Justice for the Palestinians

The Palestinians are calling for support in their struggle against the brutal Israeli occupation that began when Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. But the tragedy really began when British imperialism first occupied Palestine during the First World War. British imperialism encouraged Zionist immigration to create a community of Zionist settlers to support the colonial administration. The Zionists helped British colonialism crush the Palestinian Arab revolt in 1936. But in the immediate post‑World War II situation the Zionists seized the opportunity to push for a separate state of their own. In 1948 the British colonial mandate ended and the State of Israel was proclaimed. On that day the first Arab‑Israeli war began. It has never ended.
The first war led to the expulsion of around a million Palestinian Arabs from their homes by the Zionist regime. Those refugees and their descendants have never given up their right to return to their land. And this is the heart of the crisis that has led to five full‑scale wars and continuing confrontation in the Middle East.
Zionist violence always leads to an equally violent resistance. A lasting solution must be based on the right of return of refugees and an independent Palestinian state with Israel giving up all territories seized since 1967.