The Central Committee of the United Communists of Europe release this statement on the Palestine Liberation Movement.
The Palestinian people have struggled against imperialism and colonialism for over a century. They have had their land stolen, seen their homes destroyed, and live in a permanent state of war. Every Palestinian has had a family member, a friend, or a lover who has died. In some cases, Palestinians have lost their entire family, and seen their spouse, parents and children die in the most brutal way. While the Zionists who run the Israeli state are the immediate enemy of the Palestinian people, it is imperialism and capitalist barbarity that is the source of Palestinian oppression.
From the early Ottoman period, to the interwar struggle against British colonialism, to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 and the ensuing Nakba, the Palestinians have been an oppressed people who are unable to exercise self-determination over their own national affairs. The entire economy of Palestine is dominated by the Israeli capitalist class and ruled with an iron fist by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). In the absence of state-power, the Palestinians have been dependent on foreign aid, national bourgeois regimes such as Jordan and Iran, and religious organisations.
Mao Zedong once pointed out that "where there is oppression, there is resistance." As an oppressed people, the Palestinian people have always found ways to resist colonial domination. With the arrival of Zionist settlers in the early twentieth century, Palestinian workers and farmers fought back. As the British-backed Zionists rapidly centralised land and used terror to drive workers and farmers out of their villages, the local Arab residents resisted by sabotaging Kibbutzes and sometimes utilised armed struggle.
During the interwar period in the thirties and forties, communists in Palestine tried to unite Jewish and Arab workers along class lines. Following Lenin's advice to the Second Congress of the Communist International (Comintern), they waged a struggle against reactionary Islamist landlords tied to feudalism and against the imperialist-backed Zionists. Calling for neither a Jewish nor an Arab state, they agitated for a socialist revolution led by Jewish and Arab workers. In this period, it was still conceivable to organise for a binational, secular, socialist Jewish-Arab state aligned with the Soviet Union.
Such a socialist Palestinian state would actively struggle against both feudalism and capitalism in order to put the working people of Palestine in command of society. Instead of being organised in a bureaucratic way, a socialist Palestine would organise the state by means of workers councils, which would enable the working class to take all major decisions. Instead of the neoliberal nightmare that both Israeli and Palestinian workers live under today, Palestinian communists of the interwar period called for a socialist planned economy. Socialist planning would enable the resources of society to be maximised in order to meet the needs of the people, while expanding socialist infrastructure and transforming the social relations of production.
Furthermore, a socialist Palestine would delink from imperialism and align itself with progressive nations in order to join the worldwide anti-imperialist bloc. Delinking from imperialism, socialist planning, Jewish-Arab unity, and a binational Palestinian socialist state would enable lasting peace not only in Palestine, but the entire region. From the moment that the Palestinian working class–Jews, Arabs, Christians, but also Druze and other ethnic minorities–seize state-power, a long struggle against the former imperialist masters would erupt. A showdown against Zionism, fascism, and surrounding bourgeois regimes in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon would unfold from the moment that the Palestinian working class took state-power.
Thinking that communists were a strong enough force in Palestine and that an Israeli state would enable Palestine to break free from imperialism, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union supported the UN Partition plan and the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. This was a serious mistake of judgement on the part of the Soviets, which had catastrophic consequences for the Palestinians.
Instead of a progressive, anti-imperialist country, the State of Israel became imperialism's closest ally in the Middle East and brought about unimaginable suffering on the people of Palestine. Every war fought by the imperialists–whether American, British, or European–since the fifties, has been aided by the Israeli state, which often carries out major airstrikes and strategic operations. In exchange for being a loyal partner of imperialism, Israel receives advanced weapons, corporate investment, trade deals, and global recognition from bourgeois regimes.
Israel is a major headquarters of the imperialist bourgeoisie, which continues to seek domination over the peoples of the global South in order to gain low-cost resources, access to raw materials, and cheap labour. The same imperialist bourgeoisie that oppresses the Palestinian working class also oppresses the Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, and Syrian people. Therefore, it is in the interests of working people everywhere to break the power of capital by uniting with the Palestinian people and forming a united anti-imperialist front against monopoly capital.
During the sixties and seventies, there was a brief return of communist politics to Palestinian society. Groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) made calls for a single, socialist and secular Palestinian state that would grant the same rights to all of its inhabitants. The PFLP, heavily influenced by Maoism, used guerilla tactics in order to overwhelm the Israeli state. They tried to win Arab nationalists over to communism, showing that socialist revolution–not narrow nationalism–was the key to freeing the Palestinian people. Communist, socialist and other progressive secular forces declined in Palestine in the nineties. After Hamas won the elections in 2007 and became the ruling party in Gaza, the Palestinian resistance ceased to be secular and took on a definite religious form.
Organisations like Ansar Allah (in Yemen), Hezbollah (in Lebanon) and Hamas are an expression of the Palestinian and Arab national bourgeoisie. They receive funding from major capitalist powers in the region, notably Iran and Turkey, and have no interest in creating a secular socialist state. On the contrary, these Islamist organisations want a capitalist Palestine that will use religious ideology as a way to repress the working class and accumulate capital. As representatives of the national bourgeoisie, Islamist parties are anti-imperialist and wish to liberate Palestine in order to enable Palestinian capitalists to control the state.
In so far as they oppose imperialism and call for an independent Palestinian state, they represent a progressive force. Because they are a religious rather than a political movement, their tactics do not generally advance the movement. An example of this is the October 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in Israel, which had the effect of stirring up national hatred and hostility rather than Jewish-Arab unity. Communists support armed struggle when all other options have failed, but take a tactical approach designed to strengthen the unity of the working class. Instead of attacking civilians and using terror attacks in public places, communists would follow Mao Zedong's strategy of protracted people's war. This strategy involves seeking power in vulnerable areas such as isolated villages, building a revolutionary base amongst the people, and seeking to liberate as many areas as possible. Once a strong peripheral organisation exists, it would wage a revolutionary offensive against the centre and occupy all the positions of the enemy. Such a strategy of protracted people's war unites peasants and workers with the Communists, and enables solidarity rather than national hatred.
As organisations of the national bourgeoisie, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi's are not a progressive force. Instead of creating an independent socialist Palestine, the Islamists want a theocracy where religion rather than politics is in command and where the bourgeoisie uses terror to rule over its people. Despite being reactionary, communists cannot ignore Islamist movements, as they hold a monopoly over social movements in Palestine and the Middle East. Instead of publicly denouncing the religious movements, communists must seek to win over Palestinian workers and unite them working people across the region. Communists must offer a genuine socialist alternative to Islamism and show that they are the best fighters for the Palestinian people.
Since the founding of the State of Israel, there have been communist and socialist organisations in Israel that have rejected Zionism. These include groups like Matzpen, which have always played an important role in organising resistance to Zionism within Israeli society. Besides this, religious Jews in Bnei Brak and Mea Shearim from the Hasidic traditions have often opposed Zionism and regularly burn Israeli flags. Their main demands include Shabbat observance, exemption from IDF military service, and more autonomy for religious Jews. A small minority of Hasidic Jews in Israel have embraced progressive ideas and vote for the leftist Hadash electoral coalition in the Israeli elections. However, the majority of Hasidic Jews are not a progressive force and would not oppose an Israel run by Islamists if it meant they could continue practising their religion. It is important not to view all Israeli citizens as a single homogenous force, but rather to examine the contradictions that characterise Israeli society. This enables communists to identify who the friends and enemies are in order to build a united front against monopoly capital.
Since the beginning of the war last October, the Israeli bourgeoisie has waged a barbaric war against the people of Gaza, murdering over 35,000 people. A large majority of them are children, who will be traumatised for the rest of their lives and grow up without a supportive community. The United Communists of Europe condemns the ongoing genocide in Palestine and calls for a single, secular, binational, socialist state in Palestine. We support a Palestine in which Jews, Arabs and other residents live together in peace, share the same rights, enact land reforms, and embark on the socialist road. We do not think the Zionist state can continue to exist, but must be dismantled and replaced with a secular Palestinian state.
Because communist ideas have very little support in Palestine today, we think it is important to support an independent Palestine as the first stage of the long road to socialism. We unite with communists in Palestine and Israel, and support efforts to revive secular communist organisations. From the moment Palestine becomes independent of Zionism, a long debate will unfold about the future of Palestine. Will it be a religious, Islamist state? Will it be a state only for the Arab inhabitants? Will it be a secular state? Will it be binational? What languages will be recognised, only Arabic or also Hebrew? Will it be capitalist or socialist?
In order for communists to influence the future of Palestine, it is necessary that Palestinian and Israeli communists build a base among the workers and farmers. They must show that they are the best and most sophisticated leaders, and that they have much more to offer than the religious ideology offered by the Islamists. They must agitate in the IDF where possible in order to divide the military and break the hold of Zionist nationalist ideology. Palestinian and Israeli communists must not let nationalism divide them, but build a socialist mass party in order to deliver their ideas to the popular masses. They must agitate in both Palestinian and Israeli trade unions, struggling to build rank-and-file committees and break the hold of the trade union bureaucrats. If communists succeed in winning over the Palestinian and Jewish working class, they will be in a position to influence the future of Palestine.
We do not think that the future of Palestine depends on Palestine alone, but is closely bound up with the entire Middle Eastern region. A revolutionary socialist state in Palestine is the first stage in the long road to socialism across the Middle East. From the moment that the working people of Palestine and Israel overthrow their capitalist masters, a long process of revolutionary struggle will erupt across the Middle East. A socialist state in Palestine will empower workers in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Yemen, and Egypt to fight against the bourgeoisie and make revolution everywhere. Furthermore, a revolutionary government in Palestine can use its resources to aid revolutionary forces around the Middle East and bring the bourgeoisie down. Therefore, we support revolutions not just in Palestine, but across the Middle East in order to created an anti-imperialist united front against the international bourgeoisie.
The United Communists of Europe unites with the efforts of progressive forces to end the genocide and apartheid state in Israel. Currently, the Palestine solidarity movement has been largely petty-bourgeois in character and led by students. Religious organisations, some with links to Hamas and Hezbollah, often spread reactionary ideas and oppose Israel with theological rather than political arguments. While they are effective at mobilising millions of Muslims against Israel, they are ineffective as a political force. Communists must not isolate themselves from these forces, but spread propaganda among them in order to break Muslim congregations from their religious leaders. By doing so, Muslims can free themselves from religious leaders who are nothing but puppets of the bourgeoisie and have no interest in a better future for humanity. This will transform them into a progressive force that can unite with the working class to bring down the Israeli bourgeoisie.
Students represent the other major force in the Palestine solidarity movement. They have taken major actions on campuses to expose their universities' close ties to the Israeli military establishment. Using the sit-in tactic, students have waged important battles, demanding that their universities break all ties with Israeli institutions and support the Palestinian people. The United Communists of Europe offers critical support to the BDS tactic, as it is known. We support organised boycotts by institutions and organisations that have ties to the Israeli military establishment. However, we think that students should take these demonstrations further in order to expose the generally capitalist nature of bourgeois education. Instead of only opposing Israel and the genocide, they should transform their rebellion into a generalised uprising against imperialism. Furthermore, instead of only waging battles at their universities, the students should seek support from the trade union movement. A united student-worker alliance will strengthen the entire Palestine solidarity movement, and open up the possibility of transforming it into a revolutionary force.
The United Communists of Europe calls for a strategic alliance between the international working class and the Palestinian Liberation Movement. At the moment, most trade unions have issued public statements of support of Palestinians and have called for an immediate ceasefire. Unions with ties to logistics and transport have sometimes gone on strike and refused to deliver weapons or products to Israel. The trade union bureaucrats, who have close ties to the pro-Zionist social democratic parties, often relentlessly oppose such efforts and tell their members to only focus on local issues. We support all efforts by rank-and-file trade union militants to organise solidarity campaigns in their union. Furthermore, we think it is important to unite with Palestinian trade union militants and carry out calls to action made by Palestinian trade unions.
The United Communists of Europe stands in full solidarity with the Palestinian people and supports their struggle against Zionism, capitalism, and imperialism.
For a single, secular, binational Palestinian state, which is the first stage in the long struggle for socialism across the Middle East!
For the complete dismantling of the Zionist State of Israel!
For the unity of Arab and Jewish workers against their common imperialist enemy!
For a united anti-imperialist movement in the Middle East against the international bourgeoisie!
For the strategic alliance between the international working class and Palestinian Liberation Movement!
For a socialist revolution in Palestine and the Middle East!
Down with Zionism! Down with Imperialism! Long live Socialism!