One Week before October 7, 2023, PFLP official Khaled Barakat: The U.S. is enemy no. 1 of the Palestinian people; It is important to support the Palestinian armed struggle against Israel and its allies: Tel Aviv will only listen to Palestinians when it is hit by missiles.
In an address delivered as part of the closing remarks at the International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism, hosted by the New York People’s Forum on September 30, 2023—just a week before the October 7 attack—Khaled Barakat, who has since been identified as a senior official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called for support of the armed struggle against Israel and its allies.
He accused the U.S. of being “enemy number 1 of the Palestinian people” and emphasized the need to back Palestinian armed resistance, stating that “Tel Aviv will not listen to Palestinians unless it is hit by missiles.”
Barakat highlighted the role of Palestinian prisoner leadership, declaring that “the prisoners of Hamas, the PFLP, the Islamic Jihad, and all the resistance movements in Palestine… are the true leaders of the Palestinian liberation movement.”