The Palestinian Struggle

Introduction: The struggle of the Palestinian people is one of the most important on the world stage today. We believe that Israel is a racist, colonial-settler state and as a result we are opposed to a two-state solution as the equivalent of an apartheid solution. We call for a democratic and secular Palestine with equal rights for all regardless of religion. For an excellent exposition of our views on this issue we recommend reading the pamphlet the Hidden History of Zionism.

Below is a sampling of articles and links about the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. We welcome your feedback!

Palestinian Liberation News & Views:

Zionism – An Ugly History: The Zionist movement from the very beginning was aided and funded by capitalists who saw it as a preferred option to socialism and militant labor struggles, which they feared. Jews were heavily represented in the labor movement and the socialist parties of Europe. As an especially oppressed group within the working class, Jewish workers were more exposed to the brutality of capitalism, and were more likely to see a solution in socialism. continued

Israel Threatens War With Gaza: “We know that the Gaza Strip is a small area. It is open for Israel—they can kill most of the Palestinian people and destroy everything. The job of the international community is to stop the Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip.” continued

Worldwide Protests Needed to SaveGaza: The cuts in fuel deliveries toGazaordered by the Israeli army on Oct. 28 marked a new escalation of the Zionist siege of the ruined territory. They also demonstrate a new height of Israeli hypocrisy. The Zionist authorities had announced earlier that they intended to cut electricity supply in retaliation for the firing of home-made rockets across the Israeli border. continued

Divisions Harden inPalestine: The process initiated by Hamas' military takeover of the Gaza Strip continues to deepen. Despite the talk of renewed negotiations between Hamas and Fatah, which rules theWest Bank,and a possible renewal of a unity government of all the Palestinian territories recognized by both Fatah and Hamas, the division between the two areas nominally under the administration of the Palestinian Authority is becoming hardened. continued

Inter-Palestinian Clash Reaches Deadly Levels: Conflict between the two major Palestinian factions, Hamas and al Fatah, escalated to the brink of civil war on the last weekend in September. The Palestinian Authority (PA) president, Mahmud Abbas, said in fact that the “red line” had been crossed. By “red line” he meant civil war, which he said Palestinians had avoided for 40 years. continued

The LebanonWar & UN Resolution 1701: The resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on August 11, 2006 fully satisfies neither Israel nor Washington nor Hezbollah. This does not mean that it is “fair and balanced”: it only means that it is a temporary expression of a military stalemate. Hezbollah could not inflict a major military defeat on Israel, a possibility that was always excluded by the utterly disproportionate balance of forces in the same way that it was impossible for the Vietnamese resistance to inflict a major military defeat on the U.S.; but neither could Israel inflict a major military defeat — or actually any defeat whatsoever — on Hezbollah. continued

Palestinian Politics in the Melting Pot: With elections coming up in both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, the political situation in both areas continues to show more and more signs of fluidity. Israel, a fortress state backed by world imperialism, is the more stable. But even there, the projected winner of the elections, Kadima, the new party of outgoing premier Ariel Sharon, is not yet consolidated. continued

Pressures on the Palestinians Become Unbearable: The combination of increased Israeli attacks on Palestinian communities under the pretext of Hamas’s control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the imperialist countries cutting off their funding of the PA on the same excuse, and the growing conflicts between the Hamas and Fatah militias provoked by Fatah’s resentment at the loss of its majority in the PA parliament is aggravating what was already a disastrous situation in the Palestinian territories to the point of catastrophe. continued

Israel & Allies Act to Humiliate the Palestinian Movement: Israeli general elections on March 28 coincided with the assumption of office of the new Hamas government in the Palestinian Authority. In both cases, the actual political shifts were small. continued

HamasVictory Reflects Rise of Anti-Imperialism: The unexpected victory of Hamas in the Jan. 25 Palestinian Authority legislative elections was a resounding rebuff to the U.S.-Israeli policy of trying to push Palestinian leaders into collaborating with the Zionist state. continued