Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Joint Appeal by the Palestinian People's Party (PPP) and the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) to Communist and Worker Parties

On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29th of November), the undersigned Communist and Workers parties affirm that the key to peace and stability in the Middle East is the end of the Israeli occupation, and the implementation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the resolution of the refugee issue in accordance with UN Resolution 194.

The undersigned parties condemn the policy of the United States of America, led by the Trump administration, which is based on its absolute support for Israel's annexation and settlement policies, a denial of the rights of the Palestinian people, and a total disregard for the international treaties and foundations of a just peace based on UN resolutions adopted by most of the countries of the world and the overwhelming majority of its peoples.

This US policy, which comes amidst the resounding failure of imperialist plans in Syria and Yemen, seeks to give Israel an international umbrella and political compensation for America's strategic withdrawal from the region. This is a policy bound to fail due the insistence of the Palestinian people to be liberated from the Israeli occupation, to achieve their national independence and to exercise their historical rights, supported by the positions and struggles of revolutionary and progressive forces in the region and throughout the world.

The signatory parties call for the promotion of international solidarity with the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights by all legitimate means, and for a just and comprehensive peace in the region based on respect for the right of peoples to freedom and independence.

Parties who have signed:

Communist Party of Austria

Party of Labour of Austria

Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA)

Communist Party of Brazil

Communist Party of Britain

New Communist Party of Britain

Colombian Communist Party

Socialist Workers’ Party of Croatia

AKEL (Cyprus)

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

French Communist Party

German Communist Party

Communist Party of Greece

Hungarian Workers' Party

Tudeh Party of Iran

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of Italy

Communist Party of Jordan

Communist Party of Mexico

Communist Party of Norway

Philippine Communist Party (PKP 1930)

Portuguese Communist Party

Communist Party of the Russian Federation

Union of the Communist Parties of the Soviet Union

Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE)

People's Liberation Front (JVP) Sri Lanka

 Communist Party of Turkey

New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ)

Modern day Pharisees

We should not be too surprised at the Chief Rabbi’s anti-Corbyn rant that was splashed across the Tory rags earlier in the week. Last July Ephraim Mirvis said he was “delighted to congratulate Boris Johnson, a longstanding friend and champion of the Jewish community, on becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party and our next Prime Minister”.

The Chief Rabbi’s loathing of Corbyn is undoubtedly down to his staunch support for Israel, which he says is “central to our faith”, and his Zionist beliefs, which he says are “a noble and integral part of Judaism”.

Although the Chief Rabbi didn’t openly call on people to vote Tory, he did say that a victory for Labour in the General Election will put the "very soul of our nation" at stake. So we can safely assume that he is, at least, sympathetic to the Conservative cause. What we cannot accept is the Chief Rabbi’s claim to speak for his own community in Britain.

The same can equally be said of Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England, who has backed Mirvis and says that “such an unprecedented statement at this time ought to alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews”.

Tony Greenstein, an anti-Zionist Jew who was drummed out of the Labour Party last year, says: “The campaign to show that the Labour Party is anti-Semitic and that Corbyn is an anti-Semite has always been evidence-free. It has been based on the interests of Britain’s Establishment and its voice the BBC. It is in the interests of the rich and powerful to demonstrate that Corbyn’s Labour is anti-Semitic. If they were honest they would say that their real reasons were the threat that Corbyn represents to their pockets.

“The Zionists if they were honest would say that what riles them most is that Corbyn has consistently supported the Palestinians, but of course they aren’t honest. Britain’s Chief Rabbis have a habit of supporting the Conservative Party dating back to Immanuel Jakobovitz’s support for Margaret Thatcher and even further back, but none have been this blatant.”

Communists need not worry too much about these sanctimonious hypocrites. They barely represent the communities they pretend to lead. All they do is provide more ammunition for those determined to keep the Tories in power for another few years.

Weird indeed

Tony Blair showed his face again last weekend to tell us that a majority for Labour or the Conservatives would “pose a risk” to the country. The disgraced former Labour premier then went on grudgingly to concede that he would vote Labour on 12^th December in an election that he said was the “weirdest in my lifetime". It certainly is.

The ruling class is openly and bitterly divided over the European Union (EU). Although some European links are preserved in Johnson’s withdrawal plan, the only party that can bring about the second referendum that the Remainers have been working for over the last three years is Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

The dominant section of the ruling class is determined to keep Britain inside the EU. They can live with Corbyn at the helm for a few years, providing he’s hamstrung by smaller Europhile parties such the Scottish nationalists to ensure that the ‘people’s vote’ that reverses the 2016 Leave vote takes place.

We can stop this but only by ensuring a massive vote for Labour that sweeps them back with a clear majority in parliament. Mass mobilisation can stop the Tories in their tracks and ensure that a new Labour government honours the historic decision to leave the EU.

We don’t want a Labour administration that’s been pawned to the Scottish nationalists and the Liberal Democrats. We don’t want a ‘people’s vote’ – we want a people’s government for social justice and an end to austerity!