by The Editors, July 7, 2023
As patriotic Americans celebrated the week of the Fourth of July, the Israeli Defense Forces murdered Palestinian families and activists in the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank, tore down houses and tore up roads, adding even more misery to impoverished lives – the worst attack in 20 years. Twelve Palestinians were killed, 120 were arrested, and over 100 were wounded. Even the renowned Jenin Freedom Theater was bombed. Water and electricity are still shut down. The Isrealis’ motive was to make sure that their increasingly dense illegal settlements in the area are safe (https://mondoweiss.net/2023/07/jenin-the-fight-over-the-capacity-to-resist/).
We were heartbroken as we watched the bombings, heard of four dead children, and saw the extreme inequality in weaponry. Most armed young fighters are members of Islamic Jihad or Hamas or other organized groups, but some are just angry youngsters with stones who think martyrdom is their only option. Throughout the Occupied Territories (OT), killings, imprisonment, surveillance, home demolitions, travel restrictions, and settlements continue to destroy life, especially in Gaza, Jenin, and Hebron, as the almost six decades old illegal Israeli occupation wears on. Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority (PA), the official leadership of the West Bank, quietly colludes with Israel. CNN’s local correspondent says that no one in Israel has demonstrated in support of the Jenin fighters (7/6/23), although Haaretz reports actions in Tel Aviv and Haifa resulting in seven arrests (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-07-04/ty-article/.premium/anti-occupation-demonstrators-arrested-during-pro-jenin-protest-in-northern-israel/00000189-2237-d145-a1e9-337795bd0000).
The US continues to support Israel with $4 billion in aid every year as Israel’s position as the only nuclear power in the Middle East is crucial to protecting US imperialism’s interests in fossil fuels and pipelines. The US has also wooed many local Arab nations to sign treaties with Israel in order to protect their various interests, nations which Palestinians once hoped would be their allies. While the US would like to see a more democratic Israeli government, it is willing to support Israel with any means necessary. Although more and more ordinary Americans are critical of Israel, it is very rare to hear mainstream politicians defend Palestinian workers. Students and professors are called anti-Semitic if they do.
Palestinian workers have no allies among their own official leaders either, including Hamas and the PA. As this blog has explained (see https://multiracialunity.org/2018/05/21/one-state-in-palestine-israel-cannot-bring-equality-if-it-is-a-capitalist-state/), these groups are both capitalist exploiters of their people who maintain very inegalitarian societies. Palestinian Authority rulers still contract with Israeli businesses and cooperate with Israeli policies and actions, while Hamas maintains connections to other Middle Eastern elites. In the midst of the Israeli raid, the PA actually arrested two fighters wanted by Israel. As soon as the incursion was over, massive numbers of Jenin residents militantly protested the PA and threw them out of the camp (https://mondoweiss.net/2023/07/video-palestinians-in-jenin-confront-pa-after-deadly-israeli-invasion/?ml_recipient=93132288138675465&ml_link=93132050324784507&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-07-08&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines).
We cannot fall for the lie that Palestinians are terrorists when they resist their oppression. In fact, they are legally entitled to do so. While we may speak out in support of these efforts, in reality they are insufficient to really threaten Israeli dominance. What is essential is to build a movement within Palestine that involves a larger and broader segment of the population, independent of the current political leaders, in alliance with supportive Israelis and international allies. During the 1930s, Jewish and Palestinian transportation workers went on strike together, and families lived alongside each other. However, Israeli and Palestinian communist parties and unions pulled them apart under the cry of nationalism, only care for your “own.”
Although there is now a re-activated movement for One State (https://www.odsi.co/en/), which has supporters in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and internationally, its goals are limited, although we admire its anti-nationalist position. It calls for one democratic state, but does not address the necessity of replacing the capitalist fascist rulers of Israel and the capitalist leaders of the OT with a multinational worker-run non-capitalist society. Quite a few of the powerful Israeli and Palestinian businessman would like to cease fighting each other so they could make more money. We should not be their support.
As hard as it is, what we really need to build to free the workers of Palestine, indeed all the workers of the world, from exploitation and war, is a multiracial international organization dedicated to eliminating capitalism. Then we can build a world in which people can share resources equitably and build a society based on human needs. There are no reforms left. Let us be inspired by the courage of Palestinian fighters as we are horrified by the oppression they undergo, but at the same time recognizing the need to expand the ideas and tactics of the struggle. Workers of the world unite against fascism, capitalism, racism, nationalism and imperialism!
The Multiracial Unity Blog 