Israel & Palestine

The Israeli military is introducing orders that allow for the deportation of so-called "infiltrators", defined as anyone who does not hold an Israeli permit to reside in the West Bank. Mordechai Peargut sent us this comment from Israel.

Until very recently very few people had heard of Anat Kamm outside Israel, and even inside the country there has been a tight press censorship imposed on her case. But now the facts have started leaking out. Kamm is accused of leaking secret military documents that allegedly endanger Israel state security. The truth is that what she seems to have revealed is the criminal activity of many of Israel’s top army officers.

The Palestinians have a right to their own homeland and this is something Marxists unconditionally defend. But how is this to be achieved? The idea of a blanket boycott of Israel has been raised. In this article the authors raise the idea that treating the whole of the Israeli Jewish population as one reactionary bloc is counter-productive. Much better a trade union based selective boycott that distinguishes the ruling Zionist elite from ordinary working people in Israel.

The crimes of the Zionist ruling class in Israel against the Palestinian people have been rightly condemned by all progressive and left people around the world. However, there are reactionary right-wing elements that try to exploit this to push an anti-Semitic agenda. Genuine socialists reject both Zionism and anti-Semitism. The solution to ethnic and national conflicts is to be found in the class struggle and socialism. We publish this contribution on the question from a Jewish Marxist living in Israel.

We have received this letter, originally written in Hebrew, from a Palestinian, addressed to the masses of Israel. Although we do not agree with every point of this letter, we publish it as it shows that even in the midst of the terrible barbarism unleashed by the Zionist state, there are Palestinians who can see the class differences on both sides of the divide and see a solution in the working people on both sides uniting against the common enemy.

Since Nir Barkat was elected mayor of Jerusalem last November, a sharp increase has been noted in the destruction of homes in East Jerusalem. He has ordered the destruction of 34 homes and plans to demolish 90 more. The international labour movement must condemn these barbaric acts.

The student leader, Sefi Samueloff has written to us to inform us that Samieh Jabbarin and Ibrahim Machajne have been put under house arrest, as they await trial, for which there is no date. He also thanks Marxist.com for publishing the appeal.

We have been contacted by a student leader in Israel, asking us to protest about the arrest of Samieh Jabbarin of the Abnaa elBalad movement and hundreds of Palestinian youth. We publish here the letter appealing for help together with a brief article explaining the situation.

Those responsible for the massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza have turned this to their advantage in the national elections, exploiting the fear of ordinary people in Israel. The new government will have to be a coalition of reactionary parties like the previous one but will prove to be totally incapable of solving any of the real problems of ordinary working people in Israel. What is required is class based politics.

Last week an unofficial strike broke out on the railways in Israel, paralysing the network for one day. The strike was called by an unofficial union, which the courts quickly moved against. In spite of this it gives a taste of what is to come once the Israeli workers begin to move decisively in defense of their own class interests.

As the dust settled over Gaza, the scale of the devastation became clear, with much of Gaza's infrastructure in ruins, with power stations, water networks and sewage systems destroyed; homes, mosques and even schools reduced to rubble. Although Israel severely weakened Hamas militarily, the hatred that it has instilled into the Palestinian masses is only preparing even bigger problems in the future.

The so-called Peace Process is dead. It will be not be revived until the Israeli army has done its bloody work in Gaza thoroughly. Ultimately, both Jews and Arabs must have the right to live in peace and control their own destinies in a homeland of their own. It is easy to state this aim, but not so easy to say how it can be achieved. In the concluding part of his article Alan Woods shows the relation between war and revolution and explains that the prior condition for solving the Palestinian question is the overthrow of the reactionary Arab regimes in the Middle East.