Middle East Crisis Sharpens, Communist Organizing More Urgent

Spreading Communist Ideas Among Israeli Reservists and Beyond here ♦ Growing Mideast Crisis and Communist Solution here ♦ Chinese Imperialism Penetrates Israel here ♦

Protest against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu inside US Capitol, where he was speaking.

A Ray of Hope:  Spreading Communist Ideas among Israeli Reservists and Beyond

TEL AVIV  (Palestine/Israel), July 28— A reservist in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told comrade S that during a severe heat wave in Gaza, almost all the homes were destroyed and there was very little food and no clean drinking water.  “People are living in unhygienic conditions with tons of raw sewage. But IDF brings a portable unit fitted with clean water, ice, shower facilities, full kitchen right in the middle of horrible living conditions. And then they expect soldiers to attack the population of Gaza.”

Many of these reservists are too afraid to disobey IDF orders. But many faint and are unable to carry out those orders. This demoralization is widespread, so IDF relies more and more on drone strikes and air strikes. It tried to bring in only carefully selected staunch Zionist soldiers. But there aren’t enough of those.

Comrade S has received Red Flag for two years. When the genocide in Gaza unfolded after October 7th, he started to think that greed for energy resources in the Middle East was at the root of everything. He felt that unity of Israeli and Palestinian workers was the only solution. He knew many friends and relatives who used to visit Gaza and the West Bank.

He also started reading Red Flag more carefully. Then came a letter from comrade Hamza in Gaza. Comrade S started talking with comrades in the US about organizing ICWP on both sides of the Gaza/Israel border. Such unity with a communist outlook of destroying wage slavery could inspire millions of workers everywhere.

Comrade S started cautiously distributing the Red Flag at large demonstrations in Tel Aviv. Because of the many restrictions, censorship, and possible imprisonment for having our literature, comrade S has found creative ways to spread Red Flag.

Comrade S works in the service industry. His team includes many young people. Last November, most of them were deployed in the IDF as reservists. Almost nobody wanted to be deployed.  Some escaped and fled to Europe. Others were reluctantly deployed.

Unfortunately, at that time, comrade S was not yet distributing Red Flag. He feared the Israeli intelligence forces Mossad, Aman, and Shin Bet. But as ICWP comrades struggled with him, and as comrade Hamza kept sending letters, he realized that he had to find some way to spread the Red Flag. He mentioned that “Schindler’s List” had a lasting effect on him. This movie was about a German who managed to save over a thousand Jewish people from the Nazis.

With the help of some friends in Israel, Comrade S hopes to reach out to the Arab workers who are 20% of Israel’s population, as well as those in the West Bank and Gaza. He is seeing a possibility of giving leadership to the large-scale dissatisfaction among the soldiers by explaining around our line of building a red army.

With the help of other comrades, his vision of communist unity is becoming a plan.

Every Small Step to Build ICWP Internationally Brings Communist Solution Closer

No Capitalist Powers Can Solve Growing Middle East Crisis

July 28 — “I am an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reservist,” a friend told comrade S in Tel Aviv. “We were deployed in Gaza six months ago. We were involved in clearing operations. It is heartbreaking to see destroyed homes and ruined lives. I am not alone, many of us believe this must end.”

Comrade S is cautious about distributing Red Flag because of the extreme repression in Israel.  He shares a paragraph, a letter, or sometimes an article, with other reservists.  Based on his contacts in Gaza, he thinks the IDF are completely demoralized. This demoralization and fear within the IDF are covered up by ruthless attacks on the Gaza masses.

His work is modest.  But such small steps move us forward on the communist road that can, alone, resolve the Middle East crisis in favor of the international working class. Small steps today — especially among soldiers and sailors — will lead to much larger steps tomorrow.

As broader war – even world war – threatens to engulf the Middle East, Ukraine, and Asia-Pacific, that communist road is our only way forward.

Lebanon:  Flashpoint for Wider War?

In June, Israeli military officials announced they had plans ready for a full-scale attack on Lebanon.

“If they launch a foot invasion, they will go back footless,” said M, who is originally from the Middle East.  “They tried that back in 2006.”

“Israel’s goal is to destroy civilian infrastructure in Lebanon just like in Gaza,” said H, also from that region. “However, they will still return footless because, just like Gaza, they will not be able to beat the resistance.  The Lebanese resistance has not been blockaded and has access to weapons and fighters.  2006 went poorly for Israhell [sic] and now the Lebanese resistance is much more powerful.”

According to the US imperialist mouthpiece Foreign Affairs (July 23. 2024), “a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah [in Lebanon] would have consequences that dwarf the current Gaza conflict.” It  “would likely cause turmoil across the entire region” without “a clear path to a decisive victory.”

Hezbollah, backed by Iran, openly advertises that its missiles can target cities and military installations throughout Israel.

In times like these, even small steps toward bringing revolutionary communist internationalism to soldiers and sailors can have very large consequences.

China’s Rising Influence in Palestine/Israel

The two main Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, are bitter enemies.  From at least 2012 through September 2023, the Israeli rulers allowed Qatar to pour money into Hamas. They hoped to strengthen Hamas as a counterweight against Fatah. They expected to reduce pressure to negotiate a Palestinian state.

So, it was big news when these parties (and several smaller ones) signed a joint statement on July 23. They endorsed, in principle, a temporary unified government for Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

 For Hamas, this agreement offers possibly greater legitimacy in the eyes of capitalist powers.  For the highly unpopular Fatah, it offers possibly greater legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinian masses.

The agreement contained no timetable and few specifics.  It may come to nothing.  The bigger news was that the Chinese government had brokered the agreement.

Two Boston (USA) analysts wrote in 2022 that “The enormous growth of China’s investments in Israel has become one of the major changes in the Middle East’s geopolitics during the last decade.” That’s why Netanyahu can ignore US peace proposals and European sanctions.  And why the Israeli government can openly defy the International Court of Justice and move to annex the West Bank.

But US imperialism won’t let go without a fight. Global supremacy is at stake.

Why the Middle East Crisis Demands Communism Now

The rulers of China, India, and Russia, like the USA and Israel, are imperialists and aspiring imperialists.  The logic of capitalism means they can care only about expanding their power and maximizing profits at the expense of workers’ lives and labor.

As Marx said, working people have no nation.  Communists don’t fight for any nation. The masses in the Middle East and everywhere can solve the problems these blood-soaked profiteers have created only by mobilizing together for communism.

We fight to break capitalism’s chains everywhere.  To tear down capitalism’s walls and borders, undivided by religion, culture, gender, or ancestry.

To create liberated zones where we work together directly to meet everyone’s needs.  Zones that will grow and merge into a world without money or markets.  Without exploitation and therefore without war.

We can learn from masses in Gaza today how to reconstruct a new society literally on the rubble of the old. Beyond the goal of survival, there and everywhere, must be an organized, intentional fight for communism.  Every small step you take to build the International Communist Workers’ Party brings us closer.

Chinese Imperialism Penetrates Israel

Chinese capitalist influence in Israel has grown tremendously since 2014.  Chinese government and private enterprises invest heavily in high-tech.  Also in research, agriculture, biotechnology, food, water, and construction. Chinese cars, especially EVs, are top sellers in Israel.

And Chinese capital controls two commercial shipping facilities in Israel’s main port, Haifa, plus a smaller one.  India’s Adani Group recently beat it out for the purchase of the original Port of Haifa.

China is important for Israel’s Zionist rulers, who face sanctions from their historical European allies. They see the declining US imperialist interest and capability in the Middle East. They seek to compensate strategically.

A former Israeli official said in May 2014, “Slowly but surely, Israel is pivoting toward the east.”  It worked to build ties with Russia, India, and China.  These countries’ rulers criticized Israel’s occupation of Palestine, but they didn’t let Palestinian lives get in the way of capitalist profits.

The Jerusalem Post remarked in 2018 that the Asian Development Bank had rebuffed Israel in 1993 because Muslim countries were opposed.

But “now, because of the Belt and Road initiative, we are there with Iran and Pakistan, as well as many Muslim and Arab countries, a situation that demonstrates China’s influence in bringing countries together.”

Read Our Pamphlet:

“Genocide in Gaza Demands Communist Revolution” here

Front page of this issue