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The historic sponsorship by United for Peace
& Justice, the country’s biggest antiwar coalition, of a rally against
U.S. support for Israeli policies [June 10 in Washington D.C.] has
fueled an already hot debate over “one state” and “two state”
solutions, amid increasing recognition that Israeli “peace offers” are
covers for the permanent ghettoization of Palestinians.
The right of a colonial power to dominate any
people has been rejected by the majority of the world’s people since
the 19th century.
The struggles of Palestinians inside pre-1967 Israel are
reminders that they too are victims of a colonial-settler state.
Zionism was first promoted by England to
insert a pro-West ruling class as part of imperialism’s carving up of
the Arab world. Since 1948 the
U.S. has been Israel’s main sponsor, propping it up with billions in
aid and with the lie that Palestinians should be denied
self-determination as penance for capitalism’s own genocidal crimes.
Israel in turn aided imperialism by trying to
crush anti-colonial and anti-capitalist revolts in the region, on its
own or alongside pro-imperialist Arab regimes.
Understanding Israel’s origin and character
leads to the recognition of the only possible solution: a democratic
secular Palestine as part of a socialist federation of the Middle East.
No state today can say it is “white and
democratic” or “Christian and democratic” – yet Israel pretends it can
be “Jewish and democratic.” The
only democratic solution is for all inhabitants in the land of historic
Palestine, regardless of religion or national origin, to have the same
civil, political and social rights.
Key to this is the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.
But these demands can only be won as part of
a region-wide socialist revolution.
They will never be granted by Israel’s ruling class, nor do the
Arab ruling classes have any interest in them.
Only the region’s workers and peasants have a
material interest in democracy.
Their power was seen in recent mass strikes by Egyptian
workers. The potential for
alliances with Jewish workers in Israel was shown in recent fights by
public employees for back wages, student strikes against neo-liberal
educational “reform,” and exposure of increasing poverty – especially
among Mizrahi [non-European] Jews.
The fight by Palestinians within pre-1967
Israel for civil rights can be a catalyst for more such struggles,
whose unity will be party of the strategy of a revolutionary socialist
organization intent on winning a democratic, secular Palestine as part
of a regional, socialist federation.
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