What the hell’s going on?
Israel is a tiny little country with a population about 1/6 of the UK’s. The two main peoples living in the area are Israeli Jews (who have their own state and first world living standards) and Palestinian Arabs (who live under Israeli occupation, have no state, and have third world living conditions). Israel, which has an incredibly powerful military, has subjugated and oppressed the Palestinians for years. In 2000, the Palestinians began a second intifada, or uprising. This means a spate of vicious, unjustifiable suicide bomb attacks against innocent Israeli citizens. It also means that the Israeli forces tighten their grip, and occasionally decide to bulldoze a town or two, impose a few curfews, establish a few checkpoints, and hey – while they’re at it, why not deny the Palestinians decent education and healthcare too? So that’s the basics of the conflict. But unfortunately, there really isn’t anything basic about it.
What does the left say about it?
Sadly, the position of most of the so-called ‘Trotskyist’ left is a remarkably stupid one. They advocate a ‘democratic secular state,’ which, translated, means the wiping of Israel off the map. How can socialists, people who are supposed to believe in democracy and the right to self-determination, seriously believe in this wholesomely undemocratic ‘solution’? Do they really think that Israelis will simply allow their rights to self-determination to be taken from them? The ‘democratic secular state’ solution could only come about if Israeli Jews were forcibly subdued into accepting it. The British left demonises Zionist (i.e. people who believe in the existence of Israel as a Jewish state) and equate Zionism with fascism and Nazism. The fact is the most Jewish people believe that Israel should exist. Are groups who equate Zionism with fascism, and the star of David with the swastika, seriously claiming that the majority of Jews are Nazis? They also claim that the actions of Sharon’s governments are similar to apartheid in South Africa or, worse, Germany in the 1930’s and 40’s. This is plainly ridiculous, because Hitler systematically crushed workers’ movements, began deportation (before he came up with the idea of the Holocaust) and destroyed all democratic rights. The situation that the Palestinians are in is bad – but there’s no way you can equate it with Nazism. Some on the British left have refused to condemn the suicide bombings or the rise of Islamism in Palestine. We out rightly condemn these vicious acts of terror which do nothing to help the Palestinian’s cause, and we actively oppose Islamic fundamentalism, which is a brutal and reactionary ideology.
How is the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict relevant to the Iraqi situation?
As we saw in 1991, Saddam Hussein has no reservations about blowing up a few thousand innocent Israelis. If he knows his regime is about to fall, he’ll have nothing to loose by unleashing a few Scuds (or even some weapons of mass destruction, which he may or may not have) on Israel and taking some Israelis down with him. America’s war on Iraq could destabilise (if it can be called ‘stable’ now) the entire Middle East. Also, Ariel Sharon could use this opportunity to step-up his programme of subjugation while the West’s eye is turned to Iraq. Anyone who is committed to a peaceful solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict must also oppose Bush’s war on Iraq.
What do we say about it?
Some groups on the left, including Bolshy and the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, support a two-state solution. A proper Marxist analysis into the situation doesn’t result in the dividing of peoples into ‘goodies’ (Palestinians) and ‘baddies’ (Israelis). A Marxist – someone who believes in consistent democracy and the right of peoples to national self-determination – will fight for an end to oppression of the Palestinians by Israel, and demand that the Palestinian’s right to self-determination is recognised by the establishment of a Palestinian state. But no democrat could argue that the state of Israel should be destroyed! What about the rights of Israeli Jews? When Arab and Israeli workers recognise each others’ rights to self-determination, they can begin to unite and fight for a society which transcends national boundaries. Ultimately, we envisage a socialist society that has no need for nation states, but we’re not there yet. A one-state solution is impossible without oppressing one of the groups concerned. It is simply not just or democratic to wipe nations off the map and refuse certain peoples their rights.
To read more on the Israel/Palestine Conflict, why not order AWL’s pamphlet: ‘Two Nations, Two States.’
For details, send us an email at: bolshy_03@hotmail.com
