MILF strengthens relations with PLO

About 100 Filipino leftists and a sprinkling of Arabs picketed the Israeli embassy here for a second day yesterday, demanding the Israeli army withdraw from occupied Palestinian towns.

A small unit of riot police stood guard outside the entrance to the high-rise office building housing the Israeli mission in Manila's Makati financial district, but there were no incidents.

The protesters carried placards that read "free the Church of Nativity" and "save Bethlehem". The Philippines is mainly Roman Catholic and the Israeli army's siege of the church – considered to mark the birthplace of Jesus Christ – is front-page news in Filipino newspapers.

Meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is strengthening ties with the Palestine Liberation Organisation in its goal for self-determination.

"We have a history of solidarity with the PLO, headed by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as early as 1976, but with the current Israeli incursions, the MILF has vowed to support the PLO in its goal for self-determination," said lawyer Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesperson.

Kabalu particularly slammed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, calling him enemy of the free world. "Who in the first place is the enemy? Is it not the Israelis who grabbed the territory of the Palestinians?" Kabalu asked.

He said that neither the death nor banishment of Arafat would ensure an end to violence. Such resolutions would only fan the conflict in the Middle East. He also said that Sharon's military solution has not only made a return to the negotiating table next to impossible.

"It has also given a cause for all Muslims in the world, including the Bangsamoro in the Philippines, to close ranks, not only for the lifting of the Israeli siege in the West Bank, but for the achievement of genuine independence for the Palestinian state," Kabalu pointed out.

"We are more determined to work with our Palestine brothers towards the common goal of genuine development where the masses – Moro or Palestine – are the primary actors and major beneficiaries," he said.

Kabalu said both the Bangsamoro and the Palestine people have a common history of subjugation from external forces. He pointed out that the situation of the Moro people does not vary much from the rest of the Palestinians.

"We find similar situations in other settings that are actually part of the same context. Kabalu said that both are waging the same war for "genuine independence" adding that the Moro or Palestine problem should not be viewed simply as an internal conflict, but a "war against oppression and exploitation brought about by our continuing history of subjugation".

He also emphasised that both peoples have tried to resolve the problem through peaceful political settlement by entering into negotiations with their "enemies". In the meantime, Kabalu said the MILF leadership expressed its active support for a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from Ramallah and other West Bank towns.