End Zionism’s Capitalist Apartheid State here Israeli Fascist Attacks Soar here
End Zionism’s Capitalist Apartheid State
TEL AVIV (Occupied Palestine), October 27— “At the age of 18, I was forced to join the compulsory military service in Israel. I ended up in Hebron in 2012. We were assigned to guard more than 5,000 Palestinian schoolchildren. I was horrified to see these children tear-gassed in schools. They were physically separated, and they had to pass several checkpoints, humiliation, and assaults by the Israeli military just to see their teachers in a classroom. The children were basically living in concentration camps.”
A Red Flag comrade shared this story in his collective to prepare for rallies here against the genocide in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank.
This comrade said that he would have acted differently in 2012 if he had been a member of ICWP. When he was in Hebron, a majority of the Israeli soldiers did not like what they had to do. They expressed their frustration to each other in private.
“As a communist, I would take this opportunity to organize this mass frustration into a revolutionary struggle to end the capitalist system,” the comrade reflected. “We faced our class siblings. Rather than fighting them, we can unite with them for a communist revolution.”
This comrade’s sentiment is spreading, though not fast enough. We have a handful of ICWP comrades who regularly distribute Red Flag When we distribute the paper, we engage with people and their worldview. Initially, some of them are hostile to our ideas. They have succumbed to the fascist worldview. But when we sit down with them and use the articles in Red Flag, they gradually feel they have been lied to all their lives. When they realize that, they begin to read Red Flag. We invite them to our meetings every two weeks.
Some of our comrades have formed personal relationships with activists from liberal B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence. Each of these groups has some very serious activist Red Flag.
Through our contacts with them, we participated in a Tel Aviv University protest against fascist Ben Gvir. While dozens of young students staged a confrontation on stage, we were able to get our communist ideas to the masses.
This rally was widely publicized, but protests happen almost every day. Heavy police action prevented a mass demonstration on October 7. ICWP comrades were there in force. We made several key contacts with a group of young students in a study group on Marx and Lenin.
Israeli society is in turmoil. Reportedly, no-show or dropout rates among soldiers are reaching 40% to 50%. More than 90,000 young students are classified as evading military service. Healthcare is stretched to the limits, unable to meet the needs of people with PTSD and other psychiatric conditions.
Many are disgusted with Netanyahu and his wars and genocide. But the other political alternative is just as deadly. Whoever wins the election is going to continue genocidal attacks in Gaza and the West Bank. And perpetuate the apartheid Zionist state. ICWP comrades have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to expand our mass work.
Israeli Fascist Attacks Soar as Olive Harvesting Season Peaks
October 28— Brutal military occupation and settler violence attacked Palestinian farmers and supporters as the olive harvesting season peaked. The assaults were election publicity for the most openly fascist Zionists. They were also part of a systematic effort to drive Palestinians out of the West Bank so Israel can annex it. Like Gaza.
Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters toward Palestinians in the agricultural plains east of Nablus on October 17. They chased residents, set fires, and injured many. South of Nablus, and in Burin, colonists forced olive harvesters out of their own land and villages.
Israeli colonists cut down or set fire to dozens of fruit-bearing olive trees in the al-Qibla area east of Ramallah on October 23. Israeli occupation forces prevented civil defense teams from reaching the area.
That same day, Israeli forces gave families in Khirbet Suruj village (west of Jenin) one week to evacuate their homes and agricultural structures. Villagers have land documents dating back to 1960. These families fear the land could become a colonial outpost, and then a new Israeli settlement.
Also that day, Israeli forces arrested Sheikh Khaled Abu Jumaa, the Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, and banned him from the mosque. Separately, Israeli authorities extended a ban on Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of Jerusalem’s Supreme Islamic Council. This prevents the 87-year-old Palestinian cleric from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque until April 19, 2027.
These developments come amid wider restrictions on movement in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces reportedly closed checkpoints on routes to and from Jerusalem, disrupting the journeys of hundreds of Palestinians.
The next day, Israeli forces sealed off all entrances to Hebron, the largest city in the southern West Bank. They forced roughly 2,670 Palestinians (ten percent of the population) from their homes. This looks like retaliation for a deadly attack, allegedly by Palestinian gunmen, on Israeli troops at a nearby checkpoint.
Hundreds were evicted from Deir Bahala, al-Jalda and nearby areas. Israeli forces arrested at least forty Palestinians and demolished commercial and residential buildings. Families were given about five minutes to evacuate. Palestinian city officials found shelter for displaced residents, declared a state of emergency, and set up a crisis hotline.
Israeli forces shut the Ibrahimi Mosque, a UNESCO-recognized Palestinian World Heritage Site, and expelled its staff and custodians. The call to prayer has been banned there. The mosque is sacred in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and has been Palestinian-administered for over 1,400 years. Israel has recently barred Muslim worshippers while allowing Jewish settler visits.
Israel’s capitalist apartheid system cannot be reformed. Only communist revolution can free the masses from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – and beyond.
Read Genocide in Palestine Demands Communist Revolution here
Read Zionism is a Fascist Imperialist Creation here
Read Mobilize the Masses for Communism in Arabic here