Communist Revolution, not Nationalism, Will Free Palestinian Masses

Gaza “Ceasefire” Won’t End Genocide here ♦ Optics, Politics, and Continuing Genocide here ♦ Israeli Soldiers Refusing to Serve here ♦

Gaza “Ceasefire” Won’t End Genocide: Revolutionary Communist Internationalism Will Liberate All Workers from the River to the Sea

CALIFORNIA (USA), January 28— “Many of my relatives were killed,” said Omar, a Palestinian friend from Gaza. “It is the governments—Hamas and Netanyahu—that are the problems. We are very warm and welcoming people. I have many Jewish friends,” he continued.

A comrade reminded him about the Red Flag he had given Omar a few months ago. He welcomed the communist newspaper. He was pleasantly surprised to learn we have a comrade in Gaza.

“I said that I would like to get to know his relatives in Gaza,” reported the comrade. “He gladly said yes and asked me to bring Red Flag the next time I see him.”

Comrades in Gaza and Tel Aviv are sowing the seeds of unity among Palestinians and Israelis. They spread Red Flag and the fight for communism in the streets, in study groups, in refugee camps, and on the job.

Nationalist political parties, even those fighting most militantly against the occupation, can’t unite the masses to end the capitalist-imposed genocide. Ceasefire or no, the struggle continues for a communist future for ALL working people in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. And for a world without borders anywhere.

Ceasefire: Turning-Point in Genocide But Not the End

Three hundred thousand Gazans have returned to their homes in the north. There is joy of reunion with families and home. But there is also the reality of rubble, unexploded bombs, and horrific discoveries of the bodies of loved ones.

The Zionist entity (Israel) has switched its tactics and targets. Since the “ceasefire” it has increased settler aggression in the West Bank, bulldozed Ramallah, viciously attacked Jenin, and built 89 new gates around Bethlehem. It’s the same genocidal war, with the Palestinian Authority doing the IDF’s dirty work throughout the West Bank.

Israel has been shaken to the core in the past fifteen months. Mass demonstrations against the corrupt Netanyahu had begun before October 7. The shock of the October 7th attacks created some initial unity. Netanyahu chose to become a genocidal war criminal to avoid being taken to court and judged as a common crook.

Israel’s stated goals were to destroy the Al Qassam brigade (Hamas’ armed wing) and the Hamas state and to get the hostages back. But Netanyahu clearly wasn’t interested in the hostages. And now the Al Qassam brigade, armed in the streets of Gaza City, are the ones handing over seven female hostages.

Netanyahu’s genocidal US-backed war has failed. He faces a fractured ruling coalition, mass street protests, a collapsing IOF, and an increasingly hostile world environment.

Gaza: Center of Communist Struggle against US-Zionist Imperialism

Trump—and Netanyahu—hope that the next stage of the genocide will have better “optics.” But people worldwide cannot unsee the horrific scenes of 471 days of genocide. Israel is now an international pariah, and so is the US.

Along with many others, comrades of the ICWP in El Salvador, India, South Africa, and the US now see Palestine—and Gaza in particular—as the center of the struggle against imperialist capitalism. As a comrade in South Africa said, “if they murder the children of Gaza now, they can murder our children in Gqeberha tomorrow.”

We salute the determination that the people of Gaza have shown fighting for survival. The courage of our comrades in Gaza and Tel Aviv and their historic rejection of nationalism to fight for a communist future. These give profound meaning to the struggle in Palestine. Let it inspire us all, wherever we are, to intensify our struggle for a communist world.

Gaza Ceasefire: Optics, Politics, and Continuing Genocide

If not for Netanyahu, this ceasefire would have happened eight months ago. Trump sent his envoy to Tel Aviv to push the deal through. “Genocide Joe” Biden could have sent the same ultimatum—a credible threat to stop arming the Israeli Occupation Forces. But Biden—and Harris—chose to own the genocide even though it cost them the election.

Trump pushed for a deal because he knows that genocide is bad public relations. But he’s appointing Biblical (Christian) Zionists to his cabinet. He is removing sanctions against the most vicious Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank. Trump even called for “cleaning out” Gaza and expelling Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt. He’s giving the Zionists a bright green light to continue the genocide.

Trump got a PR victory and a chance to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia. Contradictions are sharpening between the US and its allies (on one side) and Iran/Russia/China on the other. Trump hopes to keep Israel as its proxy, while cementing ties with Iran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia. Whether he’ll be able to do that remains to be seen.

Tel Aviv, protestors denounce genocide at IDF recruitment center.

What does it mean that thousands of Israeli soldiers are refusing to serve in a genocide?

“According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz,” posted comrade B in a group chat, “thousands of IOF* soldiers have stopped serving in combat roles since October 7, 2023.”

This gave rise to an important discussion that involved two other US-based comrades. Comrade C responded: “The mental stress from carrying out a genocide, a total war, are tough on soldiers. It’s good that they’re not fighting anymore.

“I’m so sorry, but nobody’s going to give a damn about how the Palestinians are suffering from mental illness because of what’s happening to them.

“I appreciate this news story, but the Palestinians are more important than Israeli soldiers. They’re the ones who are suffering the Total War and the genocide at the hands of the United States and Israel. The imperialist West will do nothing to support the mental health of the Palestinian people, especially Palestinian youth. Genocide and Total War are part of their strategy to control the Levant (Middle East) in their interests.

“It took almost all of the world’s diplomatic pressure to demand that Israel allow the World Health Organization to give the Palestinian youth polio shots last year! We need a new campaign focused on the mental health of the Palestinian youth and the need to end the Total War and end the genocide they are facing at the hands of the US imperialists and Israel.”

Comrade D jumped in: “I think it’s a question of revolutionary potential. The IOF soldiers suffering from mental distress are the healthy ones.

“This parallels the situation of US soldiers who were drafted into a genocide in Vietnam and came home with PTSD. They saw their common humanity with Vietnamese workers. Some of them refused to participate, fragged their officers, and came home to organize.

“Those IOF soldiers are not coming from a context of urban rebellions and a mass movement against racism and war. They are coming from a society that has justified the Nakba and isolated Israeli young people from the reality of apartheid Israel. Yet they can’t make themselves carry out a genocide. They and thousands more are the base for a communist movement that unites the working masses of Jews and Palestinians for communist revolution.”

Have others been having these types of discussions?

What is the role of soldiers in ending Total War and Genocide?

What does that mean for what we do every day?

—Comrades in the US

*IOF = “Israeli Occupation Forces” (officially the Israeli Defense Forces)

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