Palestine-Israel: no peace without ending occupation, colonization and apartheid

Horror as a response to horror. The hundreds of murders of civilians in Israel are a tragedy, and this tragedy is a consequence of the thousands of civilians buried under the rubble of Gaza by Israeli bombings ever since 2008. This is the first lesson to be drawn from the murderous explosion of October 7 : there's no oppressing, despoiling, starving and locking up an entire people in the open-air prison that is Palestine without suffering consequences. The State of Israel has already responded with yet another round of destruction and massacre. On the contrary, it's about time Israel realizes that its colonial system is untenable. Freedom for Palestine!

On Saturday, October 7, Hamas launched a coordinated attack of unprecedented scale on Israeli territory and settlements, destroying the wall surrounding Gaza in multiple places, seizing several villages along the wall and kidnapping at least 100 soldiers and civilians. The Israeli army and intelligence services were caught off-guard, but launched an extremely violent counterattack on the Gaza strip, as well as on southern Lebanon, after rockets were sent by Hamas's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, leading to hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli deaths.

This attack, launched fifty years to the day after the 1973 war broke out between Egypt & Syria and Israel, was being planned and organized for a long time in Gaza. It is a response to the apartheid policy of the State of Israel and its fascist, racist, supremacist and colonialist government, which commited multiple provocations over the recent months (sending the army to the Al-Aqsa plaza, proceeding to the expulsion of Palestinians, refusing any sort of political and peaceful solution) and has stepped up its support of colonization in the West Bank. This attack is also a response to the ongoing normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Gulf States, most notably Saudi Arabia, and the constant backing of the Israeli regime by the USA, the European Union and France. Above all, it is the consequence of 75 years of colonization, brutal and racist exploitation, occupation and apartheid on the part of the State of Israel against Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, Druze, Ethiopian Jews... The consequence of Israel refusing to commit to any sort of political solution and shared peace, denying the refugees their right of return (which is guaranteed by the UN), and the consequence of the 15-year blockade of Gaza and the daily discrimination and and violence.

The supply of electricity and consumer goods to the inhabitants of Gaza, whose daily lives depend on, has been halted by Netanyahu's far-right government, which declared itself to be "at war" and warned that the level of violence of the response would be the highest it has been in the recent years, urging the population to evacuate the border zone while already bombing the Gaza strip. This corrupt government, criticized over the past few months by massive demonstrations in which a large part of the Israeli population took part, is waging an ongoing murderous war against the Palestinian population, and justifies its continued hold on power by authoritarian security and policies. It is this very government that bears responsibility for the war and the deaths on both sides. As always, it is the civilian population that pays the price of the wars decided by the imperialist ruling classes. The next few days will tell us whether the Hamas offensive will bring about the fall of the Netanyahu government, or on the contrary, have the Israeli population unite behind it in this war. In any case, the current situation is proof of the failure of policies promoting an imperialist and military solution to the Palestinian situation.

The Union Communiste Libertaire supports the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination, freedom and the right to live their lives in dignity, in a multi-ethnic, secular and democratic federation. Nationalist, religious and warlike perspectives, even if they are the direct expression of an intractable situation, will never bring about peace and justice in the Middle East.
These perspectives play into the hands of autocrats and intolerant right-wing extremists. We invite you to read the motion entitled "For a free, secular and democratic Palestine", which the UCL adopted during its federal coordination in June 2020.
We lament the civilian victims, who should never pay the price for the political strategies put in place by the State of Israel and Hamas, which is a nationalist and religious fundamentalist movement that was directly descended from the Muslim Brotherhood and whose development historically happened at the expense of that of secular revolutionary forces. We oppose the Europe-based supporters of the Palestinian resistance being criminalized and labeled as "terrorists". We also oppose any attempt to manipulate the display of violence for racist purposes, whether anti-Arab or anti-Semitic, or in support of authoritarian regimes such as Iran, the main supporter of Hamas, which is a nationalist, fundamentalist movement that shall not be confused with the Palestinian people.

We renew our demands to put an end to the colonization and apartheid in Palestine, and respect international resolutions (territorial division, right of return, etc.) as a prerequisite for a long-term solution [1]. We expresss our support to popular, secular, democratic and revolutionary Palestian resistance and to all Israeli opponents and anti-colonial activists. We call for an end to the violence perpetrated by the Israeli army and Hamas, which are inflicting heavy casualties on the civilian populations on both sides. We do not share the ideology of Hamas, which does not take to heart the just aspirations of the Palestinian people.
We support the Palestinian struggle for resistance and liberation. We understand the need for this struggle to adopt strategies that are sometimes violent, as a consequence of a situation of complete political deadlock. We call for the demilitarization of the State of Israel, and a genuine search for a solution based on the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people. These are the required conditions for a lasting resolution of the conflict.

Union communiste libertaire, October 9, 2023.

[1] Let us recall several elements on this specific subject:
1- the colonization of Palestine and the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their lands has been going on for over a century, and largely predates the events of 1948,
2- Israel has never complied with any of the 1967 UN resolutions urging it to leave the occupied territories and effectively apply the refugees' right of return,
3- the 1993 peace agreements (the Oslo Accords) have in fact only led to an increase in the colonization efforts,
4- Palestinians suffer almost one death a day, in addition to water and electricity cuts, land theft and daily aggression perpetrated by Israeli settlers,
5- when, throughout the world, solidarity is expressed peacefully notably through the BDS campaign, the response given by states such as France has consistently been to criminalize these movements

unioncommunistelibertaire.org/…

Faisons le bilan de la mobilisation 2023 : comment gagner les prochaines ?

La mobilisation contre la réforme des retraites vient, au moins temporairement, de se refermer. Il ne sert à rien de se voiler la face : nous avons perdus la bataille. Pourtant, durant des mois durant, des millions de travailleuses et de travailleurs ont battus le pavé, se mobilisant sur 13 journées de manifestations, des centaines d’actions, de rassemblements, de blocages.

Comment alors expliquer la défaite ?

Un premier constat qui s’impose : le manque d’auto-organisation à la base. Alors même que nous n’avions jamais vu autant de gens dans les rues, les assemblée générales dans les entreprises étaient le plus souvent squelettiques, lorsqu’elles existaient ! Pourtant, c’est bien la participation des travailleuses et des travailleurs aux décisions du mouvement qui font la vitalité d’une grève.

En conséquence, peu de secteurs sont entrés dans une lutte radicale au-delà du simple défilé.

D’abord, l’échec du départ en reconductible. À l’exception de quelques bastions syndicaux, peu de secteurs ont su se mobiliser plusieurs jours consécutifs. Après le succès de la journée de grève du 7 mars, la grève féministe du 8 mars appelée par les syndicats combatifs et le mouvement féministe radical offrait un tremplin vers une grève reconductible le 9 et au delà. Mais les salarié.es n’ont pas suivi.

Les actions de blocages économiques pour pallier à l’absence de grèves reconductibles furent minoritaire et rarement très impactante. Nous n’avons pas réussi à faire comprendre à l’ensemble des salarié⋅es que cette réforme était celle du patronat, non seulement du gouvernement. En conséquence, de nombreuses personnes craignaient d’impacter le patron qui « n’y serait pour rien ».

Et maintenant ?

Malgré tout, le mouvement a permis d’enregistrer un rebond dans le nombres d’adhésions aux syndicats. De nombreuses structures ont été réanimées par la lutte. Tout n’est donc pas négatif !

La classe ouvrière doit renoncer aux illusions sur le réformisme et la croyance que les institutions pourraient changer quelque chose. Nous ne devons compter que nos propres forces et notre capacité à bloquer l’économie pour imposer nos choix et refuser leur monde.

Pour ce faire, l’Union communiste libertaire propose quelques pistes :

Le salariat évolue, de plus en plus d’emplois précaires et de sous-traitances nous impose de réfléchir à nos modèles syndicaux. Nous pensons qu’il faut en finir avec le modèle « 1 entreprise = 1 syndicat » et revenir aux syndicats de branche : des syndicats territoriaux regroupant tous les salariés d’une même industrie, quelque soit leur entreprise.
Le rapprochement entre les organisations syndicales combatives telles que la CGT, Solidaires et la FSU.
Intervenir dans les combats féministes, écologistes, antiracistes. En soutenant la jeunesse des quartiers populaires, en s’intéressant à la syndicalisation des secteurs les plus féminisés, en participant aux luttes pour l’environnement.

Le gouvernement Macron et le patronat nous ont déclarés la guerre et veulent nous voler notre sécurité sociale. Nous devons leur répondre en radicalisant nos mots d’ordre.

À l’UCL, nous pensons que seule la grève générale et la révolution permettront de changer de société et de sortir de l’impasse écologique et sociale.

Alors : Union, Action, Autogestion !

Union Communiste Libertaire, le 12 octobre 2023