Sam_b
15th January 2009, 18:06
Murder made in Washington and London...RISE UP AGAINST THE SLAUGHTER IN GAZA!
Millions of people in Britain and across the world are shocked and horrified by Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza.
Over 350 Palestinians have been killed already—at least 60 of them women and children, according to United Nations figures. Many hundreds more lie injured.
Gaza is one of the most impoverished and densely populated places in the world. It is home to 1.4 million Palestinians who have suffered under an Israeli blockade for months. Food, medical supplies and other essentials are in short supply.
Now Israel has spent four days sending its US-supplied F-16 bombers to rain down missiles on these desperate people. The bombing was deliberately started at a time when the streets of Gaza were packed with ordinary people going about their business.
The Israeli bombs are aimed at reducing Gaza’s civic infrastructure to rubble. Universities, mosques, government buildings and even youth centres have been levelled.
Ordinary people around the world have held huge demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza. Here in Britain there have been protests all week in London and other cities.
But the reaction of Western governments to Israel’s barbarity has been disgraceful. "The US understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," said a spokesperson for George Bush. Incoming president Barack Obama has remained silent and fallen in behind Bush.
In Britain, Gordon Brown’s first reaction to the slaughter of Palestinians was to express his "deep concern" about "missile strikes from Gaza on Israel". It took him two days to call for a ceasefire.
But Arab governments have been no better. Egypt’s dictator Hosni
Mubarak—a key ally of the US in the Middle East—has collaborated with Israel’s assault by refusing to open the border between Egypt and Gaza.
In the first days of its attack on Gaza, Israel claimed that it was trying to stop Qassam rocket attacks coming from Gaza. These rockets are pea shooters compared to Israeli firepower. And it was Israel that broke a six-month truce with the Palestinians on 4 November this year.
The real reason behind Israel’s assault became clear a few days later when the country’s defence minister Ehud Barak declared that it was about "a war to the bitter end" with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Lessons
The US and Israel have been trying to crush Hamas ever since it won the Palestinian elections held in January 2006. They preach about bringing "democracy" to the Middle East—yet they respond to the democratic choice of the Palestinian people with bombs.
Israel’s actions are inseparable from the US’s "war on terror" and the global economic crisis. The invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have unleashed instability and violence across the world. The crisis of capitalism has ramped that tension up further.
In the long run a solution to the
Palestinian issue can only take place in the context of a wider political upheaval across the Middle East.
The US-sponsored "peace process" is worthless. It has proven to be nothing more than an excuse for further Israeli land grabs. Any "solution" that leaves the Israeli regime intact while trying to carve out slivers of land for a Palestinian territory is doomed to failure.
The Arab people—and the Arab working class in particular—must rise up against the region’s puppet regimes that give support to the US and Israel. That would open the possibility of a single, democratic and multi-ethnic state encompassing all of historic Palestine.
The anti-war movement across the world has a crucial role to play in ending this conflict and bringing a just peace to the Middle East. Mass protests in the West can help pressure our governments into drawing back from their support for Israel and for US imperialism.
The Stop the War Coalition has called an emergency demonstration in London this Saturday demanding a halt to Israeli aggression. There are demos in other major cities. But we also need to raise the level of resistance on all fronts to all our rulers—and fight for a socialist society free from racism and imperialism.
For demo details go to www.stopwar.org.uk (http://www.stopwar.org.uk)
http://www.swp.org.uk/resources/gazaleaf.pdf
Millions of people in Britain and across the world are shocked and horrified by Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza.
Over 350 Palestinians have been killed already—at least 60 of them women and children, according to United Nations figures. Many hundreds more lie injured.
Gaza is one of the most impoverished and densely populated places in the world. It is home to 1.4 million Palestinians who have suffered under an Israeli blockade for months. Food, medical supplies and other essentials are in short supply.
Now Israel has spent four days sending its US-supplied F-16 bombers to rain down missiles on these desperate people. The bombing was deliberately started at a time when the streets of Gaza were packed with ordinary people going about their business.
The Israeli bombs are aimed at reducing Gaza’s civic infrastructure to rubble. Universities, mosques, government buildings and even youth centres have been levelled.
Ordinary people around the world have held huge demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza. Here in Britain there have been protests all week in London and other cities.
But the reaction of Western governments to Israel’s barbarity has been disgraceful. "The US understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," said a spokesperson for George Bush. Incoming president Barack Obama has remained silent and fallen in behind Bush.
In Britain, Gordon Brown’s first reaction to the slaughter of Palestinians was to express his "deep concern" about "missile strikes from Gaza on Israel". It took him two days to call for a ceasefire.
But Arab governments have been no better. Egypt’s dictator Hosni
Mubarak—a key ally of the US in the Middle East—has collaborated with Israel’s assault by refusing to open the border between Egypt and Gaza.
In the first days of its attack on Gaza, Israel claimed that it was trying to stop Qassam rocket attacks coming from Gaza. These rockets are pea shooters compared to Israeli firepower. And it was Israel that broke a six-month truce with the Palestinians on 4 November this year.
The real reason behind Israel’s assault became clear a few days later when the country’s defence minister Ehud Barak declared that it was about "a war to the bitter end" with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Lessons
The US and Israel have been trying to crush Hamas ever since it won the Palestinian elections held in January 2006. They preach about bringing "democracy" to the Middle East—yet they respond to the democratic choice of the Palestinian people with bombs.
Israel’s actions are inseparable from the US’s "war on terror" and the global economic crisis. The invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have unleashed instability and violence across the world. The crisis of capitalism has ramped that tension up further.
In the long run a solution to the
Palestinian issue can only take place in the context of a wider political upheaval across the Middle East.
The US-sponsored "peace process" is worthless. It has proven to be nothing more than an excuse for further Israeli land grabs. Any "solution" that leaves the Israeli regime intact while trying to carve out slivers of land for a Palestinian territory is doomed to failure.
The Arab people—and the Arab working class in particular—must rise up against the region’s puppet regimes that give support to the US and Israel. That would open the possibility of a single, democratic and multi-ethnic state encompassing all of historic Palestine.
The anti-war movement across the world has a crucial role to play in ending this conflict and bringing a just peace to the Middle East. Mass protests in the West can help pressure our governments into drawing back from their support for Israel and for US imperialism.
The Stop the War Coalition has called an emergency demonstration in London this Saturday demanding a halt to Israeli aggression. There are demos in other major cities. But we also need to raise the level of resistance on all fronts to all our rulers—and fight for a socialist society free from racism and imperialism.
For demo details go to www.stopwar.org.uk (http://www.stopwar.org.uk)
http://www.swp.org.uk/resources/gazaleaf.pdf