VICTORY
TO PALESTINE, SYRIA & YEMEN!
DEFEND
THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST AXIS!
AUST.
TROOPS: OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST!
23-10-2015 – As we go to
press, the military forces of the Zionist Israeli state have confronted, killed
or injured heroic Palestinians rising once again to resist the criminal
occupation of their land for 17 consecutive days.[1] Many of those who have
perished have been aged under 20 years. Since 1948, ongoing crimes against
humanity have been committed by an Israeli state backed militarily and politically
by the world’s strongest imperialist powers – principally the US. None of this
has dented the will of the Palestinians to defy, even at the cost of their
lives. Without necessarily endorsing the strategy or tactics of the resistance,
workers internationally need to stand unequivocally on the side of the struggle
for Palestinian liberation.
This time, the “Third
Intifada”, the latest uprising, is taking place under very different
circumstances to the innumerable previous actions. The hideous oppression of
Palestine by the Zionist state of Israel since 1948 could not have taken place
without the full political and military backing of US led imperialism. US
annual military “aid” to Israel, to the tune of around 3 billion per year, was
the mainstay of the horrific war crimes against Palestine, which were openly or
tacitly supported by Western imperialist allies including the UK and France,
and from a distance, Australia. The US rulers kept up this murderous support,
as the practice assisted US domination of the Middle East.
However, in the space of a
few weeks, the game has changed. At the invitation of the Syrian Arab Republic,
Russia has begun a military offensive against the US/Saudi/Israeli armed and
backed genocidal head-choppers of ISIS. Almost with one stroke, Russia has
exposed the aims of the US in Syria and the region, as well as the so-called
“war on terror”. Russia’s actions in neighbouring Syria have had the immediate
effect of shifting the balance of power in the Middle East away from US imperialism
and towards the workers and the oppressed of the world via the conduit of an
anti-imperialist axis. This anti-imperialist axis is largely composed of
Russia, Iran and China – but it is joined in the immediate struggle by Syria,
Iraq, Hezbollah and the Houthi fighters in Yemen. Due to the fact that the
result of this contest has a direct bearing of the situation of the oppressed
Palestinians, workers of the world would do well to defend the blows against
the US Empire dealt by the anti-imperialist bloc. Without necessarily endorsing
the political outlook of the respective leaderships of the anti-imperialist
bloc, any setback for US imperialism in the Middle East can only help ease the
suffering of the Palestinians – as well as the Syrians and Yemenis, who are
also fighting US backed proxy forces on their soil.
From this distance, it
appears as if the Palestinian resistance has sensed the opening provided by the
weakening of US domination as a result of the Russian strikes against their
proxy ISIS forces. They appear to have correctly capitalised on the crack in
the wall of US domination provided by Russia, and to an extent by Iran and
China. They may have seen an opportunity to press Russian President’s earlier
statements that Russia would support the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state.[2]
Whatever the precise reason for the outbreak of an uprising now, it is taking
place at a time when the US empire, and, as a flow on, Israel and Saudi Arabia,
stand at the weakest point they have been in decades. For once they have been
challenged – this time by Russia, Iran and China. The Palestinians, ever eager
to press home any advantage they may have against the fourth largest military
in the world, have stepped forward. All workers and supporters of Palestine
also need to step up.
If Syria was to be
overthrown by US/Saudi/Turkish/Israeli backed jihadists, Palestine would barely
stand a chance. The US/Saudi/Turkish/Israeli war on Syria, therefore, cannot be
separated from the struggle in Palestine. Yet this is what some nominally left
parties have been doing for the past four and a half years. Organisations such
as Socialist Alternative, Socialist Alliance and Solidarity have in practice
backed the war on Syria, claiming that “rebels” were fighting a “dictator”.
These same “rebels” – in reality US/Saudi/Turkish armed mercenaries – were
backed by the Zionist Israeli state. In fact, genocidal Al-Nusra fighters were
treated in Israeli hospitals for free, and the Israeli Defence Forces
maintained radio contact with Al-Qaeda.[3] Moreover, Israel has
bombed Syria[4],
yet these left parties who loudly proclaim their support for Palestine, stood
silent. In backing the war on Syria, these left parties have driven themselves
into the arms of the same Zionist Israeli state they claim to oppose.
The Palestinian resistance,
not just the left, has also been split over the war on Syria. Many Palestinians
strongly support the Syrian state for its, albeit inconsistent, support for
Palestine. Other Palestinians have followed the treacherous Hamas leadership,
which joined the US assault on Syria, and thus found themselves on the side of
their immediate oppressor – the Israeli state. Such are the limitations of an
Islamist-based leadership, which at crucial times leads it to support the very
imperial power which is the source of its travails.
Liberation for Palestine can
only be won with the final defeat of imperialism. Imperialism, due to the
faltering state of its capitalist economies, has been lashing out like a
wounded beast for the last five years. The US-led wars on Libya, Syria, Yemen,
Somalia, and Pakistan – not to mention Ukraine – have wrought unprecedented
damage. However, Russia appears to have finally realised that if it does not
act to halt a rampaging US empire in Syria, the guns will very soon be turned
against their own doors. The interests of the oppressed Palestinians, the
world’s workers, and the anti-imperialist axis (Russia, Iran, China, Syria,
Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah etc.) are thus temporarily coinciding. By helping the
anti-imperialist axis strike blows against US imperialism, workers here will
not only aid the Palestinian cause, but their own as well. An emboldened
Australian working class will be in a stronger position to resist the attacks
of recession-ravaged Australian capital. It will also be able to demand the
withdrawal of Australian troops from the Middle East (currently in Iraq and
Syria), further isolating the US and further weakening their ISIS proxies. The
time to press our advantage is now.
LIBERATION
FOR PALESTINE! AUST TROOPS: OUT OF THE
MIDDLE EAST!
MARXIST-LENINIST
GROUP (MLG)
PO BOX 66
NUNDAH QLD 4012
www.ML-Group.blogspot.com.au
[1] http://www.palestinechronicle.com/blog/#post-22524
[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/vladimir-putin-says-russia-will-fight-for-the-right-of-palestinians-to-their-own-state-10141902.html
[3] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/inquiry/18855-why-is-the-media-ignoring-israels-alliance-with-al-qaeda
[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/israel-bombs-syria/
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