Contribution to the LIS-ITO-LFI international Panel: Zionist barbarism in Palestine and Lebanon – Crossroad of the Middle East
Peter Main, for the League for the Fifth International
Thank you and hello from London to everyone, good morning to everybody in the new world, good evening to everybody far to the east of where I am.
I would like first of all, on behalf of the League for the 5th International to thank the comrades of the LIS and the ITO for all the work not only to organise this event but, perhaps more importantly, for the cooperation and collaboration which went into producing the statement on the situation in the Middle East which was published yesterday.
We very much welcome the discussions that we have now been having for some months and we hope that in the future this will lead to more and closer collaboration and to further steps in the direction of re-establishing an effective international revolutionary party.
When we turn our attention to the Middle East, we of course think immediately of the horrific suffering that we see every day on our screens as a result of Zionism’s barbaric and genocidal attacks, first on Gaza and now on Lebanon. I want, however, to first of all stand back a little from the immediate horrors and to set the Palestinian struggle into its broader global and historical context.
It was British imperialism, of course, that began the whole history of betrayal and repression when it asserted its right to promise Palestinian territory to European Jewish settlers. The infamous Balfour Declaration has been used ever since to supposedly legitimise every action to advance the territory and the control of Zionist forces.
It is worth remembering that Balfour was an outspoken antisemite whose “Declaration” was intended to prevent Jewish refugees entering Britain. That one statement, with all its consequences, accurately illustrates the relationship between anti-Semitism and Zionism, two reactionary ideologies that feed off each other.
It was also British imperialism, under a Labour government, that ceded its supposed responsibility for the territory to US imperialism, accepting its own role as the junior partner but sharing with Washington a policy of unconditional support for the Zionist state, irrespective of its actions.
We have to recognise that such unconditional support has not been matched by the supposed allies and supporters of the Palestinians. All too often, the leaders of political parties and states in the region have in reality used the Palestinians as pawns to be sacrificed in pursuit of their own class and national interests.
However, the unparalleled resilience and determination of the Palestinian people have won them the support of millions around the globe. There is today a national demonstration in support of Palestine in London, it is the 18th such demonstration, some of which have mobilised half a million people. Such mobilizations do have an impact, despite all the attempts to deny them publicity and to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.
In Britain, while the Labour leadership, now in government, remains committed to its support for Zionism, it has been forced, at least rhetorically, to call for an immediate ceasefire. This reflects the widespread support for the Palestinian cause.
Within Labour’s own ranks, opposition to its policy has led to the expulsion of hundreds of members for alleged “antisemitism” – including a disproportionate number of Jewish members – I don’t think I need to explain why it is most unlikely that Jewish members would actually be guilty of antisemitism – and a huge loss of membership, tens of thousands. In the most recent election, the party lost five parliamentary seats to pro-Palestinian candidates. That is a language that even Keir Starmer understands.
Support for Palestine has also grown in the trade union movement. At the Trades Union Congress in September, a resolution was passed calling for action in support of Palestine. The first day of action will take place next Thursday, October 10th. That is, of course, only a first start but it shows the direction in which the solidarity movement must move: towards direct working class action to stop all support, all finance and all weaponry for the genocide in Palestine.
Our comrades on the European mainland have faced bigger obstacles, particularly in Germany and Austria where the historical legacy obviously plays a role in a misguided but widespread sympathy for Israel. In April, for example, we played a prominent part in organising a public meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza, the “Palestinian Congress”. It was forcibly dispersed by some 900 police on the spurious grounds that speakers might have made statements in support of terrorism. So much for democratic rights and free speech!
Turning to the present situation, we are faced with the possibility of a developing and spreading regional war, some would say the likelihood of such a war. Already the horrors facing the people of Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon, are practically indescribable and a regional war would be even worse.
But wars breed resistance, wars wear out and replace inadequate leaderships and their inadequate political strategies. That is why, at the same time as organising solidarity with all those under attack from Zionism and its imperialist backers, we also have to argue and campaign for a political strategy that can resolve the fundamental issues.
Just as two individuals cannot both have exclusive rights to a piece of property, so two nations cannot both claim exclusive ownership of the same land. Two nations on the same territory can only prosper on the basis of common ownership of that territory.
That is why we argue that the struggle for the national rights of the Palestinians, the right of national self-determination, can only be realised by the overthrow of private property not only of the land but of all the means of production, the economy as a whole.
There cannot be a “two state” solution. That has never been anything more than a device to prolong and strengthen the actual existing state of Israel. The territory supposed to be allocated to Palestine not only excludes all the most developed regions but has now been fragmented by the advance of the armed settlers.
There already is only one state “from the river to the sea” and that is the state that has to be overthrown if the people of the entire region are to live in peace. At the present time, our three organisations are largely limited to propaganda, “many ideas to few people”, all the more reason to concentrate on developing that propaganda, clarifying the issues, the strategy and the tactics that we think are necessary.
At the heart of that strategy is the mobilisation and organisation of the working class both in the solidarity movement globally and within the belligerent countries, including Israel itself. In the solidarity movement we argue for working class action to materially assist the struggle against Zionist expansion and to oppose those governments which support that expansion.
In the neighbouring countries we call for renewed mobilisations on the scale of the Arab Spring, with workers’ organisations, comparable to the workers’ shoras of the Iranian Revolution, at their heart, to force governments to give practical aid and military support to the defence of the Palestinian territories and now Lebanon, or face their own overthrow.
Our strategy, therefore, across the region, indeed globally, is that of permanent revolution, fighting for immediately necessary democratic and economic demands by means of working class action; strikes, occupations, mass mobilisations, self-defence, general strikes and insurrection.
We call for the formation of politically independent workers’ organisations, which, through their actions can become not only the means for removing existing states but, at the same time, become the basis of new states, workers’ states based on social ownership of the economy and democratic planning.
As the rivalry between the imperialist powers, old and new, grows more and more dangerous for humanity, the need for an international workers’ party, a new International, becomes more urgent. It is our hope that the collaboration already developing between the three organisations represented here today can be a step towards that goal.
Workers and oppressed of all countries, unite!