By IWU-FI
After the repudiatory detention of the ‘Freedom Flotilla‘ by Israel, headed by Greta Thunberg, which had the just objective of breaking the murderous zionist blockade, a caravan of vehicles left Tunisia, on its way to Rafah, on the border with Egypt, to denounce Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
The caravan ‘Al-Soumoud‘ (‘Perseverance‘) leaves Tunis, the tunisian capital, to call for an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, in coordination with international convoys from more than 30 countries. The aim is to arrive on Sunday, the 15th of June. The last leg is through Egyptian territory, whose government has not yet given its authorisation. From the IWU-FI, we give our full support to this initiative, in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We call for united actions all over the world to support and demand the Egyptian government to authorise the caravan.
We reproduce the note by Miguel Lamas, member of the leadershipo of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSL), the IWU-FI section in Venezuela, and of the IWU-FI, which denounces Israel’s starvation and genocide of Gaza, and calls for all to join the ‘Global March to Gaza’ on June 15th.
Stop the famine and genocide in Gaza
For almost three months now, Netanyahu’s far-right government has imposed a criminal blockade on the Gaza Strip, preventing the entry of food, water, medicine and fuel, and restricting electricity.
Israel aims to starve the Gazan people to death in order to drive the population out of the enclave and force the Palestinian resistance to surrender, thus completing the ethnic cleansing it began in 1947, and endorsed today by Trump.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. The danger of famine is growing and the figures are chilling: 14,000 babies are in danger of dying if they do not receive the necessary food in the next few hours, according to the UN. Half a million people (20% of the population) are at risk of starvation, according to UN reports. The World Health Organisation has reported that 57 children have died of malnutrition since March, when Israel’s blockade of Gaza began.
Netanyahu and ethnic cleansing
In March, the Zionist regime of Israel broke its truce and resumed the bombing campaign, as part of a new offensive launched on May 18th, dubbed ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots’.
The criminal Netanyahu said this new offensive was to seize territory in Gaza, and that Israel would not withdraw. He stated, in a Zionist parliamentary committee: “We are destroying more and more homes, they have nowhere to return to. The only inevitable result will be the desire of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip“.
In a later statement on May 13th, announcing the new military operation, he said: “We have put together an administration that will allow them to leave, but the problem with us is one thing — we need receptive countries. That’s what we’re working on right now. If you give them the go-ahead, I tell you that more than 50% will leave, and I think much more. But Hamas will be gone“.
The goal is clear: to take complete control of Gaza, expel the Palestinian people from their land and homes, and turn the strip into a resort, as Trump announced.
Global pressure forces Israel to allow minimal humanitarian aid in
After bringing the Palestinian people in Gaza to the brink of famine, Netanyahu was forced to allow in a tiny fraction of humanitarian aid. Between Monday, May 19th, and Friday, May 23rd, some 385 truckloads of food, medicine and other goods entered the Gaza Strip. However, even after entering, many of these goods trucks took time before actually reaching Gazans. These amounts remain insufficient, especially given that during the truce, up to 600 trucks of humanitarian aid entered daily, and there are currently hundreds of trucks waiting at the border, unable to enter.
This shift by the Israeli government has not been for humanitarian reasons. It is a cold, calculated decision, determined by pressure from various governments, as Netanyahu himself has cynically acknowledged: “Our best friends in the world, senators who are passionate supporters of Israel, came to me and said they would provide all the assistance needed to achieve victory: weapons, backing for eliminating Hamas, and protection at the UN Security Council. But there’s one thing they said they cannot support: images of mass starvation. So, in order to achieve victory, we must address that problem“.
With characteristic brutality, the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said: “The aid that will enter Gaza in the coming days is the tiniest amount. It will allow civilians to eat, for our friends in the world to continue to provide us with an international umbrella of protection against the Security Council and The Hague Tribunal, and for us to continue to fight, God willing, until victory“, stressing its importance to ensure “that the world does not stop us and accuse us of war crimes“. He continued “I deeply understand the anger and pain we all feel. Truth be told, until the last of the hostages returns, we should also not let water into the Gaza Strip. But the reality is that if we do that, the world will force us to halt the war immediately, and to lose. It would be winning the battle, and losing the war. I’m committed to winning the war” . He went on to declare “We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally. And the world isn’t stopping us. There are pressures. There are those who attack [us]; they are trying to [make us] stop; they are not succeeding. You know why they aren’t succeeding? Because we are navigating [the campaign] responsibly and wisely, and that’s how we’ll continue to do [it]“.
Government pressure on Israel is determined by mobilisation
The many voices of international organisations denouncing that a humanitarian catastrophe was on the verge of unfolding have given new impetus to mobilisations around the world, especially in Europe. This coincided with the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, when thousands mobilised around the world against their governments and in support of the Palestinian peoples struggle. In Madrid, on the 10th of May, over 80,000 people took to the streets, demanding an end to arms sales to Israel and the severing of relations, whilst in London, on the 17th, close to half a million protested. In The Hague, in the Netherlands, 100,000 people marched on the 18th, demanding that the government end its support for Israel.
France, Canada and the UK, in a communiqué issued on may 19th, rejected the new Zionist military offensive, called for a ceasefire, and hypocritically, after months of supporting Israel, called the level of human suffering ‘intolerable’. In that joint statement they said that “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response“. Subsequently, the British government suspended negotiations with Israel on a free trade agreement. Eighteen other countries demanded the immediate full resumption of aid to the Gaza Strip.
European and other capitalist governments do not question Israel out of some sense of ‘humanity’, but because of the strong pressure they face from the mass movements and protests occuring, which could eventually generate crises within their own regimes.
Israel’s political crisis continues
Meanwhile, in Israel, protests continue, now on a daily basis, demanding an end to the war and the return of hostages held by the Palestinian resistance. These mobilisations are the backdrop to a political crisis that continues unabated.
It is no coincidence that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview, on April 4th, that Israel was going through “the most serious crisis in its history“. Then, on May 21st, he affirmed: “what Israel is currently doing in Gaza is very close to a war crime“.
Almost simultaneously to Olmert’s statement, retired military officer, MP, and leader of The Democrats, Yair Golan made a statement that caused a stir in Israel, stating that: “A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies for a hobby, and does not set goals involving the expulsion of populations“. He added that “Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah state among the nations – like the South Africa of old (under Apartheid) – if it does not return to behaving like a sane country“.
Olmert, Golan, and other leaders critical of Netanyahu’s government, are as Zionist and anti-Palestinian as Netanyahu. However, the global mobilisation against genocide, and the continuous marches and expressions of rejection of the government in Israel, are causing a major political crisis within Zionism, manifesting political differences and contradictions. Golan, Olmert, Benny Gantz, and others, are among those who advocate the failed two-state solution, and differ from Netanyahu and his far-right ministers solely on the pace and methods used to confront the Palestinian resistance.
Deepening the global mobilisation in support of the Palestinian resistance
From the IWU-FI we assert that, in order to defeat the attempt of ethnic cleansing and occupation of Gaza, we must continue to mobilise all over the world in support of the Palestinian people and the resistance.
For June 15th, organisations from more than 20 countries are promoting the planned ‘March to Gaza’. They will march to the Egyptian-Gaza border, at the Rafah crossing, to demand the breaking of the siege, and that the border be opened for the free entry of humanitarian aid. As part of this international solidarity, the ‘Freedom Flotilla’, headed by Greta Thunberg, Thiago Ávila, and european parliamentarian Rima Hassan, left for Gaza from the Catania Port (Sicily, Italy), carrying humanitarian aid and calling for Israel to clear the way for it.
For June 15th, organisations from more than 20 countries are promoting the planned ‘March to Gaza’. They will march to the Egyptian-Gaza border, at the Rafah crossing, to demand the breaking of the siege, and that the border be opened for the free entry of humanitarian aid. As part of this international solidarity, the ‘Freedom Flotilla’, headed by Greta Thunberg, Thiago Ávila, and european parliamentarian Rima Hassan, left for Gaza from the Catania Port (Sicily, Italy), carrying humanitarian aid and calling for Israel to clear the way for it.
The IWU-FI joins the call for this mobilisation, as well as for united actions all over the world in support, on the same day. In this sense, we support the immediate opening of the border crossings, to guarantee the entry of food, medicines, fuel and water, and the restoration of electricity.
From the IWU-FI we demand that the Egyptian government, which has so far done and said nothing, despite the popular solidarity in the country with Palestine and the palestinian cause, authorise the march from Egypt to Gaza. That all governments of the world, especially the Arab and Middle Eastern regimes, which do very little for the Palestinians, break political, diplomatic, commercial, cultural and academic ties with Israel. And, in the case of Arab governments in particular, to support the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and the West Bank with arms and resources.
We stand for an immediate ceasefire, and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza, the West Bank, Syria and Lebanon. We reject the ethnic cleansing promoted by Trump and Netanyahu, as well as the US and Israeli bombing of Yemen. We reject Israel and Trump’s plan to militarise and privatise the delivery of humanitarian aid. We condemn the illegal detention and threat of deportation of activists defending Palestinian freedom, as has happened in the US and Germany, and demand the severance of political, diplomatic, commercial, cultural, and academic relations with Israel. For a single, secular, democratic and non-racist Palestine – Free Palestine from the river to the sea!
