October 10, 2023
Only history can place the October 7th Palestinian military action in Israel in its proper context – an act of self-defense in response to a steadily increasing, all-encompassing Israeli assault on Palestinians in the occupied territories, in general, and the “open-air prison” of Gaza in particular. The December 12th Movement International Secretariat strongly supports the Palestinian people in the righteous exercise of their internationally-guaranteed human rights..
Why Black people should be concerned
Black people cannot allow ourselves to be misguided by the U.S. government/mainstream media narrative of what is going on in the Middle East.
As with much of U.S. history, Israel began with a myth – “A land without a people, for a people without a land” – to justify its 1948 creation as a settler-colonial state. In many ways, the Palestinian struggle for liberation reflects our struggle in the U.S. Just as the U.S. government’s domestic policy has historically perpetrated and profited from Black people’s forcible oppression here. Its foreign policy does the same around the world, but particularly clearly in Palestine. The U.S. was instrumental in Israel’s establishment and the forced displacement of the Palestinians who lived there. It has unqualifiedly backed it with money, weapons, intelligence, aid, propaganda, and political cover ever since. Israel is the U.S.’s “eyes, ears, caretaker and bodyguard” in a critical oil-rich, non-white, non-European, geo-economic-political area.
Israel has now declared a “complete siege” on Gaza and has cut off water, electricity, fuel, and food to the already impoverished area. Israel has held Gaza in a state of siege for the last 17 years since Hamas began governing. Israel said that it will “exterminate” Hamas. Hamas is the government of Gaza, not simply a military force. Hamas is an integral part of the 2.4 million people of Gaza, an area the size of Detroit (population 620,000) and one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Israel cannot separate its extermination of Hamas from the people of Gaza. Nevertheless, President Biden “has Israel’s back.”
When the entire world has united to condemn Israeli atrocities, the U.S. “has its back.” Between 1972 and 2021, the United States vetoed over 53 UN resolutions against Israel. [i] Major international human rights organizations have accused Israel of being an apartheid regime.[ii] And this is not surprising as Israel was one of the few open supporters of the South African Apartheid state. Nevertheless, the U.S. “had its back.”
So, we must pay close attention to what is going on in the world, even if it seems unrelated to us. Malcolm X said if we fail to do so, we’ll treat our friends as enemies and our enemies as friends.
The Palestinian people are our friends.
We must:
- Demand that the CBC support the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and self-defense
- Condemn the Israeli State and colonial violence against the Palestinian people
- Demand that the U.S. end all aid to Israel
- Defend the Palestinian Movement and community in the U.S.
- Demand the Release of all (5000) Palestinian prisoners (including 1350 being held without charge or trial)
[i] UN Security Council Veto List; Newton, Creede, “A History of the U.S. Blocking UN Resolutions against Israel,” Al Jazeera, 5/19/2021
[ii] Amnesty International Report, “Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity,” 2/1/2022
December 12th Movement International Secretariat
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