El Salvador-“Could This Be the Start of WWIII?” here ♦ South Africa: An Injury to One is an Injury to All here ♦ Mobilizing Masses for Communism: Solution to Palestinian Conflict here ♦ Blame Capitalist Rulers for Deaths in Israel/Palestine here ♦
Jerusalem, October 10: Activists from the Jewish-Arab peace movement Standing Together, posting signs that say, “Jews and Arabs, we will get through this together.” Two of them, a Jew and an Arab, were arrested and their signs confiscated.
El Salvador: “Could This Be the Start of World War III?”
“Worker comrades are asking what the Party thinks about the war between Palestine and Israel,” said the comrade worker leaders of ICWP here.
In the factories, workers are asking “Could this be the beginning of the third world war?” “And what does ICWP with Red Flag think?”
A comrade answered that Israel and Palestine correspond to two groups. One, formed by the United States and NATO, supports Israel. The other, supported by Russia and China, are supporting Palestine through Iran and Syria. Clearly, they are fighting over every penny of profits and every drop of oil in all parts of the world.
This weekend’s ICWP leadership meeting here discussed the fundamental role of the Party’s organizers in the face of these events and other such events around the world.
“Our task is to show the factory workers that all these war scenarios are due to the inter-imperialist struggle,” a comrade began. “All of these groups, whether fundamentalist, religious, or nationalist, are nothing more than representatives of capitalism.”
The comrades read the ICWP leaflet “Let’s Answer Imperialism, Nationalism and Genocide in Israel/Palestine by Organizing for Communist Revolution.” ICWP sent it to the workers so we can understand a little more about the real situation of this conflict. We talked about what the daily struggle of the communist leaders of the Party should be with factory workers and among other groups of workers.
“What is Hamas?” asked a worker, “Are they terrorists?”
This group has been prepared and financed by imperialist groups. They never respond to workers’ struggles or needs. They respond to the guidelines and needs of the imperialist powers that sponsor them economically.
And the Israeli government is not some “people of God.” It is a capitalist state that was recognized by the UN in 1949. It is a United States military base in that region of the world to guard the assets and oil profits of rich American bankers.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador is a declared follower of the Palestinian cause. His father was a Muslim leader. In the face of the Hamas attacks, his family came out to vindicate them. However, Bukele tweeted his hatred of this group, comparing it to the MS13 gang here.
In both Palestine and Israel, poverty continues to affect millions of workers who don’t see themselves represented by either of the two warring sides. For these masses, the only solution is the alternative of fighting for a communist society led by ICWP.
Workers around the world must not fall into following fundamentalist and nationalist or racist groups. We concluded that our main goal is to organize more workers into collectives of the International Communist Workers Party, and, where they exist, to expand them.
We must be self-critical about the need to broaden the collective discussion about the Gaza crisis among more factory workers.
We concluded the meeting by sharing a delicious lunch of chicken and rice with the family of the comrade who hosted us.
—Comrades in El Salvador
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
The events in Gaza are not isolated. They are the result of imperialism.
It is easy to view them in isolation and think they have nothing to do with us in South Africa. But that’s not the case. We must grasp that in order to show the need for an international communist Revolution rather than national movements.
How does it relate to us?
One example would be the US president Joe Biden saying, “Israel is the greatest investment we’ve made to protect our [economic] interests in the Middle East. If there was no Israel, we would have to invent an Israel”.
This shows that capitalist economic interests are at the core of this conflict on both sides. It is just old -fashioned capitalists trying to profit from the suffering and the slaughter of the working class and the masses. In this case it’s in Palestine. But it happens at varying degrees all over the world.
Secondly, gas prices go up when such a conflict occurs. This threatens to become a regional war, especially after the latest Israeli war crimes: bombing the hospital and the civilian population. Such wars greatly affect the world, including South Africa.
We get most of our oil from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. When oil prices go up, petrol goes up as has happened recently. And food prices go up, energy goes up, and production costs and logistics costs go up. To maximise profits, bosses retrench workers and over-work them with extended hours.
Usually, we are more alert and concerned when retrenchments and overworking with reduced pay occurs. However, as communists, we must understand the root cause and the interconnectedness of events that might seem separate and isolated.
That’s why we must pay attention to what is happening in the world. We discuss it and intensify our struggles here using the Red Flag. We are recruiting more workers. We must not think of our struggle as limited to what happens immediately here in South Africa or Port Elizabeth. We must view ourselves as international comrades interested in the international working class and advancing communism and communist solutions everywhere through our collectives in every corner of the world.
Aluta!
—Comrade in South Africa
Mobilizing Masses for Communism: Solution to Israel-Palestine Conflict
Following what is happening in the Middle East closely, I’ve seen the images of children. Half the population of Gaza is children. They are the ones who are actually feeling the wrath. I’ve listened carefully to some of the commentators, celebrities and politicians and their justifications. Hearing them, you get angry because there seems to be little regard for Palestinian lives. This is the problem.
There’s a comrade in our college chat group. We met him when we were distributing Red Flag. Yesterday, he was driving the transport I took leaving school. We talked about what’s happening in Israel. I wanted to get his view because I think he was part of the Economic Freedom Fighters. He is pro-Palestine. He asked me what the Party’s position is.
I referred him to our pamphlet Mobilize the Masses for Communism (MMC). To resolve the Palestinian question, borders must be eradicated. The capitalist class must be overthrown because capitalism drives conflicts around the world. There are many examples, like the China-India border dispute.
The starting point is to eliminate capitalism. Capitalists have interests in perpetual conflict. They profit from maintaining the status quo. We need to establish communism. In doing so, we eliminate borders worldwide, money and profit. That will change society.
In communism, people will come and go anywhere they wish without restrictions, without wars. We will be able to eradicate all these conflicts and problems.
British imperialists caused the Palestinian Israeli conflict. They drew the borders in the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman empire. After World War II, they granted the Jews the “right of return” to what was then Palestinian land. As long as there are borders and nations, we will continue to see this conflict.
We are giving this message to those who want to know about it. We are not just giving out general information. As members of ICWP, we need to reflect the party’s position. That’s why I used MMC as the primary source for the solution for the Middle East.
My friend mentioned that he’s more fearful now, not only about what’s happening in the Middle East, but also in Europe. He thinks that the Middle East threatens to overshadow the conflict in Europe. Therefore, Zelenskyy will want to escalate something to bring attention to the conflict in Ukraine. Recently, they have used US long-range missiles to fight behind Russian defensive lines.
Who knows what they might do in the weeks or months to come? This also has the potential to escalate into a regional or world war.
It was important to talk to this friend.
— Comrade in South Africa
Read our Manifesto: Mobilize the Masses for Communism
Blame Capitalist Rulers for Deaths in Israel-Palestine
I talked to two individuals about the Israeli-Palestinian war. One relative said, “It’s obvious that Hamas was to blame, and Israel is only responding.” A high school teacher said that it’s sad, but both sides are to blame.
I responded that this war shows how ruling classes use nationalism to divide workers. Workers on both sides are dying. The rulers foment a fight for control of lands that only benefits those in power. They use religion and nationalism for control. They control the weapons. This is why we must reject any flag that only represents the nationalist capitalists.
The teacher friend was saddened. Yes, it is sad to witness the violence and the civilians dying on both sides. However, these events also make me angry.
As a communist, I hold both ruling classes responsible for what has occurred, what is occurring, and what will occur as long as we allow these capitalists to run our lives. I always ask: What if civilians on both sides unite to overthrow the rulers that are responsible for making Israelis and Palestinians kill each other? How about they unite in an international communist movement to overthrow all the capitalists everywhere?
Friends and family understand the need for unity. They understand that we must reject any notion of homelands or any nationalist or religious side that only serves to divide us. We must focus our anger on the rulers.
We must organize in their militaries and turn guns around. Our party, ICWP, is the only party in the world organizing such a movement. We must strengthen our international solution: organize a massive international communist workers’ party to end capitalism once and for all.
—Teacher comrade in the USA