ODA Supports the Manifesto of the Twenty

The Organization for Democratic Action (ODA or Da'am in Arabic) gives its wholehearted support to the Manifesto of the Twenty and calls for the release of Ahmad Shaker Dudeen and Dr. Abed al-Sattar Qassem.
On December 25 in Nazareth, the ODA held a meeting of support with the signers of the manifesto, two of whom are still in prison. The main speakers were Dr. Hassan Khreisheh, a Palestinian legislator from Tulkarem who signed the manifesto, and Yakov Ben Efrat, General Secretary of the ODA. Wehbe Badarneh, manager of the Workers Advice Center, moderated the discussion.
The ODA has supported the manifesto from the moment of its appearance. On November 30, 1999, ODA spokesperson Samya Nasser released a statement including the following paragraphs:
"The tragedy that the Palestinian people is undergoing today did not begin in a vacuum. The 'Manifesto of the Twenty' is the first public document to voice the charge that the PA and its president are responsible for what is happening in the Territories. The condition for a true democratic process must be, first of all, the sovereignty of the people, such that it can elect its leaders freely. 

"The twenty call for a radical change of leadership. This reflects the consensus in the Territories. Six years after the signing of Oslo, it is clear that no truly independent state is waiting in the wings, and no new Singapore is about to arise. Oslo has given the Palestinian people only poverty, dependence, and the loss of its democratic rights, including the right to free expression. The present Palestinian leadership has led the people to one of the darkest periods in the history of its struggle for a homeland. "The Organization for Democratic Action, which is active among the Palestinian masses living in Israel, will do all in its power to spread the message contained in the Manifesto of the Twenty. We shall not stand idly by while the fate of the Palestinian people remains a monopoly in the hands of a corrupt and irresponsible leadership that is ready to sign away national rights, above all the right of self-determination and the right of return. 

"We urge the readers of this statement to add their names to the 'Statement in Support of the Palestine Signatories', which appears on the Internet at"
http://www.hanthala2.virtualave.net