Letters from Mexico, El Salvador, USA: Building ICWP in Gaza Protests

Increasing Opportunities for Party Growth in Mexico here ♦ El Salvador-Red Flag’s Ideas Unify Us here ♦ Communist Revolution Will Free Palestine here ♦ I Found Young People Open to Communism here ♦

Increasing Opportunities for Party Growth in Mexico Amid Pro-Palestine Marches

In classrooms and at marches we have distributed hundreds of communist leaflets of the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP). At the marches we meet teachers and university students. Those who know me receive the leaflets and give their opinion. Some do not.

Pro-Palestinian nationalism predominates in these marches. Although now it is easier for them to accept criticism of Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and criticism of an Islamic State that subjugates women even more, like in Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Afghanistan.

Many believe that the search for a “peaceful solution” proposed by the president of Mexico (AMLO) is good, and they reject the demand of some political groups to break relations with the Israeli government.

I take advantage of the fact that many know about my political activity and respect me, although they do not agree with me on everything. I’m confident that we will advance little by little, perhaps more now, with the dangers of World War, mainly with students in the classrooms.

Also, for about a year I have participated in protests organized by a small group of teachers for permanent jobs and better conditions. I have presented ICWP’s ideas and brought the Red Flag when we have printed it. The majority there belong to or have links with political organizations that already know us. I take advantage of discussions to reach those who have no commitments to other groups.

There is a WhatsApp group of more than a hundred. Many read what I write. However, they do not participate, even in things that affect them immediately, such as union submission or the 4% salary cap imposed by the government. They can actually lose their job if they confront the boss. However, this allows me to present the idea of fighting directly for communist revolution without going through the stage of reforms.

I’m focusing on the teachers who are not “politicians” for now. I ask them if they know about the ideas I spread through Red Flag. Some say “yes, teacher,” but in truth they get the idea that I am a “leftist,” or a good social fighter, although similar to those of other groups.

The possibilities and opportunities to develop Party collectives are increasing. I will continue the struggle so that we achieve this!

Comrade Teacher in Mexico

Red Flag’s Communist Ideas Unify Us

“For the last year we have been loyal Red Flag readers. It’s the only newspaper that shows reality. I like learning about the working class’s struggle around the world and the rejection of injustice,” commented R.

In this latest edition we see the atrocities that are causing the genocide in Gaza. “It is inhuman. It fills us with pain and leaves us in shock when capitalist leaders wipe out thousands of people. The working class is the most affected and massacred,” said J.

“Reading Red Flag is essential for those of us who have the same thinking; it unifies us around the world; we have no nation, we are the same class,” we all agreed.

The systemic competition and greed of capitalism is the essential cause of these massacres. We know that we need to organize for communism, to change the reality that people are living.

In El Salvador, we are living through a tenacious struggle against an oppressive fascist capitalist system. Despite all the conditions to which we are subjected, we continue the struggle to share the Red Flag newspaper, to meet and to have our political discussions.

We are grateful to Red Flag that builds the bonds of working-class unity. It gives us the starting point both here and around the world, that there is only one solution and that is the struggle for a communist revolution.

Only by organizing ourselves with the masses of workers, soldiers, students, and children can we succeed in breaking the chains imposed on us by the capitalists. Only united can we destroy our class enemy.

No more imperialist wars, no more repression! Let’s triumph with Communist Revolution!

—Comrades in El Salvador

Communist Revolution Will Free Palestine from All Imperialists and Capitalists

“What would a ‘free Palestine’ look like?” I asked people at recent demonstrations.

“That’s a really good question,” several answered thoughtfully. “I haven’t thought about it,” one added.

Others had definite opinions – some sharply in contradiction.

“Two states,” some declared. The UN endorsed this “partition” plan in 1947. It is officially US imperialist policy. The Palestinian masses never accepted it. That’s why masses chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The fascist Israeli rulers pretended to support the “two state solution.” But their actions prove otherwise. The current government now openly declares its intent to annex the West Bank. It’s pushing Palestinians out of Gaza. The Zionist slogan is now, “From the Nile to the Tigris.”

Another contradiction:  What kind of society would a “free Palestine” be?

“Nobody would dominate anyone else,” declared a good friend who reads Red Flag. He has thought very deeply about this.

In contrast, a Palestinian woman gestured toward the middle-class commercial street in front of us. “Like this!” she said. “Peaceful.”

US city streets are certainly more peaceful than Gaza or the West Bank. But even here, so many of us experience the violence built into capitalism. Police function as occupying armies in working-class communities, especially Black and immigrant neighborhoods. Tens of millions of immigrants without papers live in constant fear.

Hundreds are homeless in the city where the woman stood. Over forty million in the US go hungry every day. This is not “peace.”  It is not “freedom.”

“For starters, stop the bombing and end the Israeli occupation,” said another. This was a common view. “Children should be able to go to school without fear.” She understood that this didn’t fully answer the question of what a “free Palestine” would look like. She said she would have to think about that.

We all need to think more about that. Masses in the street chant, “The only solution:  Intifada and revolution!”  Absolutely! But revolution for…. What?

I attended a film screening with forty student activists present. A socialist student insisted that “we should all support Hamas because they are leading the liberation struggle.”  Nobody spoke up to agree with him.

“In Iran in 1979,” I said, “leftists supported Khomeini’s Islamic revolution that overthrew the US-backed Shah. They thought that, later, they could take this national revolution further. But ‘later’ never came. Those Khomeini didn’t kill were forced into exile.”

We need working-class revolution here, not just in Palestine. And it must be revolution for communism.

Many of the students present had gotten Red Flag at a protest a few days earlier, and several had exchanged contact information. More took it at the event. Four approached me, wanting to stay in touch. We connected via text, and I invited them to our party collective’s upcoming dinner meeting.

It’s important to understand the internal contradictions of any process (like the Free Palestine movement) where we want to influence people.

—Comrade in California (USA)

I Found Young People Open to Communism

Let’s remember that the masses, especially young people, are open to communism.

Recently I attended a rally sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). I hesitated, as no other comrades nor close friends were able to join me, and I didn’t know much about the group. I had some concerns about safety: what the cop presence would be like and how difficult the leadership would be.

My comrades convinced me to go and check it out and then decide whether to stay. It turned out to be a wonderful experience! I easily distributed all 100 Red Flags I had brought. The crowd was mainly young, and most people were friendly and receptive.

It was hard to have conversations because people were standing very close together in a relatively small space. But the front-page photo of ICWP protesters holding a banner reading “Palestinian, Israeli and all Workers, Let’s Unite for Communism” in five languages, including Arabic and Hebrew, piqued the interest of many.

This experience made me aware that no matter how potentially reactionary the leadership is, there are lots of young people who are open to communist ideas and have an interest in the paper and our line. I am now on the JVP mailing list and plan to go to future rallies, bringing more papers and non-party friends. Later I found out that a friend who works at a high school where we distribute the paper was at the same rally with four friends. Next time I will check in with him and see if we can go together.

The following week I took Red Flag to a strike of Macy’s employees, who have cited unfair labor practices and low wages. Again, I had concerns about how the union or workers might respond. But when I told them we are fighting for communism, where no one is a wage slave because we produce for need, not profit, they were interested. About a third of the people there took the paper.

All of this is to encourage comrades and friends of ICWP to bring the paper to the masses. It is a great chance to get re-energized, to listen to workers and others, and to make some new contacts. To help make our party grow so we can end the scourge of capitalism.

—Revitalized Comrade in Seattle

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