NEW YORK CITY, May 31 — A few thousand New Yorkers marched on Memorial Day, with only a few hours notice, to protest the violent Israeli attack on the international flotilla bringing aid to Gaza. Much larger demonstrations were held in Turkey, London, Paris, Palestine and all over the Muslim world.
Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank since 1967; and in 2007 total siege was laid to Gaza, a tiny strip of land housing 1.5 million Palestinians (one of the most crowded places in the world). They are surrounded by a militarized wall, deprived of adequate food, water, housing, and medical care. Unemployment is about 80%. No one can enter or leave without Israeli permission, which is usually denied, even in cases of serious medical illness.
In December, 2008 and January 2009, Israel attacked the imprisoned population with overwhelming force, killing 1,440, wounding 5,000, and leaving 50,000 homeless. Since then almost no supplies have been allowed in; some are smuggled in through tunnels under the border from Egypt, which are regularly bombed.
Last week an international convoy of vessels carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid set sail for Gaza, attempting also to break the naval blockade and highlight the conditions in Gaza. Although they expected to be stopped by the Israelis, no one expected to be raided in international waters. The Israelis dropped from helicopters at night and killed at least nine activists and wounded many more. The rest were either detained or deported.
The Israeli ruling class figured they could get away with this fascist attack because no serious opposition was mounted to their 2008-2009 invasions or the wave of demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem since then. The U.S., whom Israel is dependent on for survival, has not held back one penny from Israel. It gives more aid to Israel than to any other country in the world. Even the bulk of Palestinians, who live in the West Bank protested little because their leadership, the Fatah party, is committed to accommodating Israel, and suppressed all demonstrations.
The U.S. desperately wants a two-state solution, which would quiet the pro-Palestinian furor that inflames many Muslims and others against the U.S. Many Israelis oppose this idea because they want Israel to control all the land that is now the occupied territories, and for the Palestinians to disappear. This ideology is fed by the virulent racism taught to all Israelis, that Palestinians are subhuman, violent creatures who must be eradicated.
Many Palestinian activists call for Palestinian independence as their only goal. Neither a two-state nor a one-secular-state solution will improve life for the Palestinian working class. Their economy is under the domination of a small group of wealthy families, who would continue to control the country in cahoots with Israel and international capitalists. Politically, they are ruled in the West Bank by Fatah and in Gaza by Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist group with ties to Iran. So horrific are they as rulers that last week they demolished Gazan houses for “building without a permit,” just like the Israelis do.
The majority of Palestinian workers and farmers would be no better off under the heel of these parties, except for increased freedom of movement. Israeli activists against the occupation also do not consider the structure of their own society, its ties to U.S. imperialism, and the need to build a worker-run, anti-racist, multi-ethnic society for the sake of its own workers and students.
Members of the PLP work with Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. activists to point out the need to fight for a communist society for all workers, not just for national independence or an end to the occupation. National liberation struggles have been waged around the world since the rise of imperialism. From South Africa to El Salvador, from Congo to Algeria, national liberation has not led to a better life for workers, who continue to be exploited by local bosses in partnership with international capitalists. Join us to build an international struggle for communism. Down with capitalism. Down with nationalism. J