the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 26, 2012
After six days of bombardments that left at least 116 dead among the Palestinians, Israel announced it would temporarily give up its land offensive. Perhaps there could be a diplomatic solution–say the Israeli leaders who have constantly terrorized the Palestinian populations in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Israelis say their air attacks are “targeted” on Hamas. But who could believe such a lie? In one of the most densely populated areas in the world, smaller than Manhattan, how can their bombs distinguish between civilians and Hamas militants?
A million and a half men, women and children are under bombardment, prisoners behind the barbed wire surrounding Gaza. There’s no safe refuge, no possible escape. The wounded cannot get medical care, humanitarian aid cannot come in, the population is starving. Gaza is plunged into a murderous hell.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led this latest attack, under the pretext of making those in Hamas responsible for rockets into Israel pay. But Netanyahu started this latest round. And its timing was not just by chance. There will be an election in January in Israel, and the bombardment of Gaza is part of his electoral campaign.
All during his campaign, Netanyahu has played the military card. He escalated warmongering threats against Iran. Then he started an actual war against Hamas, hoping to solidify an Israeli majority around him. It may be an electoral show but blood has flowed, as the Israeli state dropped its bombs with impunity.
U.S. leaders, with the other great powers behind, support Israel without reservation, refusing to admit the basic fact of the situation. Israel is a state that was built by chasing the Palestinians from their own land and plundering them. Israel continues to do so up to today, building more Israeli colonies in Palestinian territory, keeping the Palestinians at the mercy of Israeli power. This Israeli state has organized a kind of apartheid and deprived an entire people of their rights.
The imperialist leaders call the Palestinians who shoot rockets into Israel “terrorists,” but they don’t say the same about the constant Israeli bombardment of the people of Gaza. In fact, there is a permanent aggression by the state of Israel and a feeble defense by some Palestinians. We shouldn’t forget the 2008-2009 offensive in which 1400 Palestinians were killed in 13 months by the Israelis.
The U.S. is not only an accomplice to the Israeli aggression, it bears responsibility under both Democrats and Republicans.
The Israeli people are themselves victims of these imperialist power games. The policies of imperialism and Zionism have made the Palestinians prisoners in their own country, but they have also pushed the Israelis into the scarcely more enviable situation of acting like jailers.
The riches of the Middle East, both its oil and its strategic position, attract the great powers like fresh meat attracts a jackal.
The Israeli leaders have accepted to be imperialism’s puppet in exchange for imperialism’s military, diplomatic and financial help. That’s what provokes hostilities against Israel on the part of its neighbors.
The imperialist powers have pushed this region of the world into a tragic impasse. Capitalism isn’t just about exploitation, low wages, misery, it’s also about war.
To end these wars means to overturn imperialism, and to end capitalism. In that battle, the lot of the exploited classes and the oppressed people are one and the same.