In the aftermath of September 11, the Palestinian people have suffered to an unimaginable extent as a result of the war drive of US imperialism. At the same time, not only have the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories - and in the Israeli state - stepped up their resistance in response to the murderous fury of Israeli President Ariel Sharon, but we have also seen a massive growth in international solidarity.
Huge demonstrations have taken place across the world - most notably in other countries of the Middle East but also in Europe including here in Britain. Thousands upon thousands of Palestinians in exile have marched to protest against the brutal fate being meted out to their comrades and their homeland. But they have also been joined by many on the left who stand in solidarity with them - and most dramatically and effectively by the young anti-capitalist protestors of the International Solidarity Movement who have gone onto the front line in the Territories in defiance of the Israeli tanks to bring practical and well as political support.
Ariel Sharon's policies have not brought peace to Israel - as we predicted they would not. It is positive that in recent days the Israeli peace movement has been mobilising again - probably the main reason why Sharon has not carried out the same war crimes against Gaza as he carried through so recently in the West Bank. We express our solidarity with those mobilisations, as we do with those refuseniks who are refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. At the same time we note that a new war of sucession has broken out in the ruling Likud party, with Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters voting against Sharon in the Knesset. Sharon was elected both as the leader of Likud and as Prime Minister as a hawk, but now Netanyahu is pitching even further to his right. This ringht-wing rhetoric is also stirring up hatred against the Palestinian people, we saw when Netanyahu addressed a 35,000 strong Zionist rally in Trafalgar Sqaure on May 6, 2002. Anti-Zionist Jews were denounced as traitors from the platform and by the crowd.
But none of this war-mongering will bring peace or justice to any of the inhabitants of the area - Jews or Arabs. It will not give any answer to the rise of antisemitism which is taking place in the era of globalisation - along with the rise in Islamaphobia and racism generally.
The only solution is to end the Israeli occupation of the Territories, to end the settlements, to give the Palestinians the right of return and to establish a democratic and secular Palestine, while working towards a broader socialist federation in the region.
This pamphlet aims to look at some of the reasons why American imperialism has consistently sided with Israel in its murderous attacks - despite the fact that in doing so this weakens the potential of Bush and Blair putting together a strong coalition to support their warring ambitions against Iraq.
We try to show that horrendous as are the scences of death and destruction faced by the Palestinian people since September 11, tragically they are part of a 54-year toll of war they have faced since they were driven out of their homeland to allow the creation of the Zionist state in 1948.
This pamphlet brings together a series of articles which were written for other sources - primarily those which have appeared in the newspaper Socialist Outlook, but also in International Viewpoint and in the case of the piece by Noam Chomsky from the Zed website.
This pamphlet has been produced by the International Socialist Group, a revolu-. tionary Marxist organisation active in the Socialist Alliance in England and in the Scottish Socialist Party. We believe that solidarity with the Palestinian people is one of the most important tasks for socialists internationally today • Israel out of the Occupied Territories • Victory to the Intifada • End the slaughter - End the settlements • Support for the refuseniks • For the Palestinian right to return • Boycott Israeli goods • No arms sales to Israel • For a democratic secular Palestine in a socialist federation of the Middle East