word, the unity of the positions. It proves the unity of the struggle and the unity of the struggle. And Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, together with the reflecting our own image and gives us back our dignity and we are proud and honored among the participants in this axis proud.”
The next conference will be held in Turkey in this November, hosted by the TGB.
The conference concluded with a joint statement. The complete text is below:
Concluding statement of The international Youth Conference for Independent Palestine:
Against the Imperialist-Zionist Threat
For the Independent State of Palestine
We Are One Front and One Heart
We, as 11 youth organizations of 6 countries fighting on the front line against US imperialism and Israeli Zionism, announce to the whole world the course of action we adopted in our Conference which is held online on 25th July 2021:
1. The cause of the Independent State of Palestine is the common cause of all of us. We stand shoulder to shoulder to unite the youth of our countries and the world like a fist for the independence and freedom of Palestine. We promise to make this struggle the common flag of all anti-imperialist youth all around the world.
2. Palestine’s struggle is not only the Palestinians, the peoples of the West Asia, and the Islamic world. It is the common struggle of all nations fighting against imperialist exploitation and hegemonism, from Iran and Turkey to Russia and China, from Western Asia to Latin America.
3. The defeat of Israel and the victory of the Palestinian resistance will be the victory of all humanity. The independence of Palestine will be a turning point for the defeat of the imperialist world order and the building of a multipolar world based on justice and equality.
4. Now the lights of those victorious days have appeared on our horizon. Palestinian resistance is stronger than ever. Israel’s Iron Dome has been razed to the ground after the latest attack on Jerusalem. Starting from Masjid al-Aqsa, a new generation of intifada is rising in all of Palestine and even in cities under Israeli control. The will and heroic resistance of the Palestinians is the most decisive force for the victory of this blessed struggle.
5. In order to achieve the final victory against the imperialist-Zionist evil alliance, the forces that have to face the same threats must unite. The front of the oppressed nations must be established in order to stop the terrorist entity of Israel and to establish a free and independent state of Palestine. This unity must be ensured for the bright future of Palestinian children, young people of all ages living in West Asia and all humanity.
6. The “International Youth Conference for an Independent Palestine” is not only a platform for the exchange of views, but a union of action established to unite the youth of the world under the banner of the Palestinian cause. Through this conference, we have also determined our minimum commons for the Palestinian cause.
7. We unconditionally support the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation, freedom and independence. The methods of struggle of the Palestinian resistance organizations, which are under the constant attack and blockade of the Israeli army, are their right of self-defense.
8. We defend an independent state of Palestine whose capital is Jerusalem, territories are integrated, borders are determined by the Palestinian people and administered by the Palestinians; with full sovereignty over its historic lands, continental shelf, and resources.
9. The right of return of Palestinians displaced from their homes by the Israeli occupation that began in 1948 is a human right recognized by international law.
10. We call on our states and governments to take concrete steps in this regard, including external sanctions, direct aid to the resistance, military alliances, to end the Israeli occupation and blockade. We declare that we will support the steps to be taken in this context.
11. We, as the youth of the countries of the West Asia, are aware that we are facing US-Israeli aggression. The united front we have established is not only a humanitarian support activity for Palestine, but also a line of defense for our own homelands and nations against imperialism. The Israeli airplanes are not striking only on Palestine but also on Lebanon and Syria. The Israeli-US embargo is not only against Palestine but also Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. We know that the security of Turkey, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen starts with the defense of Palestine. In this respect, we identify the three-legged threat that unites us as follows:
(i) First, it is the Zionist entity of Israel itself occupying Palestine.
(ii) The second is the attempt of the USA and Israel to establish the “Second Israel” by dividing the Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian lands.
(iii) Thirdly, Israel acts together with Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is the Greece-South Cyprus-Israel corridor that wants to usurp the rights of all the countries that have a coast on the Eastern Mediterranean and to imprison the resisting nations on their continental shelf, which we can call “Israel at Sea.”
12. We will stand against the attacks, assassinations and schemes of the USA and Israel against the countries of the region as a single body. We are against the air strikes of the US and Israeli planes on Syrian territory and their occupation of the Golan and northern Syria. Together, as the countries of the region, we will overcome the inhumane economic embargo imposed by the USA on the peoples of Lebanon, Iran and Yemen as well as the Syrian people.
13. As the youth of West Asia, we stand shoulder to shoulder to break this three-legged imperialist-Zionist siege. By defeating this threat, we will further weaken imperialism in Central Asia, East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. This is exactly why the anti-imperialist youth of the world is uniting in the Palestinian cause, and this unity will grow like an avalanche.
14. In the upcoming period, as youth organizations which are the founding constituents of the International Youth Conference on Independent Palestine;
(i) We will respond to the US and Israeli presence, occupation, aggression and provocations in our region and in our own countries with protest demonstrations.
(ii) We will be in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance by supporting their intifadas and battles of liberation and we will inform the public opinion of our own countries correctly about the resistance.
(iii) We will establish local committees in order to be in dialogue with political parties, mass organizations and trade unions in our countries and to spread the Palestinian cause to the society. These committees will receive the suggestions and contributions of local institutions and bring them to the agenda of the Conference.
(iv) The enemy’s greatest weapon is strife and mischief aimed at turning us against each other. We will fight ruthlessly against the seditionists.
15. They will not be able to divide us on the basis of nationality, ideology, religion and sect. From now on, no power will be able to prevent the unity of youth resisting imperialism and Zionism in West Asia. Our greatest strength is our brotherhood and solidarity based on our just cause. It is the trust we have in our nations which we spring from, in the ancient Afro-Asian civilization and in humanity.
16. International Youth Conference on Independent Palestine, which was held under the roof of the World Anti-Imperialist Youth Union (WAYU), has been established as a cooperation platform with this final declaration and will continue to meet at regular intervals by expanding it further. The next conference will be held in Turkey next November, hosted by the Youth Union of Turkey (TGB). From this day forward, all signatory organizations will consider themselves liable for national and international actions and joint work within the framework of the views expressed in this declaration.
Signatory Organizations
Palestine, Fatah Youth Movement
Palestine, Hamas Youth
Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Youth
Turkey, Vatan Party Vanguard Youth
Turkey, Youth Union of Turkey
Iran, Basij Youth
Lebanon, Hezbollah Youth
Lebanon, Arabic National Youth
Syria, Revolution Youth Union of Syria
Syria, National Union of Syrian Students
Yemen, International Yemeni Youth Forum
The links for the online recordings of the Conference in three languages:
Arabic:
English:
Turkish: