The Communist and workers’ parties and liberation organizations listed below, having convened on the eve of the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) in Athens, wish to express their strong condemnation of the barbaric ground, naval and aerial aggression launched by Israel against Gaza which began in late December 2008. This brutal assault on Gaza lasted some 22 days and resulted in the death of over 1,350 citizens, wounded thousands of innocent civilians including women, children and the elderly, and left a massive trail of destruction of homes, properties and infrastructure, depriving the residents of Gaza of the most basic services.
The parties also express their grave concern for the resulting humanitarian tragedy, and outrage at the intentional targeting of schools and civil institutions, including the UNRWA school in Jabalia Camp.
The Israeli attack on Gaza is in reality an aggression against the entire Palestinian people.
Based on the above, the signatories wish to declare the following:
(1) We salute the heroic steadfastness of the Palestinian masses of Gaza, and stress the fundamental right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation, a right recognized by the U.N. and international law. We demand the immediate lifting of the siege of Gaza, the re-opening of borders, and the rapid reconstruction of all that was damaged or destroyed by this wanton aggression;
(2) We reaffirm our support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to regain their legitimate and inalienable national rights, including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state with Al-Quds (East Jerusalem) as its capital, as well as the right of return for all Palestinian refugees in accordance with U.N. Resolution 194;
(3) We strongly condemn the perpetuated construction of the racist wall as well as of the colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank which are in flagrant conflict with all the relevant UN decisions.
We demand the immediate remove of the wall and of the settlements as well as the immediate release from custody of all the freedom prisoners in the Israeli detention.
(4) We call on the U.N. Security council and other international organizations to conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation of the grave human rights violations and war crimes committed by the Israeli army during this assault on Gaza, including its use of internationally prohibited weapons against the civilian population. The parties also call for the formation of special legal commissions to file “war crimes” charges against the Israeli authorities before the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and/or national juridical structures;
(5) We urge all sections of Palestinian national movement to work seriously and in a responsible manner toward ending the internal split and re-establishing Palestinian national unity. In this regard, the parties confirm the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is the legitimate and the internationally recognized unified address of Palestinian people, and call for reactivating the role and status of the PLO with an open door to all those Palestinian national forces desiring to join it;
(6) We declare our intention to help build the international campaign to support Gaza and demand emergency assistance from the international community for its reconstruction.
Finally, the signatories commit to the following action measures on behalf of their organizations and members:
(1) to step up their solidarity actions with the Palestinian people internationally and within their respective countries;
(2) to pressure their respective governments to cancel the military and some political accords with the State of Israel;
(3) to organize and send, at the earliest opportunity, a joint party delegation to the occupied Palestinian territories to express our common solidarity with the national struggle of the Palestinian people;
(4) to convene an international symposium in solidarity with the Palestinian people, to be held in Damascus before the end of 2009;
(5) to organize a joint caravan of material aid to Gaza; and
(6) to hold an International Day of Action in Solidarity with the Palestinian people, with particular focus on the demand to break the siege of Gaza.
The signatories extend an invitation to other Communist and Workers’ parties and organizations to endorse this statement, and urge the Working Group of the International Meetings of Communist and Worker’s Parties (IMCWP) to work out the details of implementation of the above programme of action, in consultation with the Palestinian and Arab member-parties.
List of Parties and Organizations Co-signing this Statement – February 17th 2009
Communist Party of Albania
PADS, Algeria
Communist Party of Belarus
Workers’ Party of Belgium
Party of Bulgarian Communists
Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)
Communist Party of Britain
New Communist Party of Britain
Communist Party of Canada
Colombian Communist Party
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic)
Communist Party of Egypt
Socialist Worker’s Party of Croatia
Communist Party of Cuba
AKEL, Cyprus
Communist Party in Denmark
Communist Party of Denmark
French Communist Party
Communist Party of Macedonia
German Communist Party
Communist Party of Greece
Hungarian Communist Workers’ Party
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Tudeh Party of Iran
Communist Party of Israel
Party of the Communist Refoundation, Italy
Party of the Italian Communists
Jordanian Communist Party
Socialist Party of Latvia
Lebanese Communist Party
Communist Party of Luxembourg
Communist Party of Malta
Party of Communists, Mexico
Political Movement –“People’s Resistance”, Moldova
New Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of Norway
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Palestinian Communist Party
Palestinian People’s Party
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Peruvian Communist Party
Communist Party of Poland
Portuguese Communist Party
Socialist Alliance Party, Romania
Romanian Communist Party
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Worker’s Party of Russia – Party of the Communist of Russia
New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Communist Party of Slovakia
South African Communist Party
Communist Party of Spain
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
Party of the Communists, Catalonia
Communist Party of Sri-Lanka
Syrian Communist Party
Communist Party of Syria
Baath Party, Syria
Communist Party of Tajikistan
Communist Party of Turkey
Labour Party (Turkey)
South African Communist Party
Communist Party of Sweden
Union of the Communists of Ukraine
Communist Party of Venezuela
Polisario Front
World Federation of Trade Unions
