The almighty ’’bastion of freedom of speech’’ has just exposed itself as not so free. Across the western world, students are demanding that their universities cut ties with Israeli institutions. The response from their government is that of mass arrests and police violence. In the USA over 1500 students have been arrested for protesting at university campuses. Right-wing politicians call for mass arrests and even (capitalist) social-democrats and greens use the power of the state to crush the brave students who stand up for Palestine.
Student protests at Dutch universities
Dutch students have joined their American comrades in starting massive protests at Dutch universities across the Netherlands. The response of the state is that of violence and mass arrests. While the right-wing media (De Telegraaf, PowNed, WNL) calls them ’’extremists and violent thugs’’, the reality remains that the Netherlands (like all EU nations) keep friendly relations with Israeli universities and institutions. Meanwhile the terrorist: State of Israel is ready to attack Rafah, the last free Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, which has not been attacked yet.
Western imperialism claims that Rafah is the red line Israel should not cross. But reality is that the terrorist regime is ready crossing the line, with no consequences. Western hypocrites like Joe Biden have said that Rafah is the red line and all military aid to Israel will stop, but it is unlikely that western imperialism suddenly has a change of heart. Dutch students understand the hypocrisy of the countries like the Netherlands. They are radicalised by the injustice and mass deaths caused by Israeli terrorism against Palestinian men, women and children.
GreenLeft mayor of Amsterdam in service of Israel
Femke Halsema is the mayor of Amsterdam from the GreenLeft party. She belongs to the right-wing of the liberal greens in the Netherlands. Halsema used to be party leader and moved GreenLeft away from its leftist green politics, towards accepting capitalism and western imperialism. Femke Halsema became mayor of the Dutch capital and has proven herself to be a supporter of the State of Israel. She ordered the police to crush the students, who had barracked themselves in the University of Amsterdam in protest of its friendly relations with Israeli institutions.
While the Dutch: Party of Labour is mostly pro-Israel, the GreenLeft remains divided. Its leaders are all pro-Israel, but a large percentage of its members is not. Many younger members reject the actions of the State of Israel and they have clashed with the party leadership, often getting their voices silenced in undemocratic moves to silence pro-Palestinian opinions.
A socialist alternative is the only solution
Many students favour the idea of one democratic secular country for Jews and Arabs. But the problem is that this is not possible. Even a unified socialist nation for both communities is an illusion, as Israeli workers do not feel any connection to ”Arabic” Palestine. On the other side, the Palestinians will not easily forgive the Israeli’s for the massive deaths, racism and oppression. This is why we say that Israel and Palestine must become socialist countries on the 1967 borders. Socialism will not end the hatred in one night but it can start a process of healing, if the economy is run for the majority and not a capitalist few!
When 23.000 civilians are killed as collective punishment, the western world thinks little of it. When 11.000 Ukrainian civilians are killed in two years of conflict, it is called (rightfully) cruel, evil and wrong. However the 23.000 people murdered by the State of Israel in less then three months, are regarded as less by the very governments who claim to stand for human rights and freedom. Western governments are very quick to denounce the crimes of their opponents like China and Russia, but they have remained silent on the massive genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Stripe.
What has happened?
The State of Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Stripe to destroy the Islamic Resistance Movement – HAMAS. This is very ironic because Israel made HAMAS great in the 1990’s. They used the sectarian Islamists to divide the Palestinian resistance to the illegal occupation of the West-Bank and the Gaza Stripe. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) led by the Palestinian National Liberation Movement – FATAH, accepted the 1993 Oslo Accords and ended their armed resistance. Since Israel did not follow the Oslo Accords, HAMAS was able to portray itself as the only organisation willing to fight the occupiers.
Not only FATAH lost popular support. The secular leftists of Palestine also faded away as they were unable to provide a clear socialist alternative. Groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine may rejected the Oslo Accords, but they were unable to take the lead in the struggle away from FATAH. Also leftists from the PFLP and DFLP never provided a socialist solution to the conflict. They remain stuck in the idea of a secular single democratic Palestine for Jews, Arabs and others. We know that under capitalism, no alternative is possible. Not a single state solution or a two state solution.
HAMAS won the first (and only) democratic elections in the Gaza Stipe in 2007. It resulted in the fact that both Israel and Egypt, choose to turn Gaza into an open air prison. The occupiers worked closely with the Mubarak regime (1980-2011) in Cairo. Egypt and Israel made sure that by closing the borders, Gaza became a prison for 2,3 million people. Just before the invasion, life was very difficult. 2/3 of all Gazan workers had no work and many suffered from the lack of basic products. To blame are Israel, but also Egypt who has worked with the Zionist regime since 1979.
7 October 2023
Israel calls the attack of HAMAS an act of terror. In their current propaganda the Israeli’s call HAMAS, a ”rapist-genocidal regime”. The attack on 7 October 2023 was however justified as the Gaza Stripe is a illegal open air prison. Illegal because Israel and Egypt had no right to close the borders, to force 2,3 million people to live on 365 km2. Revolutionary socialists say that the attack was justified when it assaulted military and police targets of the occupation forces, but the brutal killings of unarmed Israeli’s and the abduction of 1.000 civilians are counterproductive. HAMAS denied that they murdered civilians, but the death bodies in the own houses are enough proof.
The attack gave the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu exactly what he always wanted. Netanyahu had opposed the withdraw from the Gaza Stripe in 2005. He opposed the politics of Ariel Sharon who removed the illegal Zionists colonists from the stripe by force. Netanyahu already proofed himself as a killer by ordering massive bombing raids against the Gaza Stripe in the past. Thousands were murdered as Israel enforced the idea of collective punishment. Many Palestinians know that HAMAS is not working in their interests, however their is little they can do. HAMAS has turned the Gaza Stripe into a reactionary dictatorship. Secular groups like FATAH, the PFLP and DPLP face bureaucratic opposition.
Israeli invasion
On 27 October the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded the Gaza Stripe. As of 9 January 2024, they control around 45% of the stripe. Most of Gaza City has been reduced to rubble and over 2.500 guerilla fighters from both HAMAS, the PFLP and other groups have been killed. Israel claims to have lost 170 soldiers with around 937 wounded. The fight is very unfair with the Palestinians armed with outdated Soviet weaponry, while Israel has an army that is paid for by the American taxpayer. Every year, the State of Israel is receiving billions in free U.S dollars to spend on their occupation forces.
Out of the 2,3 million Palestinians, 1,9 million were forced to flee their homes and move to the south of Gaza. However the IDF now claims that they are ready to attack the south too. They goal is the complete occupation of the Gaza Stripe as it was between 1967 and 2005. Some inside the far-right Israeli government wish to expel all Palestinians and turn Gaza into a Zionist controlled zone. At this moment over 2,3 million people are forced to live on less then 150 km2. After the resistance in the north is over, its is very possible that the occupiers will turn their eyes on the last free parts of Gaza. 23.000 have already been murdered by terror attacks and we know that Israel considers all Palestinians equal to ”terrorists”.
Western silence
When Russia bombed Ukraine, there was outrage in the western media of Europe and America. Russian imperialist aggression was rejected and many called for weapons to be given to Ukraine. After two years however it becomes clear that Ukraine cannot take back what it lost to Russia, even with western weapons. This show us that the whole idea that Ukraine can win with our guns is an illusion. Yet the Palestinians have never been given anything to defend themselves from the western world. Worse, they are left to suffer in silence as western governments defend the actions of the State of Israel.
It is only because of the USA that Benjamin Netanyahu can do what he does. Washington DC has always defended the actions of Israel and has paid for the death and destruction caused. Win-out the western subsidies and free money, the State of Israel would not be able to occupy the Gaza Stripe and the West-Bank. Billions are needed to keep the occupation going and we must not forget that Israel is a country of less then 20.000 km2, with a population of almost 10 million. Its army however has a budget of 24,3 billion U.S dollars. In 2023 the U.S taxpayer paid 14 billion out of that 24,3 billion IDF budget!
There is a good reason why the western world keeps silent on the crimes of Israel. They have created the State of Israel in 1948. Western countries wanted to turn British Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and a Arab state. However the Arab majority (58%) rejected the idea that they had to give up 50% of Palestine to a Jewish minority (33%). Zionist militia’s rose up and the first war between Arabs and Jews resulted in a victory for the Zionists. 19 Years after the founding of Israel, the Zionists decided to attack the Arabs again, this led to the occupation of the West-Bank, the Gaza Stripe and the Egyptian Sinai dessert. Despite UN resolutions, it was the western world (mainly the USA) that made sure that Israel could do what is has been doing since it was founded.
What is needed?
Revolutionary socialists call for socialism as the alternative. This means that we reject the Jewish State of Israel, but also the Arab State of Palestine. We reject the brutal far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, while also rejecting the reactionary HAMAS regime and the corrupt collaborators of FATAH in the West-Bank. The Palestinians need to understand that they win nothing by supporting these groups, FATAH and HAMAS. The official Palestinian left-wing are also not the alternative, because the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is marginal and not seen by the masses as the organisation that can bring about liberation. The PFLP became a more middle class oriented group with little connection to workers and their struggles.
What is needed is socialism in both Israel and Palestine. With Palestine we mean the Gaza Stripe and the West-Bank of the Jordan river. Under socialism, Israel will ceased to be a state for Jews only. It will become a secular society with a socialist constitution for working class people. As of now, the State of Israel does not have a constitution to begin with. The Palestinian governments in Gaza and the West-Bank will have to be completely rebuild, with all corruption and reactionary elements from FATAH and HAMAS eliminated. We do not call for a single Palestine for Arabs and Jews, this is not possible after years of hatred, indoctrination, terror and death.
We do call for a socialist Israel and a socialist Palestine on the 1967 borders. A Socialist Republic of Israel will accept the injustice that was the first Nakba and the terror bombings of the past. At the same time the Socialist Republic of Palestine will have to accept that the terror attacks against civilians in the past have not helped Palestinian liberation. True liberation cannot be achieved by individual terrorism or guerilla struggle. Only the organised working class in a revolutionary party with a socialist program has the potential of ending the injustice of oppression.
For this, International Socialist Alternative says:
Stop the bombing of Gaza!
Stop the blockade, the siege, the colonies and the occupation
Against the interference of the major imperialist blocs
Stop criminalising anti-Zionism and resistance to Israel’s state terror
Workers’ unity against ”divide and rule” of Western governments and the extreme right
For protest demonstrations and strikes
For massive international mobilisation against war
For a massive plan of public investment in recovery and prosperity
For mass struggles of the workers, the poor and the young
For an independent socialist Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem and a socialist transformation in Israel
Greta Thunberg was in Amsterdam to march for the climate. During the march, she also gave room to defend the Palestinian people from terror attacks by Israel. Supporters of the terror state are furious. Greta Thunberg is not allowed to speak for Palestine, she should only speak of the climate and ignore the massive human rights abuses by Israel, they say. Thunberg was also rejected by many capitalist green parties like the Alliance 90/The Greens, who are in the German government. Revolutionary socialists call for full solidarity with Thunberg, who is assaulted by the whole pro-Israeli capitalist establishment, because she stood up for the oppressed Palestinians.
The German; Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, has called Greta Thunberg hostile to Israel and an anti-Semite for using the slogan: From the River to the Sea. Revolutionary socialists understand that some Jews fear that such a slogan means that in a single Palestinian state, there would be no room for Jews. In reality, no left-winger who calls for a united Palestine will say that Jews would not be welcome. In fact many who call for a single state solution demand a secular Palestinian state for all religions, both Judaism, Islam, Christianity and none-religious people.
What the supporters of a single state solution do demand is an end to the State of Israel, an end to a state for Jews only! This is what Zionists and their allies call antisemitism, because Zionism is a Jewish nationalist ideology much like Arab nationalism. We just have to look at middle eastern nations and we see how cruel this Arab nationalism has been in the past. In many middle eastern nations, Arab nationalist governments enforced Arab ethnic nationalism and created states for Arabs only, forcing Jews and none-Arabs out.
Zionism in Israel is not about giving Jews a homeland. It is about making sure that Jews rule in all the lands they see as holy, like Judea and Samaria Area (occupied West-Bank of Palestine). This is why the State of Israel does not have a secular constitution. This is why most laws in Israel are based on Jewish religious laws and customs. Yes, Christians, Muslims and none-Jews are free to express themselves, but the laws of Israel are not made for them. The State of Israel is a Jewish state, meaning that its state is made for Jews and nobody else. We revolutionary socialists reject that as much as we reject Arab nationalism and any other ethnic nationalist state.
Greta Thunberg is right in saying that there cannot be climate justice under occupation. This infuriates the Zionist oppressors and their allies. Alliance 90/The Greens in Germany have called Thunberg out for her support of Palestine. Thunberg should know that the German greens are not her allies in the climate struggle. This capitalist party has been working against the interests of the German working class for many years. German greens are pro-capitalist and do not oppose the system that is causing climate change, which is capitalism.
That the State of Israel calls Greta Thunberg an anti-Semite is understandable. The terror state is calling anybody an anti-Semite, who stands up to their terrorist attacks on Gaza. Anybody who criticises the actions of the Israeli occupation army in Gaza is a hater of Jews. This is what the capitalist media also promotes. Those who side with the Palestinians are denounced as ”HAMAS supporters” or ”supporters of terrorism”. Thunberg is not the last in a long line of activists, who are denounced for standing up to the state-terrorism of Israel.
Revolutionary socialists do not support the single state solution. It seems idealistic to unite the two peoples in one state for all ethnicities. Reality is that years of hatred, mistrust and hostility mean that Israeli’s and Palestinians cannot live together in one state, even under socialism for now. This is why the Socialist Struggle Movement in Israel/Palestine (ISA) calls for two socialist states with the 1967 borders. Yes, this would mean that the country of Israel remains, but this Israel will not be the State of Israel for Jews only. It will be a Socialist Republic of Israel next to a Socialist Republic of Palestine, two socialist states build for workers from all ethnic backgrounds.
International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is one of the few international socialist groups that is calling for a socialist two state solution. Many left-wingers are part of the single state camp and are flying the Palestinian flag in support of this. Revolutionary socialists fear that this overuse of Palestinian symbols will alienate the Israeli working class, who are drilled with fear and indoctrination. They think that all Palestinians are anti-Semitic and wish to murder Jews. This is what the far-right in Israel has been saying since 1967. Every terror attack of Palestinians is translated as an anti-Semitic attack against Jews.
This is why we say that both working classes need to heal in two socialist states as part of a socialist federation of the middle east. For this to happen the Israeli working class will need to brake from their Zionist mentality. A socialist Israel will be a state for all workers, not just Jewish workers. At the same time, a socialist Palestine will have to accept those Jewish workers who wish to live in the West-Bank and the Gaza Stripe. Israeli capitalism is not working and poverty is a big problem. Also we must not forget that the State of Israel receive billions in subsidies and donations, mainly from the USA.
It would be better if youth like Greta Thunberg stand for a socialist Israel and a socialist Palestine. By only calling for a free Palestine, the Israeli media will brand them as opponents of Jews. Therefore International Socialist Alternative calls for a socialist two state solution. Only socialism can provide an end to this conflict. If the whole left-wing would call for socialism in the middle east, then it could send a clear signal to the Israeli’s and Palestinians, that their capitalist leaders are not the alternative. Because both the governments of Israel (Benjamin Netanyahu) and Palestine (HAMAS in Gaza and FATAH in the West-Bank) do not work in the interests of ordinary working people!
There is massive outrage and hatred towards the Israeli’s for their collective punishment of the Palestinians. Over 8.000 of them were murdered by the terror State of Israel since 7 October 2023. Never before have so many Palestinians been murdered in less then three weeks. However hatred towards all Israeli’s and Jewish people will only fuel the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Islamic Resistance Movement – HAMAS, who are two sides of the same reactionary coin.
HAMAS is the informal name of the Islamic Resistance Movement. A founder was Ahmed Yassin, who was allowed by Israel to set up his organisation, to rival the secular: Palestinian National Liberation Organisation (FATAH). Israel gave Ahmed Yassin room in the occupied territories, which he used to weaken Yasser Arafat of FATAH. After 1993, HAMAS won more and more support for their opposition to the Oslo Accords. Israel hoped that HAMAS would weaken FATAH and keep the Palestinians resistance divided and weak. They were right on the secular resistance, which lost support due to their abandonment of armed resistance.
The State of Israel soon realised that despite the loss of support for FATAH, HAMAS was winning. Their terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians led to violent bombings and the eventual murder of Ahmed Yassin, who was killed by the Israeli Air Force after he left a mosque. The murder of Yassin gave HAMAS political legitimacy. They won the elections for the Palestinian parliament and by 2007, Palestine was split between a FATAH government on the West-Bank and a HAMAS government in the Gaza Stripe. Israel had abandoned the stripe, but turned it into an open air prison with help from Egypt, who opposed HAMAS for their Islamist ideology.
HAMAS and the State of Israel are part of the problem. The Islamic Resistance Movement is a reactionary group, who is using terrorist methods to claim legitimacy. Benjamin Netanyahu is doing the same thing. Both sides are enforcing collective punishment for each crimes. Netanyahu already murdered thousands of Palestinians, all in the name of fighting terrorism. HAMAS used the terror methods of Israel to launch terror attacks against Israeli civilians. This is the reason why on 7 October 2023, HAMAS fighters killed over 1.000 unarmed civilians. This circle of collective punishment is rejected by the Socialist Struggle Movement, the Israeli/Palestinian section of International Socialist Alternative (ISA).
The supporters of the Islamic Resistance Movement claim that they only carried out a military operation on 7 October. This maybe so, but that does not hide the reality that HAMAS fighters choose to murder unarmed civilians. Revolutionary socialists say this is because of collective punishment. Both HAMAS and Israel wish to punish the other side with brutal acts of terrorism against civilians. Western governments ignore this and only focus on the terror of HAMAS. Because of this the Palestinian camp refuses to condemn the terrorism of their own, because the western world ignores the terror of Israel.
Collective punishment is not new. Many national liberation movements in the past carried out acts of terrorism against civilians of the other side, in acts of collective punishment. The African National Congress also attacked white civilians in South Africa. French civilians were targeted by the Algerian national liberation movement. Western imperialism bombed Vietnam and Cambodia because of the Viet Cong. Revolutionary socialists therefore warn against the concept of collective punishment, which is very easy in war time. We point out that collective struggle of workers on both sides are needed in the struggle for a socialist Israel and an independent socialist Palestine, based on the 1967 borders.
This is why the Socialist Struggle Movement in Israel and Palestine is fighting for socialism. We know that a single Palestinian state under capitalism is not the solution, neither are two states under the current power structures. HAMAS and the Israeli government plays the role of dictatorial forces in suppressing workers’ strikes and women/LGBTQ rights. We should not confuse the Islamic Resistance Movement – HAMAS for the Palestinian masses. They are inherently an anti-worker organisation.
In the West-Bank, the Palestinian National Liberation Organisation – FATAH, has been a partner of the Israeli government since 1993. This is why many oppose FATAH for its systematic corruption. We know this because FATAH leaders are wealthy and belong to the capitalist class. HAMAS leaders are even worse. They do not live in the open air prison that is Gaza. They are living under the protection of the reactionary State of Qatar. This is why Palestinian workers need to brake with HAMAS and FATAH. They need a socialist alternative out of poverty, terror and oppression.
From Ukraine, to the Sahel and Nagorno-Karabakh, capitalism exposes itself as a system of ongoing misery, poverty and war. This is why socialism is our alternative. We do not support social-democracy or Stalinist top-down centralism. Stalinist leftists have very few supporters left due to their inability to provide a clear socialist solution. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine are still linked to the ineffective Palestinian Liberation Organisation, which is under control of FATAH.
International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is heavily involved in the protest around the globe against the on-going massacre in Gaza. As part of this struggle we launch a financial appeal of 2.500€ to support the Socialist Struggle Movement (SSM), ISA’s section in Israel-Palestine. They are campaigning on the ground against the slaughtering and bloodshed in Gaza and against the occupation and siege that led to these carnages.
All donations will directly help to build a strong movement of working and oppressed people against the far-right Netanyahu regime. Specifically to promote mobilization and organizations of much needed pickets, demonstrations and marches among both national communities.
On Saturday morning, members of the Islamic Resistance (HAMAS) in the Gaza Stripe launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli occupation forces. HAMAS breached the walls of the open air prison that is the Gaza Stripe. 15 years after the stripe was cut off, the prisoners rioted against their jailers. The far-right regime of Netanyahu says that the attack of HAMAS will result in massive revenge actions carried out by Israel against the Palestinians. Revolutionary socialists of the Socialist Struggle Movement (ISA in Israel Palestine) stands in solidarity with ordinary people, with the relatives of those killed and with the wounded from all communities, on both sides of the fence and with the abducted civilians.
The terror methods of the Islamic Resistance (HAMAS) are counterproductive and only will strengthen the brutal attacks of Israel against Gaza. Their Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was in fact a massive prison break and the abduction of the civilians, including children and elderly women, deserves condemnation. We remind HAMAS that these Israeli civilians are not the government nor the army. At the same time we say that the motivation of HAMAS supporters to attack Israel is justified, because Netanyahuis responsible for mass murder on a huge scale.
After breaking the fence, many Palestinians took the opportunity to leave their open prison for the first time since 2005. Many support the actions of HAMAS because they see in the Islamic Resistance a legitimate group, that fights against the illegal occupation of their country since 1988. HAMAS only won their support due to the betrayal of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (FATAH), which has collaborated with the Israeli regime since 1993. FATAH controls parts of the West-Bank and has more or less kept peace with the occupation forces.
The reaction of western imperialism is typical. Many European countries show solidarity with the State of Israel by flying their flag. In Germany, the Israeli flag was projected on the Brandenburg Gate. No Palestinian flag has ever been raised nor projected on a big European government building. This shows us the true meaning of western governments. They do not care about freedom or democracy. Their solidarity with a far-right government says enough. Revolutionary socialists do not support the Israeli flag nor the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Our solutions are socialist, meaning that we oppose both the reactionary HAMAS government in Gaza and the corrupt ineffective government of FATAH in the West-Bank. We stand against the criminal regime of Benjamin Netanyahu and his plans for etnic cleansing of Gaza. Because that is what the far-right leader might try in the coming days. Israeli troops might invade Gaza to fully destroy the Islamic Resistance. At this moment, Gaza is home to 2.375.259 million people. Israel would have to use its whole army to force the populations of Gaza to leave.
Yet the Israeli far-right is preparing for just that, another Nakba. At least one member of the Israeli parliament is calling for ethnic cleansing and mass expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Stripe. Meanwhile the methods of HAMAS are not promoting liberation from blockade and occupation. Their terror attacks and abduction of civilians will only be used by the Israeli government to attack Gaza and murder as many Palestinians as possible. This is why we reject the Islamic Resistance as ineffective and counterproductive to true liberation.
The Socialist Struggle Movement (ISA in Israel-Palestine) is calling for solidarity with the working class of Gaza. We say that only socialist methods can end this long conflict by ending the illegal blockade and occupation of Palestine. A true socialist alternative means that both Israeli and Palestinian working classes take power away from those who rule now. HAMAS/FATAH are in fact just as capitalistic as Benjamin Netanyahu is. FATAH leader Mahmoud Abbas is a millionaire, while poverty is huge among Palestinians. Netanyahu too is part of the millionaire club!
Life in the open air prison that is Gaza is a nightmare. Since 2005 over 60% of the Palestinian population suffers from food insecurity, without clean water, basic infrastructure and without freedom of movement. After leaving the Gaza Stripe, the Israeli government killed many Palestinian civilians under the pretence of fighting terrorism the last 15 years. This is why many celebrated the destruction of the Israeli fences set up to keep Gaza under lock. However every attack on Israel is met with a brutal counterattack on civilian infrastructure. This is why we say that unguided rockets and terror attacks do not serve the Palestinian working class.
What is needed is class struggle on both sides of the fence. Workers from Israel and Palestine need to move together against HAMAS/FATAH and Benjamin Netanyahu. They cannot trust western governments nor ineffective groups like the United Nations. Israeli workers are poisoned with far-right nationalism and many think that terror is justified in fighting terrorism. The Israeli media has been demonising Palestinians since 1967 as ”terrorists”. Whole generations are raised in Israel to see the Palestinians as brutal killers who need to be kept in line.
The Islamic Resistance know that it cannot win any conflict with Israel. But they still attack to hide their failures and their pro-capitalist program. HAMAS is not a legitimate government as there has not been a Palestinian general election since 2006. FATAH too does not want elections, because they know they would lose to HAMAS again. At the same time the Arab world had all but abandoned the Palestinians. Most Arab countries made peace with Israel even Saudi-Arabia was about to start diplomatic relations. This is why we say that there can be no trust in the Arab governments!
Israel is starting a mass mobilisation. Over 130.000 reservists are called to prepare. It is very possible that Netanyahu will use the attack of HAMAS to invade the Gaza Stripe. It is our job to oppose him and fight for a socialist alternative to this conflict. What’s needed is a struggle to stop the deterioration and to end the siege, occupation and poverty, as part of a struggle for a root solution to the endless rounds of conflict, within the framework of socialist change, on the basis of guaranteeing equal rights to existence, self-determination, dignity and well-being. This is what the Socialist Struggle Movement tries to do.
After two weeks and one day, 248 Palestinians are death in Gaza. They are killed by bombs of the Israeli army which bombed the Gaza Strip. Around 60 children were among the death. On the Israeli side, 11 people died from rocket attacks. Benjamin Netanyahu can proudly add another 248 Palestinian lives to his record, in 2014 his regime slaughtered around 2.000 in the open air prison that is the Gaza Strip. HAMAS claims victory, but the Islamic Resistance won nothing. Their rockets are as always ineffective and drove many Israeli workers into the hands of the Netanyahu regime. HAMAS is deeply reactionary and uses antisemitism to rally Palestinians. This fuels the Zionist propaganda and fear among Israeli workers.
Revolutionary socialists do not support a full BDS movement, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. Although we do support certain types of boycotts we must also remember that the Israeli working class is a key player in ending the occupation. As long as the far-right Zionist government of Benjamin Netanyahu can play on a siege mentality, he will win support among Israeli workers who fear the anti-Semitism of HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad. The BDS campaign is portrayed by most Israeli mainstreams politicians (liberal, social-democratic and conservative) as anti-Semitic and a rejection of democratic debate.
We know this is a lie, but Israeli workers do see the anti-Jewish propaganda of HAMAS and other Arab nations. They know that many Arabs wish to see them gone. Islamists across the Arab world spread the poison of antisemitism and the far-right in Israel knows how to exploit that fear. With 1000 rockets fired from Gaza, Israeli workers are genuine afraid. This is why revolutionary socialists are not fully supportive of a full blanked BDS campaign against Israel. Because Palestinian workers need the Israeli working class for their liberation.
As International Socialist Alternative (ISA) explains:
Israeli Jewish workers genuinely fear for their own security and want to protect the state that was intended to be a safe haven for Jews. This, with the constant barrage of propaganda, unsurprisingly leads them to believe that advocates of the BDS campaign around the world don’t understand the situation in Israel. Also, many of the Israeli Jews who are most critical of their government’s brutality against the Palestinians, at the same time don’t see why Israeli workers should be punished for it by suffering the effects of boycotts.
The Palestinian working class cannot liberate itself. They are oppressed not just by the Israeli occupation force and Zionist colonialists. HAMAS (Islamic Resistance) and FATAH (Palestinian National Liberation Movement) also make sure that genuine liberation cannot happen. FATAH rules parts of the West-Bank unopposed and HAMAS will never let go of its total control over the Gaza Strip. This is why class struggle is needed from both people’s. Palestinian and Israeli workers need to unite to build a socialist alternative to Zionism, FATAH and HAMAS.
At the same time we do not say that all boycotts should be avoided.
We support selective boycotts like
The export to Israel of arms and equipment that could be used against the Palestinians.
Firms that profit from the occupation.
Goods produced by Zionist colonialists in the West-Bank.
Certain sporting and cultural events to gain publicity
The Ariel university in the occupied territories
Israeli ministers when they make overseas visits
Israeli workers can then be told that these boycotts are directed against the occupation, not them. When boycotts are enforced it is essential that Palestinian workers organisations are consulted. Because Israel has the means to punish the Palestinian Authorities on the West-Bank. Fully boycotting all things: Made in Israel, will drive most workers into the hands of far-right Zionists like Benjamin Netanyahu. This is why revolutionary socialists do not support a full BDS movement directed against all things Israeli.
BDS boycotts organized by the ruling class or reactionary Arab regimes must be given critical support only. Because they are not motivated by the interests of ordinary Palestinians. If the Islamic Resistance (HAMAS) cared about the needs of Palestinians it would not fire 1000 unguided missiles into Israel only to boost propaganda. If FATAH cared about the Palestinians they would not collaborate with Israel and postponing elections since 2006. It is up to both working classes to stand up against corruption, undemocratic governing, occupation, capitalism and injustice!
Bombs have fallen again on the Gaza Strip, 122 Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli bombs as of 14 May 2021. The terror-State of Israel has decided to murder again after Palestinians in East-Jerusalem rose up against Zionist colonialists. These colonialists tried to remove Palestinian families from their homes by force. Supported they are by the Israeli Occupation Force (IDF) and police, who supported the illegal occupation of East-Jerusalem. The Islamic Resistance (HAMAS) choose to fire 1000 rockets from Gaza into Israel, killing only six Israeli’s and did no real damage. In retaliation the Israeli regime of Benjamin Netanyahu choose to target civilians in Gaza. Their justification is always the same, HAMAS has fired rockets so we target Palestinians.
In 1967, the Israeli Occupation Force invaded the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt) and the West Bank (controlled by Jordan). For 26 years, the Israeli’s carried out a brutal occupation campaign, ignoring human rights by arresting and jailing any Palestinian who stood up. This led to the formation of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (FATAH), the Popular Front for the Liberation (PFLP) of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Both the PFLP and DFLP were Marxist-Leninist (Stalinist) while FATAH was mainly Palestinian nationalist. Until 1988, the Palestinian resistance was secular-nationalist.
The Islamic Resistance (HAMAS) won popular support after rejecting the Oslo Accords of 1993. While the Stalinist resistance was paralyzed by the collapse of the so called ”communist” world, HAMAS quickly rose as a popular alternative. This was mainly because Yasser Arafat of FATAH had agreed on the Oslo Accords and rejected armed resistance. Israel was not willing to give Palestinians their freedom and with FATAH trying to collaborate with the occupiers, HAMAS was able to portray themselves as the only genuine resistance. After the second Intifada, HAMAS won control over the Gaza Strip, while FATAH remains in control over those parts of the West-Bank not controlled by the IDF or Zionist colonialists.
It was Benjamin Netanyahu who ordered the bombing of Gaza in 2014. Back then this was a retaliation for the murder of two teenage colonialists on the West-Bank. Over 2.000 Palestinians died in the Gaza Strip as the IDF destroyed houses, apartments, hospitals and other civilian targets. HAMAS was blamed, but that is always the justification of the terror-State of Israel when they bomb the open air prison that is the Gaza Strip. Now 7 years later, a new bombing run has killed 122 Palestinians as of 14 May. 7 Israeli’s have died due to the rocket fire. Although HAMAS can fire a lot of rockets, they are ineffective as they are unguided. They serve only a propaganda purpose.
Young Palestinians in the West-Bank are angry, but not purely against the Israeli Occupation Force and the Zionist colonialists. Their anger is also directed against the corrupt and undemocratic FATAH government. As a revolutionary socialist explains:
There is obviously anger, but also a strengthening of the youth, which see the Palestinian authority as just another control mechanism of the occupation. This is less so in Jerusalem as they are not allowed to be present, but in the West Bank, particularly in those areas where the Israeli army surrounds the towns, within those towns it is the Palestinian police who clamp down. But the postponement of the election has left the Palestinian Authority with much less authority. This is also an important feature, developing in parallel with the other processes.
Yasha Marmer, Socialist Struggle — ISA in Israel and Palestine
There has not been a democratic election in the Palestinian territories on the West-Bank since 2006. This has resulted in the iron fact that Mahmoud Abbas has little support. His Palestinian National Liberation Movement is regarded as corrupt, nepotistic, elitist and undemocratic. Young Palestinians are right in this, Abbas is a capitalist and a millionaire. His family is a capitalist family that owns means of production. It made them wealthy, while the majority of Palestinians are suffering from a lack of income.
HAMAS can hide its own authoritarianism under a façade of fighting occupation. Israel keeps the Gaza Strip as a open air prison. No goods are allowed in from the sea and air unless Israel agrees with it. It is often said in the western capitalist media, that HAMAS is the main problem. That the antisemitism of the Islamist group is to blame for the conflict. In reality, the aggressor is not HAMAS but the IDF and Zionist colonialists. The Islamic Resistance like the former Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is/was a product of imperialist occupation and oppression. There would not have been a HAMAS had it not been for the 1967 invasion.
For Israeli workers, Benjamin Netanyahu is not their protector. Netanyahu is a neoliberal and supporter of Israeli capitalists. He lost the 2021 general election and with 1/3 of all Israeli’s not voting, it becomes clear that the so called ”Superior Jewish Democracy” is failing. Attacking the Palestinian prisoners in the Gaza open air prison is what the far-right loves and Netanyahu knows this. But the majority of working class people do not want another war. They want work, a stable live and not getting exploited by the capitalist class.
What is lacking in most countries is also lacking in Israel and Palestine. There is no socialist alternative for millions to rally behind. Social democracy and Stalinism had paralyzed the established left-wing for years. The collapse of the Soviet-Union turned Israeli social-democracy to the right-wing and the Israeli Communist Party remained a marginal force inside their own Democratic Front for Peace and Equality. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine also do not present a socialist alternative.
Update: Since 21 May over 243 Palestinians have been murdered by IDF bombs.
The Socialist Struggle Movement (ISA in Israel and Palestine) is putting these demands forward:
Stop the war! End the missile strikes and military attacks on Gaza. End the siege Stop the police and military repression of protest. Stop the arbitrary arrests. Mobilize for demonstrations against the military attacks and against the occupation.
Solidarity with the struggle of Shiekh Jarah residents against the barbaric takeover of their homes by messianic settlers and the right-wing regime, who are trying to displace Palestinians living under the occupation of Israeli capitalist rule in East Jerusalem
End the entrance of Israeli armed forces to the Al Aqsa compound — stop the nationalist provocations and the attacks on worshipers’ rights that promote religious war. End the criminalization of Palestinian house construction in East Jerusalem, enough with house demolitions, with the occupation and the settlements.
There’s no peace without struggle against occupation, poverty, inequality, against corrupt elites and for healthcare, livelihoods and welfare for all. Yes to protests of Palestinians and Israelis, no to attacks on civilians
Only peace and equality will bring personal security for all — end all attacks and collective punishment on 2 million residents of Gaza. Solidarity with residents from both national communities in Israel that cope with indiscriminate rocket fire
End the occupation, no more denying the right for self-determination and national oppression of the Palestinians. For an independent socialist Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem, for a socialist change in Israel and in the whole region
Following a call to action by Socialist Struggle Movement in Israel, we write to oppose the Israeli government’s plan to “officially” but illegally annex parts of the occupied West Bank. This new vicious attack on the national rights of millions of Palestinian workers and poor will undoubtedly lead to the slaughter of many innocent Palestinians at the hands of the IDF and cause further division and conflict between the Palestinian and Israeli people and diminish any prospects for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and across the region.
While mass unemployment shakes Israeli society, while people still cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, a prime minister on trial for corruption scandals is initiating a new escalation of the national conflict, consciously unleashing an even worse reality for Palestinians in the occupied territories and also for ordinary Israelis.
We would like to point out that as supporters of a just solution on the basis of equal rights for both, we will work now to build the strongest international opposition and condemnation to your government’s step further down the road of an Apartheid-type State, as well as to the national oppression and occupation of the Palestinians in general.
The criminal Israeli regime is planning on annexing 30% of the occupied Palestinian West-Bank. Up to now the West-Bank has not been annexed by the State of Israel, it is a occupied country with only partial self governance. If Israel is allowed to annex 30% of occupied Palestine it will be a major blow to the democratic right of Palestinians, who struggle against occupation since 1967. With the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation betrayed the struggle and allowed the Islamic Resistance (Hamas) to take over the role of fighting occupation. Now the Israeli occupation forces plan on annexing 30% of Palestinian land controlled by Zionist colonialists. This the Socialist Struggle Movement fully opposes and calls on people to resist the imperialist plans of Benjamin Netanyahu!
The West-Bank of Palestine is home to 2,747,943 Palestinians (a 2017 count) and around 300.000 illegal Zionist colonialists. Those 2,7 million are forced to live on less then 40% of the total land, because the colonialists control 60%. This is the injustice that came after 1967, when Israeli forces invaded the West-Bank. Until the Oslo Accords of 1995, there was no Palestinian government and the occupiers banned the use of the Palestinian flag. The accords called on Israel to leave the West-Bank in time, they did not. Israel keeps control over 60% of the occupied land. Now the criminal regime of Benjamin Netanyahu plans on stealing 30% of that land and annex it into the State of Israel, much like what Russia did with Crimea.
Even a smaller scale annexation would mark an immense blow against the democratic and national ambitions of millions of Palestinians, and particularly against the idea of a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, and thus would mark a significant turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestina is made up of two parts separated from each other. Gaza is the open air prison, with Israel controlling its air and sea access. The West-Bank is the largest part of Palestine, but only 40% of that part is under actual control of a Palestinian government. In Gaza, the government is controlled by Hamas, while on the West-Bank the Fatah movement keeps control. Fatah is the informal name of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, while Hamas is the informal name of the Islamic Resistance Movement. Both governments offer no genuine alternative and none are actual democratic. The last official Palestinian election was held 13 years ago. None have been held since. Hamas and Fatah are not planning on giving up power.
This is why the Socialist Struggle Movement (ISA in Israel and Palestine) is calling for a socialist alternative to both Islamism and Zionism. There cannot be a Arab State of Palestine and no Jewish State of Israel. Because states based on etnicity will come in conflict with minorities, who often end up oppressed by the majority. Antisemitism or hatred of Jews is a key element of Hamas and a poison used to spread hatred against Israelis purely on their religion. Hating Jews because of the State of Israel is like saying that all Muslims are terrorists just as the far-right Zionist media claims each day. This hatred of each other is why socialism is the only choice for both. A secular socialist Israel and a free secular socialist Palestine.
We do not call for a two state solution win-out a socialist alternative. A independent capitalist Palestine will not give the working class any power. Democracy is a illusion, because Fatah has no democratic legitimacy. President Mahmoud Abbas is ruling the 40% of the West-Bank since 2005. There has not been a nationwide election since 2007, meaning that both Fatah and Hamas have lost their mandate to govern. Mahmoud Abbas is seen by many as a ineffective and corrupt leader. He is also very wealthy, owning at least 10 million U.S dollars. As part of the 2016 Panama Papers data leak, it was revealed that his son: Tareq Abbas holds 1 million U.S dollars in shares of an offshore company associated with the Palestinian government.
This is not uncommon, nepotism among authoritarian regimes. In Iraqi Kurdistan, the family Barzani is ruling the region since 2003 officially. The authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan is also a nepotist one, with Ilham Aliyev succeeding his father Heydar Aliyev. North Korea is the most famous example of a nepotist dynasty. The corruption of Fatah is why many Palestinians reject Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas and his sons have enriched themselves by controlling key Palestinian companies, who import American made products like cigarettes. As capitalists they profit from the scarcity of many basic products, which they sell at high prices. This is why the leftist image of Fatah is a complete facade.
How can we end the endless violence between both Israelis and Palestinians? First an end must come to occupation. The West-Bank must be given back to the 2,7 million Palestinians. The 300.000 colonialists can be given a choice, live as a national minority with full democratic rights or move back to Israel. The capitalist Zionists who do own land and means of production must be expropriated (as they would in a socialist Israel). Working class colonialists could be allowed to stay, that is up to the future socialist government of Palestine. What must be avoided is the full expulsion of 300.000 people as we saw with the Germans after 1945. Not all colonialists are hostile to the idea of majority rule. Many could work with the Palestinians in a future socialist society as Jewish Palestinians.
Key issue is the democratic control of working class people over the means of production. Both Arabic workers and Jewish workers must become the masters of society, not capitalist scum like the Abbas family. The State of Israel and the State of Palestine must be dissolved and replaced by a Israeli Socialist Council Republic and a Palestinian Socialist Council Republic. Only under socialism can both working classes overcome the hatred and anger caused by occupation and violence. Socialist politicians would work together and reject the antisemitism and Islamophobia that is now common among Palestinian and Israeli politicians. However as long as Israel is allowed by the western world to keep its illegal occupation, nothing will change.
Because key to the liberation of Palestine is the western world. The USA and Europe stand fully in solidarity with the occupation regime. Israel is not under a trade embargo, western politicians even try to criminalize those who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS). At the same time, billions of dollars are donated each year to the Israeli military and society. Rich people in the USA are donating millions to keep Israel alive. If not for those donations and American taxpayer money, it remains to be seen if Israel could keep up is occupation. Because many infrastructures are build with money that is donated from the western world. This is never reported in the media, that the occupation is also possible because of billions in donations given to Israel.
At least 10.007 Palestinians and 1.271 Israelis have been killed in the last 20 years of conflict. A fact often not told by the capitalist media. Out of these 1.271 Israelis killed, the majority were soldiers not civilians. The majority of Palestinians murdered are civilians, killed by the many terror bombings on Gaza and the West-Bank. Over 2.000 were murdered in 2014. Back then Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive air raid against Hamas in Gaza. In the bombings they attacked civilian targets too, even the UN compound was bombed. The 2.200 who died were all branded as ”terrorists” by the Israeli media, which was fully accepted by the established media in western countries as reported in the documentary ”Occupation of the American Mind”
International Socialist Alternative condemns the threats of Benjamin Netanyahu to annex 30% of the West-Bank into the State of Israel. This is only possible because the Israeli Führer knows that the USA would fully support him into officially stealing Palestinian lands. Russia was criticized massively for its annexation of Crimea in 2014. But now the USA is willing to allow a partial annexation of Palestine with no international sanctions or criticism. This proofs that Israel is only able to carry out is criminal occupation because of the full support they get from American and European governments.
Without expropriating the ruling class which stands behind this regional military machine; without using resources democratically to end poverty, the massive material inequality between the two national groups and build an advanced infrastructure to guarantee a high living standard for all, then there is no path to genuinely resolve the conflict, which will continue in one form or another. A solution is only possible as part of a regional movement for the toppling of rotten oligarchies and agents of reaction, in a ‘socialist spring’. Only in such a context is it possible to lay the conditions for the withering away of national prejudice and schism.
Revolutionary Socialist Media 