Socialist Action Hong Kong
Over the last two weeks we have watched in horror as the Israeli State, the fourth largest military power in the world has waged a murderous assault on Gaza, in occupied Palestine. At least 240 Gazans were killed including 65 children, while buildings were leveled by sustained Israeli bombardment. These are war crimes — this is the fourth such attack since 2009.
While a ceasefire may bring an end to the Netanyahu government’s bombardment of Gaza, the assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli police shows that the violence against Palestinians will continue in other forms — as of course will the occupation, the systemic racism and besiegement Palestinians face daily in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and within Israel itself. The Israeli apartheid regime will continue its brutal dispossession and colonisation of Palestinian land with horrific consequences for its people.
There have been hundreds of demonstrations from Chile to South Africa to Australia opposing Israel’s military attacks and supporting the rights of the Palestinians. Last week we saw a strike by Palestinian workers in Israel which showed a new and effective way to resist Israel’s occupation and military terror. The 1-day strike cost the economy nearly $40 million, with 65,000 workers refusing to come to work. This is a real testament to the power of working-class people.
We believe the international trade union movement must organise workers to organise boycott actions against those companies who profit and benefit from the occupation and oppression of Palestinian people. We should also follow the courageous example of a number of Israeli Jewish workers who have taken solidarity action in recent weeks in defence of their Palestinian workmates who have faced racist attacks by far-right mobs.
Palestinian liberation will never come about as long as the oppressive, capitalist Israeli regime is in power. Nor will it come as long as this wider region is dominated by imperialism and the corrupt, capitalist dictatorships, such as those in Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, who openly ally themselves with the Israeli State. We say their system must be brought to an end and the imperial powers must be kicked out of the Middle East.
What is needed is for working people throughout the region in the fight for a society where the wealth and resources are publicly owned and democratically controlled, and utilised for the benefit of all. Socialist Action expresses its support for a truly independent and socialist Palestine, alongside a democratic, socialist Israel with free and open borders, and with the rights of minorities guaranteed. This has to be part of a democratic and socialist transformation of the wider Middle East. A struggle for such a solution can end the nightmare of occupation, poverty and exploitation.
Socialist Action
25-5-2021
Contact: 52409991 (Mr. Cheung)
