Gaza: Stop the Slaughter! Socialist Party bulletin

GAZA: STOP THE SLAUGHTER! BREAK THE BLOCKADE!

For an independent, socialist Palestine as part of democratic, socialist federation of the Middle Eas

outbreak A hail of death has roared down on Gaza for weeks. of diseases. Most of the Gaza Strip less than two hours of electricity a day. One Working class people here and worldwide are shocked hospitals and dozens of ambulances have -been and angered at images of a Palestinian father carrying stroyed.

As morgues run out of room, children his dead children s body parts in a plastic bag, and other daily horrors from the Gaza Strip. are grotesquely piled up in ice cream freezer

The Palestinian death toll is fast headingMass towards 2,000, demonstrations show solidarity over 80% of them civilians and many of them children, of workers and youth according to the UN. Over 9,000 have been injured. In Huge demonstrations against the onslaught on contrast, 64 Israeli soldiers have died along with three and in solidarity with Palestinians have take Israeli civilians, reflecting the one-sided nature of this London, Dublin and across the world. Thousand war. people have marched in Belfast and elsewhere. the one-sided reporting of the BBC and most o Over 460,000 people out of Gaza s population of 1.8 mainstream media who choose to ignore -that million have been displaced by the Israeli Defence raeli state is occupying Palestinian land, bu Force s (IDF) murderous attacks. Many are forced to settlements and blockading Gaza - public opin live in overcrowded makeshift shelters or with relatives. the side of the oppressed Palestinians. A maj A third deadly missile attack on a UN school in Rafah, young Americans now oppose the Israeli onslau which killed at least ten, shows nowhere- can offer pro tection from the indiscriminate IDF bombardment.

Most people see through the hypocrisy of the

powers. Ruling elites wring their hands over The destruction of infrastructure, leading to a lack of Palestinians while continuing to supply their clean water and sanitation, poses the serious risk of the with arms and funding to continue its deadly

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How can the Palestinians achieve freedom?

mass struggle using the tactics of strikes, tions and civil disobedience to win concessi tactics forced a temporary opening of the - Rafa ing in 2008.

During the recent onslaught, we saw a mass pro strike in the West Bank and amongst Palestinia Israeli state and some of the largest demonstr decades. This gives a glimpse of the kind of s which is necessary, democratically controlled grassroots level. This type of struggle could mass solidarity movements in neighbouring Arab but also win sympathy within Israeli society.

After much bloodletting, a permanent ceasefire will eventually come but nothing fundamental -will be re solved for Palestinians. The blockade on Gaza, poverty, repression, discrimination and land seizures will con tinue. The Palestinian people have no choice but to re sist.

The bouts of rocket fire from Gaza reflect the despera tion of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip but are no deter rent to the Israeli regime with its overwhelming superiority of firepower. Moreover, the indiscriminate nature of these attacks is used by the Israeli elite as a justification for their brutalisation of the Palestinian people.

Western imperialism & Arab elites complicit

Weaken Israel from within

Appeals to the Western powers and the UN to intervene important concessions can be won by - the offer no way forward. Western imperialism While sees Israel tinian people with international solidarity, u as a reliable client state in a resource-rich and strategi there can be no genuine Palestinian freedom wi cally important region. The US funds the Israeli military the dismantling of the Zionist-capitalist Isra to the tune of $3.6 billion every year. Neither can the However with the world s fourth strongest ar corrupt governments in surrounding Arab states act as arsenal and the backing of Western imper arbiters. They fear genuine liberation forclear the Palestinian this seat people which could spark radical movements in the rewill not be defeated militarily. It the winning gion and threaten their rule. Successive- Egyptian gov a significant section of the Jewis class to the side of the Palestinian struggle. ernments have been complicit in the blockade of Gaza, acting as prison guard at the Rafah crossing.

For unity against oppression, Democratic, mass struggle forpoverty and capitalism Reactionary attitudes towards the Palestinians liberation needed

amongst the Israeli population The Israeli elite and their allies rently fear a dominant mass raeli ruling class carefully creates a siege m uprising of the Palestinian people - which nei playing on people s fears for their own securi ther Hamas nor whipping up a sense of isolation. However, the Fatah can control. which denounced the The First- Insocial movement of 2011 of the super-rich demonstrates the sharp cla tifada which exists within Israeli society, which can (1987basis for common cause to be made between Jewi 1993) demon - workers and the Palestinian masses. This would strated the need for a break with capitalism and the b the po- of a socialist future based on co-operation, r tential the rights of all and democratic control- of so sources. for

c: li o h t a C & t n a t s e Prot

T S N I A G A E T I N U N O I S S E R P P O THE S N A I N I T S E L A P OF

Disgracefully, representatives of all the ordinary main parties Protestants. It is seized on by - righ including those who pose as friends of- theactionaries Palestini to portray the Palestinian -solida ans welcomed the Deputy Israeli Ambassador menttoas simply a republican front .

Stormont in the midst of the recent slaughter. Yet both Unionist and nationalist politicians We have cansought best assist the struggle for Palestini to frame what is happening in Gaza in terms domofbythe building the largest possible, -cross-c sectarian divide here, as they have done for nitydecades. solidarity movement. Those organising an The simplistic notion that Israel = unionism andprotests in solidarity with Gaza part in - shou Palestine = republicanism serves only toscious trivialise of the issue of sectarian colouration and sectarianise an ongoing humanitarian disaster. to make protests as welcoming and open as pos to people from all backgrounds. The trade uni The majority of ordinary people on both sides of the which unites hundreds of thousands movement community here are horrified and outraged Catholic by the and Protestant workers must- give l suffering of the people of Gaza at the hands thesend out a clear message that this i shipofand IDF. Unfortunately, however, the propaganda of theto do with Orange and Green; it is ab nothing sectarian forces has an impact. The presence of tri brutalisation of some of the world s most opp colours and other republican flags, banners and slo people by one of the world s most militarised gans on Gaza solidarity protests tends to alienate

How can we show solidarity?

DEMONSTRATE & PROTEST:

Public pressure can have an impact of Western gov ments and institutions. It prevented the rush - to tervention in Syria. We need an ongoing protest c aimed at forcing the British and Irish government EU to end the arms trade with Israel, end indirec to the IDF, expel Israeli ambassadors and- break o tions with the Israeli state.

BOYCOTT OCCUPATION GOODS:

Companies and institutions which profit from or a plicit in the occupation - such as SodaStream and G4S - should be boycotted. The backb should be organised trade union action. This would include union members refusing to h use of protests and industrial action to break any co-operation with the Israeli milit

SUPPORT STRUGGLES IN THE REGION:

Primarily, a lasting solution will come from the mass action of the Palestinian people ing class and poor masses of the region. We should seek out ways to provide concretely cluding supporting the development of new, democratic organs of resistance in the Occu the building of independent trade unions and anti-Zionist, working class political for

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– who we are

Which side are they on?

The Socialist Party is an anti-sectarian party which stands for the common interests of all workers and young people. We organise in both Protestant and Catholic communities. Our members are actively cam paigning in the trade unions, workplaces, - schools, col leges and communities on a wide range of issuesThe United States governmnent gives from fighting cuts and privatisation to opposing war $3.6billion a year to Israel. and challenging discrimination. We stand- for the buildthree-quarters of that funding ar Around ing of a new, mass political voice for the working used toclass. buy US military equipment.

International struggle for socialism

We are part of the Committee for a Workers Interna tional, which unites socialists in over 40 countries on every continent. Socialist Struggle Movement our sis ter organisation in Palestine/Israel has played an im portant role in the anti-war movement in Israel, in the face of state repression and far-right thugs. In Seattle, The British government between 2008Kshama Sawant recently elected Socialist Alternative 2013, traded ÂŁ130 million with Israel in arm city council member has come under vicious attack including F-16s. British company G4S for condemning the Israeli onslaught on -Gaza and ex provides security services and equipment to posing the Democratic Party s complicity in this crime.

Israeli checkpoints, settlements and prisons

Capitalism: A system of war & poverty

DisgracefullyIrish the government abstained on a UN human rights resolution 100 years ago, working class people across the world A subsidiary of Irish company CRH provide were dragged into a barbaric war that served only the cement to Israel used in the construction interests of the super-rich. Over 10 million people died Israel s illegal separation wall. in what was meant to be a war to end all wars. The misery we constantly in Palestine, in Syria, in Iraq, in Ukraine and right across the globe shows what a cruel lie that was.

In the course of the slaughter in GazaStormont politicians such as Jonathan The capitalist system continues to drag us into wars for Bell(DUP), Jennifer McCann(Sinn Fein), profit. At a time of austerity, when working David class McIlveen people (DUP), Alban are told to tighten their belts, trillions are spent on new and Mitchel Maginness(SDLP) arms and weaponry and billions invested in researching McLaughlin(Sinn Fein) happily met with new ways to kill people, including drone technology. .

Deputy Israeli ambassador We need to build an alternative to the chaos of this sys tem. Such an alternative would mean the common ownership and democratic planning of society s re sources in the interest in ordinary people rather than super-rich and their warmongering politicians.

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