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Home  NEWS Stop Ethnic Cleansing / Imminent Assault on Gaza
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Stop Ethnic Cleansing / Imminent Assault on Gaza |
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Written by Kali Akuno (National Organizer, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
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Tuesday, 02 October 2007 |
Solidarity
for
Survival:
A Call to Stop Ethnic Cleansing and the imminent assault on Gaza.
 Gaza photo courtesty of sarahasphotographer (flickr.com)
Are the revolutionary and progressive movements in the US going to sit idly by and wait for
the Zionists and imperialists to raze Gaza to the ground? Or are we
going to take preventative action to stop the genocidal assault being
so thoroughly planned (and executed) right in front of our eyes?
What is at Stake?
The
US Left, and all of its national and social sectors, must be clear
about what Palestine represents in the capitalist world-system today.
Palestine is the barometer of the extent to which imperialism is
willing to go to in the present era to liquidate the struggles for
national liberation. In Palestine, particularly since the elections of
January 2006, we see the overall political and financial commitment of
imperialism to crush any movement that threatens the political
integration and homogenization now required for
capital accumulation. Where white supremacy, colonial occupation,
capitalist patriarchy, mass incarceration, and economic strangulation
are not enough to either contain or destroy the national consciousness
and anti-colonial sentiments, ethnic cleansing and genocide are now
wholly justifiable and permissible options for
imperialism. This is what is happening to Palestine, specifically to
the people and political forces in Gaza being deprived of electricity,
water, medical aid and supplies, and food by the Zionist occupying
forces. The recent designation of Gaza as an "enemy entity", with the
full backing and encouragement of their US masters (see the statement
of the Israeli Security Cabinet on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
during a visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice), seeks to legitimize the cleansing of Gaza by military means and prepare the political justification for its imminent execution.
It should go without saying that given Palestine's preeminent
position amongst the anti-colonial struggles of the world that if
imperialism is able starve and cleanse Gaza in order to liquidate its
liberation movement, either in whole or in part, the prospects for
the remaining national liberation struggles, either less well-known or
developed (ex. the New Afrikan and Puerto Rican liberation movements
against US colonialism, the Basques, the Kurds, and countless 1st
Nation or Indigenous Peoples), to attain self-determination and
independence will be seriously compromised, if not practically
extinguished for the foreseeable future.
 Gaza photo courtesty of sarahasphotographer (flickr.com)
A Call to Action:
To avert ethnic cleansing and wholesale destruction in Gaza, the US Left must act and act decisively. Recent precedent exists
for
such action in the example of the massive mobilizations carried out
January 2002 through March 2003 to stop the US invasion of Iraq. What
is, and has historically been missing in the case of the Palestine is
the lack of political clarity and will amongst considerable segments of
the white Left to confront Zionism and its supporters. This crisis
demands that this limitation be overcome immediately - least the US
Left be held complicit for this pending massacre.
Given the recent retreat on Palestine by the likes of forces
like ANSWER, which has traditionally held one of the strongest stances
on Palestine amongst the predominant anti-war coalitions, and the
historical weaknesses of the white left to deal with issues of racism
and national oppression, it is not likely that initiative on this
struggle will come from these forces. Leadership for
this initiative must come from the oppressed nationalities contained in
the US (as rightfully it should, as ultimately we are and will be our
own liberators) to move and advance the stance and agenda of the entire
US Left.
In the spirit of solidarity
and mutual aid, this is a call imploring Afrikan (i.e. the Afrikan
Anti-Zionist Front needs to be reignited), Latino, Asian, Pacific
Islander, and 1st Nation organizations and peoples to organize and
mobilize in support of the Palestinian people against ethnic cleansing
and genocide in Gaza. To prevent this impending crime against humanity,
we must educate our forces about this impending danger and ask of them
that they take action by conducting teach-in's, rallies, marches,
direct actions, and boycotts that confront Zionist interests and those
of their political and financial supporters here in the US. A national
day of action, I also firmly believe is necessary, calling on all of
the forces of the US Left, in November or December of 2007 to send a
clear message to the Bush regime, the Zionists, and imperialists to let
them know the world is watching and won't tolerate ethnic cleansing and
genocide anywhere.
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