Recently a flotilla of ships bringing humanitarian aid to Palestinians trapped in Gaza behind a fascist Israeli blockade was boarded and attacked by Israeli commandos on the high seas. On one ship, the Mavi Marmara, the commandos encountered resistance, opened fire, and killed nine of the travelers.
Videos showed that the passengers fought militantly and bravely against the commandos, succeeding in disabling several and knocking some off the ship into the water. This action helps to dispel the “myth of invincibility” surrounding the Israeli military and its own CIA, the Mossad. They can be fought and beaten with boldness and militancy, even if they ultimately succeeded in gaining control of the ship.
But there’s a bigger picture involved in this episode. Israel has functioned as the proxy for U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. The U.S.-Israeli axis has operated for decades to intimidate the bosses of Arab nations and force them into compliance with the needs of U.S. imperialism, which are mainly about controlling the oil and gas resources in the Middle-East and Central Asia. Arab and Iranian bosses have chafed under this threat and more and more, there is resistance to the U.S.-Israel axis.
Communist Resistance Needed
Most of this resistance, unfortunately, has been led by Islamic political forces with reactionary ideologies such as “restoring the Caliphate,” punishing non-believers in Allah, and reducing women to the status of virtual slaves. This has been the case with the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and much of the resistance in Iraq and Pakistan.
More recently, Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, leader of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (an Islamic Party in Turkey), has joined the pro-Palestinian cause, dramatically changing Turkey’s long-standing pro-Israel stance. He criticized Israeli President Shimon Peres at the Davos Economic Conference in January 2009. Obama, despite Turkey’s continuing membership in NATO, felt it was necessary to visit Turkey.
Murder by a State
Nevertheless, at the U.N., Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu correctly called the raid “murder conducted by a state” and demanded an immediate Israeli apology, international legal action and an end to the blockade.
Many of the passengers on the Mavi Marmara were Islamic militants supported by the Justice and Development Party and organized by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), a humanitarian group in Turkey that supports Hamas. Those who died fighting the fascist Israeli commandos have been hailed at mass rallies in Turkey as Islamic martyrs. Notably absent from these rallies were the large workers’ groups which despise Islamic militants in Turkey and have been involved in pitched battles with them on May Days in past years.
Some of these leftist organizations had sent fighters to Palestine in the 1970s to fight alongside George Habash’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, militant, nationalist Marxist group aligned with the Soviet Union. These fighters learned first-hand of the treachery of the Islamic groups in Palestine, who killed many of their members despite the fact that they were nominally united.
The flotilla episode is one more example of the relative decline of U.S. imperialism. Turkey’s initial move away from its long-standing alliance with the U.S. marks an important step. This action builds on the recent deal that Turkey and Brazil worked out with Iran (to hold its uranium) that undercut U.S. imperialism’s designs against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton could only get the U.N. to approve very limited sanctions.
U.S. Isolation
The U.S. is being increasingly isolated in its Mid-east and Central Asian ambitions. Meanwhile, U.S. rivals, China and Russia, are dealing freely with Iran, gaining access to resources in deals that will only strengthen their geostrategic position.
The flotilla episode reflects in a dramatic way the sharpening conflict among the imperialists and the U.S.’s increasing desperation to hold onto its allies as its rivals gain ground.
With serious, dedicated work, the PLP can grow internationally and be positioned to turn the coming imperialist world war into communist revolution. Just as our predecessors in Russia and China did, we can turn their willing slaughter of workers for the sake of profit into a battle for a classless, communist society. Boldness and growth of the international communist movement is increasingly urgent!