Middle East

The slaughter in Gaza has now reached the grim milestone of 10,000 killed, while more than a million have been displaced with nowhere to go. To give a sense of scale, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) has killed more people in Gaza in one month than the total number of Ukrainian civilians killed in the 21 months since the Ukraine war broke out in February 2022. The latter figure stood at 9,600, according to last month’s estimate.

IMT comrades in Modena, Italy (Sinistra Classe e Rivoluzione) organised a campaign inside the FIOM (metalworkers’ union of the CGIL) in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and in particular in support of an appeal issued by Palestinian trade union organisations. At a demonstration at the weekend, 2,000 workers and youth, both immigrant and native Italian, marched together in a lively demonstration, showing their full solidarity with the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli bombing and occupation.

Comrades of Socialist Appeal, the British section of the International Marxist Tendency, have been targeted by the police and the rest of the establishment for waging a determined campaign to build solidarity with the Palestinian people. We call on you to help us in this fight. Intifada until victory!

“The politicians' smears are not because they are strong... They are afraid that the people, we workers, will realise our own power. Afraid that we workers will unite, organise and threaten their rule." Fredrik, a communist from Revolution (IMT in Sweden), spoke at the 10,000-strong demonstration in Stockholm on Saturday. This is his speech.

Events in the Middle East are having a profound impact on consciousness in Britain. While the establishment all sing from the same hypocritical hymn sheet, hundreds of thousands are taking to the streets. Revolutionary explosions impend.

To justify its genocidal bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli state, with the complicity of Western imperialists, tries to present itself as the guardian of superior moral values in the face of Palestinian “barbarism”. There could be no better example of the complete moral bankruptcy of the ruling class.

The Israeli army, after much prevarication, finally started ground operations in Gaza over the weekend. But it was not a full-scale invasion. The Israeli military leaders are fully aware of the great risk to their own soldiers if they commence street-by-street fighting with troops on the ground. They are also wary of giving Hezbollah the excuse they require to widen the conflict, opening a second front on the northern border with Lebanon. So what are Netanyahu and his generals preparing for?

Trotsky warned in 1940 that the attempt to solve the ‘Jewish problem’ in Europe through the dispossession of the Palestinians would be a “bloody trap”. These words ring true to this very day. But the real history of Israel-Palestine has been buried under mountains of falsification.

From the outset of the latest Israel-Palestine conflict, the capitalist media in Britain has acted as an obedient mouthpiece for the establishment, echoing their imperialist propaganda. We need to build a voice for the exploited and oppressed.

As Israel prepares its forces for a land invasion of Gaza, all the western imperialist leaders, from Biden to Sunak, Scholz and Macron, are getting very nervous. They worry about what their world will look like when this is over.

Around the world, workers and youth have been mobilising in solidarity with the Palestinian masses, who are facing a brutal onslaught from the Israeli military. Comrades of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) have joined these demonstrations, advancing communist slogans in support of the struggle of the oppressed people of Palestine.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is reaching a pivotal stage. The horrifying images of butchered civilians have provoked a wave of revulsion across the world. Thousands have taken to the streets in capitals throughout the Middle East, demanding action in support of Gaza, while hundreds of thousands of people in the West have protested the complicity of their governments in Israel’s crimes.

Facing attacks from the establishment press, and meddling from university and student union bureaucracies, the communists are continuing their efforts to mobilise solidarity with Palestine. We say: Intifada until victory!

Israel’s war on Gaza has all the potential to escalate into a much bigger conflict, with fronts opening up on the border with Lebanon and on the West Bank, and turmoil spreading throughout the region. Such an escalation would have a huge impact, not only on the whole of the Middle East but on the whole world situation. The ongoing massive bombardment of Gaza is already shaking the world, politically, economically and socially.