YCL-LJC Salutes the Palestinian people on Nakba Day

Central Executive Committee, May 14th 2020

This statement was originally published on YCL-LJC.ca

On Nakba Day, The YCL-LJC reiterates its wholehearted support for the Palestinian people, and strongly condemns Israel’s occupation and annexation of Palestinian lands. Nakba Day is a day of commemoration for Palestinians who faced mass displacement following the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced out of their towns and villages, many of which were entirely depopulated and destroyed. For 72 years, the Palestinian people have been fighting for recognition of their own state in the image of their national aspirations. Throughout this time, the Israeli apartheid state has organized the deadliest raids, in total violation of human rights and in total violation of international law.

UBC Students Vote Yes to BDS for Justice and Liberation!

Special from YCL Vancouver

This week (April 3-7), the University of British Columbia (UBC) is faced with an important referendum for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS). Proposed by the UBC chapter of the social justice group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), BDS is a call by Palestinian activists for justice and equality. BDS recognizes that Palestinians currently live under an apartheid regime imposed by Israel. Israel is occupying Palestinian land and denying the right of return, a fundamental human right, to Palestinians. The call for BDS is a call to end 70 years of oppression.

Ontario’s Education Minister condemns BDS, supporting apartheid education

Peter Miller

On May 19th, a motion given to the Ontario Legislature titled the “Standing Up Against Anti-Semitism in Ontario Act” was defeated 39 - 18. Bill 202 would have blacklisted supporters of the Palestinian led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement by prohibiting public institutions from working with people who support BDS. The Bill also would have specifically prohibited colleges and universities from enacting BDS because of the movement's success in getting students and student unions to support BDS through general meetings and referendums. Not only was the Bill a McCarthyite attack on democratic rights and those fighting for human rights in Palestine, but the Bill also spread misinformation, stating supporters of BDS are “anti-Semitic” and call for the boycott of Jewish businesses, which has never been the case.

Action Alert! Canadians Kevin Neish and Robert Lovelace kidnapped by the Israeli Navy

Freedom Flotilla III participants on the way to Gaza before
the Israeli Navy's piracy

Special to Rebel Youth

Robert Lovelace and Kevin Neish are two Canadians among at least 16 other participants of the "Freedom Flotilla III" who were kidnapped in international waters this morning. The boat they were on, the Swedish "MV Marianne" was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, including solar panels and medical equipment.

Robert Lovelace is a retired chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and an adjunct lecturer at Queen's University. Kevin Neish is a retired marine biologist from Victoria, BC, whose lifelong solidarity work has taken him to Cuba, Colombia, Central America and Palestine. According to his blog which has detailed the journey so far, his motivation is that "In a nutshell, I just don’t like bullies, regardless of their colour,  religion, size, nationality or race." Lovelace has described the situations for Palestinians living in Gaza as living “in the world’s largest Indian reservation”.

How Israel became Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on Decolonization

By Adrien Welsh

What did Big Brother say in 1984? "War is peace", right? Well, today we can say "decolonization is colonization"...

It happened in secret, with little noise on June 18th. During the election of the six committees of the General Assembly of the United Nations, a wild political oxymoron emerged: Israel, an occupying power, was elected vice-chair of a committee for the rights of the Palestinian people and the occupied territories. The corresponding document, a statement to the UN, states that, "despite the strong opposition of the Group of Arab States, Mr. Mordechai Amohai, of Israel, was today elected Vice Chairman of the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly on Special Political and Decolonization”.

This move was tasteless joke in the face of the Israeli criminal operation "Protective Edge" which has left over 2,000 dead and over 10,000 wounded (08/19/14) and has brought Gaza farther towards its full destruction.

We must force Harper to reject war crimes in Gaza (Upcoming protests)

by Drew Garvie

July 11th Protest in Toronto

As Palestinian casualties approach 200 deaths from one week of the intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza, actions and protests across the globe are demanding an end to the Zionist murder of civilians.

The Young Communist League of Canada - Ligue de la jeunesse communiste du Canada released a statement yesterday condemning condemning "Operation Protective Edge" and calling for a just peace in Palestine.

In the statement it points out that the Conservative government has fully endorsed the ongoing war crimes being committed in Gaza: "as an imperialist country, member of the criminal alliance of NATO and colonizer of Indigenous territories, Canada seized this occasion to reiterate its unconditional support of Israel - more and more vocal under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Its diplomacy has been only focused on one side of this conflict, emphasizing the launching of rockets by Hamas, while supporting all the deaths and illegal operations by Israel’s occupation army".

McMaster students extend an olive branch to Palestine as the struggle continues

Edward Lovo,
Special to Rebel Youth

Beside the rubble—perhaps a Palestinian home once stood there—olive trees grow. Beside highways, roads where for years Palestinians could not even traverse by foot, shrubby boughs of olive trees overhang the asphalt.

On Gazan soil, where Palestinians inhaled burning phosphorus into their lungs, trees bear olives ripe for the picking. These trees bear more than olives: memory is born into its bark.

As if to unravel the colonial tapestry of tales that spoke of a barren Palestine, the trees roots latch onto an earth which has born the brunt of the occupation. In the Mediterranean basin, what does it mean for Palestinians to extend an olive branch?

Bravo United Church, says Montréal Palestinian-Jewish group

Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) wishes to add its voice to those who congratulate the United Church of Canada for passing the motion calling for the boycott of products issuing from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In so doing, the United Church of Canada confirms its solidarity with Palestinian civil society’s call in 2005 for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. It is also the United Church of Canada’s statement of commitment to the principle of human rights and the rule of international law.

PAJU also congratulates the United Church of Canada for refusing to be intimidated by the fear-mongering and fundamental dishonesty of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and other Zionist organizations who use the epithet of ‘anti-Semitism’ as an instrument for beating down those who would stand against the institutionalized racism practiced against the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. The United Church of Canada stands on the same ground as Israeli human-rights groups such as B’Tselem, Gush Shalom, Yesh Gvul, Rabbis for Human Rights, Alternative Information Center and others.

The United Church of Canada’s decision to boycott goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements is also important in that it follows similar boycott motions adopted by the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. For Palestinian and Jewish Unity, the United Church of Canada’s action lends credence to PAJU’s own boycott campaign against Naot Shoes which has a manufacturing center in the Gush Etzion block of Israeli settlements near Hebron in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

65th anniversary of 'the catastrophe': "The Nakba is ongoing for today's Palestinians"

In commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, Rebel Youth republishes this article by Ramzy Baroud which appeared in the Morning Star in May 2012.

The event marks the expulsion of nearly a million Palestinians, while their villages were destroyed. The destruction of Palestine in 1947-8 ushered in the birth of Israel.

Older generations relay the harsh and oppressive memory of their collective experience to younger Palestinians, many of whom live their own Nakbas today.

In covering the Nakba, sympathetic Arab and other media play sad music and show black and white footage of displaced, frightened refugees. They rightly emphasise the concept of Sumud, steadfastness, as they show Palestinians of all ages holding onto the rusty keys of their homes and insisting on their right of return.

Other, less sympathetic, media discuss the Nakba as a side note - a nuisance in the Israeli narrative of a nation's supposedly miraculous birth and its progression to an idyllic oasis of democracy.

What such reductionist representations often fail to show is that the Nakba never truly finished.

Those who underwent the pain and loss of the Nakba are yet to receive the justice that was promised to them by the international community.

UN Resolution 194 states that "the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date."

Those who wrought this injustice are also yet to achieve their ultimate objectives in Palestine. After all, Israel doesn't have defined boundaries by accident.

Israel's first prime minister David Ben Gurion once prophesied that "the old [refugees] will die and the young will forget."

He spoke with the harshness of a conqueror. Ben Gurion carried out his war plans to the furthest extent possible.

Every region in Palestine that was meant to be taken was captured, its people were expelled or massacred in their homes and villages.

Ben Gurion "cleansed" the land but he failed to cleanse Israel's past. Memory persists.

Ben Gurion referenced my own family's village Beit Daras, which witnessed three battles and a massacre.

In an entry in his diaries on May 12 1948, he wrote: "Beit Daras was mortared. Fifty Arabs [were killed]. The [villages of] Bashit and Sawafir were occupied. There is mass exodus from nearby areas [in Majdal]. We sustained five dead and 15 wounded."

More than 50 people were killed in Beit Daras that day.

An old Gazan woman, Um Mohammed, who I discussed in my book My Father Was A Freedom Fighter, refers to what is likely the same event: "The town was under bombardment and it was surrounded from all directions. There was no way out.

"The armed men [the Beit Daras fighters] said they were going to check on the road to Isdud to see if it was open.

"They moved forward and shot few shots to see if someone would return fire. No-one did. But they [the zionist forces] were hiding and waiting to ambush the people.

"The armed men returned and told the people to evacuate the women and children. The people went out [including] those who were gathered at my huge house, the family house. There were mostly children and kids in the house.

"The Jewish [soldiers] let the people get out and then they whipped them with bombs and machine guns. More people fell than those who were able to run.

"My sister and I ... started running through the fields - we'd fall and get up. My sister and I escaped together holding each other's hands.

"The people who took the main road were either killed or injured. The firing was falling on the people like sand. The bombs from one side and the machine guns from the other."

Ben Gurion would not necessarily doubt Um Mohammed's account. He candidly stated: "Let us not ignore the truth ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves...

"The country is theirs because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country."

It is precisely for this reason that neither the old nor the young have forgotten.

Every day is another manifestation of the same protracted Nakba that has lasted 64 years now. Young people's hardships today are inextricably linked to the violent and horrific uprooting decades ago.

The Nakba has also remained an ongoing project through generations of Israeli zionists.

When Ben Gurion died in 1973, current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in his mid-twenties.

He was then serving his last year in the Israeli army and today he rules Israel in a coalition that includes almost three-quarters of the Israeli parliament.

Like most Israeli leaders, he continues to contribute to the discourse by which Palestine was conquered.

He speaks of peace, while his soldiers and armed settlers take over Palestinian homes and farms.

He makes repeated offers to Palestinians for "unconditional" talks, as he repeats his violent rejection of every Palestinian aspiration.

His lobby in Washington is much stronger than ever before. He reigns supreme, as he continues to fulfil the "vision" of early zionists.

Old keys and deeds of stolen lands attest to the intergenerational experience that is the Nakba.

Today Palestinians continue to be herded behind military checkpoints. They are denied the right to proper medical care and their ancient olive trees are ruthlessly bulldozed.

What Israel has not been able to control, however, is the resolve of Palestinians. The prison, the checkpoint and the gun reside in our collective memory in a way that cannot be held captive, controlled or shot.

In fact, the Nakba is not a specific date or an estimation of time but the entirety of those 64 years and counting.

The event must not be assigned to the shelves of history - not as long as refugees are still refugees and settlers continue to rob Palestinian land.

As long as Netanyahu speaks the language of Ben Gurion, other "catastrophic" episodes will follow. And as long as Palestinians hold onto their keys and deeds, the old may die but the young will never forget.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).

Listen to the Palestinian students Jian: An open letter to a CBC Radio host

A young Jian Ghomeshi sings the 'Gulf War Song'
in 1994 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with his band Moxy Fruvous

Dear Jian Ghomeshi
By David Heap

It's been a long time, but I remember marching with you (and many others) in Toronto, against the Gulf War -- the first one, in the early 1990s. Back then we all went to Moxy Früvous gigs around campus, and listened your recordings. When I recently found a way to go back and play old songs we only have on cassette (remember cassettes?) I had an opportunity to explain to my kids that there was a Gulf War before the Gulf War that they knew about marching against.

Last time we heard you perform, it was again your haunting "Gulf War Song" which you sang at the Pete Seeger tribute concert at Massy Hall in Toronto (later in the 1990s). You seemed pretty excited to be on stage with Pete, and we were vicariously proud to see you there too. In 2011 Pete joined the growing number of artists who publicly support the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, which includes the cultural boycott of events that support the Israeli occupation. Like many of your former fans (we listen to your radio show too when we can, but in part because of the music from past decades), I am calling on you to do the same now. 

We'd be very proud and happy again if you would join Pete and the others in standing up for justice for Palestinians.

This would of course mean turning down the invitation from Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University to appear at their event this week, an event which legitimates many aspects of that occupation. Awkward to turn down an invitation on such short notice, perhaps -- but nowhere near as "awkward" as the situation of Palestinian students at the Hebrew University. Those students and their federations (remember student federations Jian? unlike cassettes, they are still around) have already written to you in great detail about their conditions, so I will just point out that they (like so many other Palestinians, young and old) do not enjoy the freedoms you and I did as students. Freedoms to march, to perform their music and engage other cultural activities, freedom to their own cultural and political identities, even the freedom to study as they wish.

Those Palestinian students will not win their rights this week or even this year, but as Pete sings in the "Maple Syrup Song" you covered for his 2001 tribute album, anything worthwhile takes a little time. The question is, will you stand with them now?

You have a chance today to side publicly with justice and against oppression, cultural and political. A lot of your fans are hoping you will turn down this invitation, and I am among them.

You can write to Jian at q@cbc.ca or jian.ghomeshi@cbc.ca

Activist speaks out against SAIA ban at the University of Manitoba

Rebel Youth is reprinting the below letter from an activist and alumni of the University of Manitoba, against the latest attempt to muzzle speech exposing US-Israeli war crimes and atrocities in occupied Palestine on Canadian campuses. 

Zionists at the University of Manitoba in the university’s Student Union (UMSU) reciently passed a resolution {read the motion here} to ban the Student Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) and its activities from campus on April 11, in a 19-16 divided vote, against the legal advice of the student union’s lawyer.

As the website PalestinianConference.org reported, "the ill-worded resolution claims that most 'Jewish and Israeli members of the UMSU are Zionists which … are supporters of Zionism, international movement for the support of Israel.' It further claimed that “Zionists are a "group of persons" who have national characteristics, Israel being a nation-state.'"

This happened shortly after a student union elections campaign focused on silencing supporters of Palestine. Many Jews and Israelis – students at the University of Manitoba or otherwise – are not Zionist, and this statement attempts to conflate religious identity and national origin with a specific, and racist, political ideology.

As Amy Darwish, a U of M student of Jewish and Palestinian ancestry, wrote:

progressive Jewish students like me are part of Israeli Apartheid Week in many campuses. We believe Palestinians and Jews should have equal rights, and are not afraid to criticize Israel’s actions. 

This year, Israeli Apartheid Week was held in more than 100 cities, featuring workshops, film screenings, conferences and cultural events aiming to build momentum around the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against Israeli racial discrimination which we call apartheid. During these events, IAW activists maintain firm anti-harassment policies, and opposition to all forms of discrimination, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Sign a letter to support U of M SAIA here: http://ijvcanada.org/stop-the-campus-censorship-palestine/

Statement from Paul Burrows:

I am an alumnus of the U of M, a former UMSU Council member, and former member of the GSA executive. All I can say is that the recent motion to ban a student group for its political perspective is unprecedented, appalling, and a clear violation of core elements of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Furthermore, to do so based on the "feelings" of Council members who clearly have their own, diametrically-opposed, viewpoint on the Israel-Palestine conflict (i.e., they are not exactly non-partisan voices, but in fact self-identified "Zionists"), suggests further that the motion's claims of "harassment" are disingenuous at best.

As someone who was also a member of the Manitoba Coalition Against Racism and Apartheid, as well as Students Against Apartheid [i.e., in South Africa] back in the 1980s, I can honestly say that this motion does a disservice to genuine anti-racist work. By falsely equating criticism of the State of Israel with criticism of Jews, and erasing a long and rich history of Jewish anti-Zionism (including the fact that many members of SAIA and similar groups across the continent are Jewish), this motion weakens, rather than strengthens, efforts to combat genuine anti-Semitism.

I can also say that if a similar motion had been raised in 1989 to ban the original Students Against Apartheid at U of M campus -- ostensibly because white people's "feelings" were being hurt, and they felt "discriminated" against by virtue of the simple fact that South Africa's white supremacist apartheid system was being criticized -- such a motion would have been laughed out of Council chambers, and seen for what it was: a pro-apartheid ruse.

This ban will not stand -- not just because we have a Charter in this country that magnanimously "grants" us things such as free expression, freedom of association, and so on. But more importantly, because most people today believe those rights to be innate and self-evident, regardless of what the "Law" is said to confer. I predict that this motion will, in fact, increase the membership of SAIA, provoke a lawsuit against UMSU, and ultimately blowback against the foolish architects of this obtuse, authoritarian gambit. In the future, I would suggest the self-described Zionists who drafted this motion stick to old-fashioned exercises, such as actually *debating* their adversaries. I realize that might require inconvenient things like: facts, arguments, logic, and even moral underpinnings. But these have never been the strong suit of those on the wrong side of social justice. No wonder, then, that they -- and their favoured State of Israel -- have typically resorted to more blunt instruments.

Upcoming World Festival of Youth and Students to Honor Chavez

With sources from Juventude Rebelde

From December 7th to 13th, Quito Ecuador will host the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, where the participants will pay homage to Venezuelan late President Hugo Chavez Frias.

Read some fast facts about Ecuador and Quito here.

This was one of the top agreements taken yesterday during the final session of the first international preparatory meeting for the Festival held in Pretoria, South Africa, with the participation of some one hundred delegates from over 40 regional, national and international youth and students organizations.

Basic framework of the festival now established

The IPM, by R. Weldeab via Twitter

Juan Francisco Torres, chair of the Preparatory Committee of the host country, spoke about issues related to logistics and about how Ecuador and particularly its youth activists are getting ready for the meeting. Most of the Festival's locations will be in down town Quito, within about 20 minutes walk.

The delegations also approved the call to the world youth for the festival, as well as the topics for debates, and the slogan "Youth united against imperialism, for peace, solidarity and social transformation."

"In the past and present youth has always played a vital role in the struggle of all societies for progress and social justice. The youth was militantly present in the greatest struggles of the peoples for peace, solidarity and social transformation. In a world where imperialism presents itself as inevitability, the anti-imperialist struggle proves that the youth chooses its own future. The 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, which will take place in Ecuador, is the space for the young women and men of the World to unite their voices against imperialism," the call says.

The causes of Palestine, Western Sahara will also be emphasized at the festival. These issues "form a direct, precise, and clear view of imperialism ambitions and actions of destruction," documents coming out of the meeting agreed, stressing that "the festival shows different forms of struggle and one of which is solidarity against occupation and with peoples’ self-determination."

"Cultural and musical events must also be highlighted," an initial planning document said, noting that "Musical bands and cultural groups from different organizations must be encouraged to attend the festival."

The date and place of the next international preparatory meetings (IPM's) were also agreed on Tuesday: in Spain in June and in India in September.

At the end of the meetings, South Africa— former host of the 17th festival— pasted on the flag of the World Festival of Youth and Students Movement to Ecuador.

Honouring famous revolutionaries

Symbolically, the Youth Festival will also be devoted to Ecuadorian national hero Eloy Alfaro and to Kwame Nkrumah.

José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (June 25, 1842 – January 28, 1912) served as President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. For his central role in the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and for having fought conservatism for almost 30 years, he is known as the Viejo Luchador.  His principal accomplishments include the introduction of the principle of secularism, constitutional changes allowing freedom of speech, the legalization of civil marriage and divorce, and the right to a free and secular education in Ecuador. 

Eloy Alfaro's memory was honoured in Canada last year with a guest lecture at the University of Ottawa. A statue to the man is also to be erected in Ottawa.

Kwame Nkrumah was the founder and first President of Ghana, and leader of Pan-Africanism, the half-a century movement for the defence of Africa’s independence and unity.  Nkrumah became an international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first black African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule. As midnight struck on March 5, 1957 and the Gold Coast became Ghana, Nkrumah declared: "our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent."  

Deposed some years later in a coup, Nkrumah is still honoured around the world. (Kwantlen University in Vancouver, for example, organizes an international conference on Africa themed around Nkrumah).

OCLAE leader praises choices

In statements to the International News Agency, Ricardo Guardia Lugo, member of the Cuban delegation to the festival, said that Eloy Alfaro hero and Kwame Nkrumah are very well known by Cuban people since they are very close to that countries history.

Guardia is also a member of the National Secretariat of the University Students Federation (FEU), and works with the Continental, Latin American, and Caribbean Students Organization (OCLAE), a regional platform that brings together and represents more than 100 million students.

Lugo spoke about the close friendship which united Ecuadorian Eloy Alfaro and Cuban José Martí. Marti is a national hero of Cuba. He fought for the independence of that island country from Spain during the nineteenth century and won the support of Eloy Alfaro.

Kwame Nkrumah was also the first African president to meet with President Fidel Castro in 1960 at the Hotel Theresa in New York (when both were in the United States to attend the fifteenth session of the UN General Assembly). His country, Ghana, was just a year earlier the first sub-Saharan African country to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Solidarity with Israeli Apartheid Week, free Palestine!

Statement by the International Commission, YCL

The Canadian government's position on Israel has gone from shamefully silent to actively supportive of violence, occupation and apartheid in the few short years of the Harper Conservative Party regime. The latest of the Harper government’s attack on the Palestinian people is voting against the UN’s recognition of Palestine as a state. The Canadian government, along with just a handful of other countries, including the US and Israel, voted against making Palestine a non-member observer state.Canada’s Minister of foreign affairs, John Baird, stated that official recognition of Palestine “will undermine the objective of reaching a comprehensive, lasting and just settlement for both sides”.

Harper’s blind support of this violent and racist government is in fact accomplishing the opposite. By actively supporting the Israeli government, Harper is supporting the recent war ("Operation Pillar of Defense") that saw hundreds of Palestinian murdered, including children. Israeli "strategic" targets included soccer stadiums, media stations, and bureaucratic offices. The Canadian government's support continues the degradation and oppression of Palestine, perpetuating the cycle of poverty, violence and racism against the Palestinian people, which increases violence. The Conservatives support contributes to Israel’s continued actions that do nothing but further escalate the conflict in the region, creating further bloodshed that is crippling the Palestinian people.

The Harper government’s position on the Zionist Israeli war machine is in line with the US, the Christian far-right, and the world’s largest multi-national corporations. This position undermines Palestinians, the Middle East, and the Canadian people; only 19% of Canadians believe that Canada should even support the state of Israel. Canadians have strongly supported the Freedom Flotilla and now the Gaza Ark project. Moreover, the vast majority of the world supports Palestinian statehood.

The Harper government continues to embarrass the Canadian people and further isolate Canada from the rest of the world. Harper’s continued support of Israel is yet another example of Canada becoming a 'rogue state' in the international community, where the government's persistent deviance on climate change action towards a self-serving policy of stalling world-wide climate change negotiations, cutting off all diplomatic ties with Iran and the backing of repressive regimes in the Middle East, are only a few.

We continue to stand in full solidarity with the sovereign Palestinian people in their demand for full statehood immediately with East Jerusalem as the capital. Swift and just peace can not be brought about until there is immediate cessation and withdrawal of all settlements and dismantlement of the Israeli Apartheid Wall, release of all Palestinian political prisoners and detainees, guarantee of the right of return, and at a minimum respect of the 1967 Green Line boundaries.

We salute the thousands of Palestinian detainees who succeeded, by their hunger strike, in helping expose the occupation -- they had to hunger strike just to wing very basic humanitarian conditions inside the jails. We salute the Union of Palestinian Democratic Youth and their comrade Samer Issawi who is on hunger strike for 222 days, since he was re-arrested and held without a conviction (after being released in the 2011 Shalit’s Deal prisoner exchange after almost ten years in jail). We also express our solidarity with George Abdallah, a Lebanese left-wing militant in arbitrarily in jail in France for 29 years, since 1984, because of his opposition to the occupation. Abdallah has been denied parole requests since 1999 and, while granted release by French courts this decision has been twice over-ruled by the French foreign minister.

It’s important for the youth, student and other progressive forces in Canada to stay informed, engaged and pressure the Harper government on this issue. In this direction the YCL endorses with full support Israeli Aparthied Week being held on campuses across Canada and now around the world. The Young Communist League of Canada demands that the Harper Conservative government reverse its attack on the people of Palestine and their demand to become truly independent and sovereign, with full support both financially and diplomatically. Until this is won, the YCL will continue to mobilize in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.

Official Trailer for Israeli Apartheid Week 2013

Featuring Rafeef Ziadah, Naomi Klein, Abir Kopty Salim Vally and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi
Visit: http://www.apartheidweek.org for the full international schedule.
The song is dark tunnels phil monsour.

Palestinian Communists say: Independence Now!

Independence now is the direct goal following the recognition of the state of Palestine as an observer at the UN.

December 30, 2012

The Palestinian People's Party Central Committee held its regular meeting which discussed in details the entire developments affecting the Palestinian cause at the present phase. The Central Committee also reviewed the changes in the region and their ramifications on the Palestinian cause; in addition, it discussed the step that should come after the "non-member state" status of Palestine at the UN.

   The meeting discussed the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip which led to the martyrdom of 200 citizens, including dozens of women and children, and the injury of hundreds of citizens, and the destruction of dozens of homes and installations. The Central Committee extended a salute to the martyrs of the Palestinian people and wished fast recovery to the injured, and freedom to the heroic prisoners inside the occupation prisons. The Central Committee expressed pride in the steadfastness of our people who confronted the aggression, and praised the magnificent popular unity and solidarity of our people who continue to cling to their legitimate rights and reject all schemes that aim to divide our people.

   The Central Committee saluted our people in the Diaspora refugee camps, especially the camps in Syria, calling for more efforts to keep them away from the atrocities of the conflict in Syria and stressing on the need to protect them and provide them with relief supplies.

   The Central Committee extended congratulations to the Palestinian people on Christmas and New Year celebrations and the anniversary of the Palestinian revolution. The Central Committee discussed the ongoing preparations to hold the fifth conference of the party and decided on a series of organizational measures to this effect.

   At the conclusion of its meeting, the Palestinian People's Party Central Committee issued the following statement:

FIRST

The Palestinian People's Party Central Committee believes that the step at the UN to achieve the member status for the state of Palestine or attain the non-member status, and the Palestinian position rejecting to resume negotiations without halt of settlements and compliance to the UN resolutions, aimed to cause a core change in the rules of the political process and its framework; it also aimed to improve the Palestinian position in light of the current balance of powers and the peace process which was exploited by the Israeli occupation to consolidate occupation and settlements.

   The current Palestinian position aims to reach a new unified Palestinian strategy towards achieving the legitimate and inalienable rights of our people in self-determination and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital and ensuring the rights of the Palestinian refugees, mainly the right of return according to Resolution 194.

   The Central Committee pointed out that the success in mobilizing international support towards the recognition of the state of Palestine as non-member state at the UN aimed to achieve the following:

1- To stress on the role of the international community, mainly the UN, and its responsibility for implementing its decisions and achieving peace in the region, especially in light of Israel's rejection of any UN role and its insistence to reproduce the negotiations process according to the same old formula and framework which led to its failure in the past, and in light of the Israeli attempts to exploit the peace process to execute more settlement expansion and impose new facts on the ground.

2- To stress on the terms of reference that pertain to the negotiations issues in accordance with the UN resolutions and the international will, mainly to define the borders of the Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with al-Quds as its capital, according to the borders of June 4 th , 1967. Such an approach would block the Israeli attempts to consider the changes on the ground as basis for any negotiations process and the claim that these territories are disputed lands. In this context, the Central Committee believes that the UN and its organizations have to regain their role in any future political process. The resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council have to be the terms of reference, including the end of the occupation on the Palestinian state territories as recognized by the UN and recognizing the borders of the Palestinian state and its capital and to reject settlements in all their forms on the Palestinian state territories.

3- To reiterate the goal of establishing the Palestinian state and the unity of its territories amid the attempts to detach and isolate Gaza Strip from the West Bank, especially since the Israeli unilateral withdrawal from Gaza Strip, and through the intensification of settlement activities in the West Bank. There is also the Israeli scheme to Judaize Jerusalem and the siege imposed on Gaza Strip. All this is happening while there is internal split between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, thus endangering the project of the Palestinian state and regression of international support to it.

4- To reinforce the UN resolutions and invest their benefits in improving the legal, political and diplomatic capacity to struggle against the Israeli occupation. This can be done through developing bilateral relations and recognitions of the state of Palestine and upgrading the level of diplomatic representation, and through joining international agreements and treaties and in the UN organizations. Such efforts can reinforce international recognition in the state of Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people; they also provide a chance to track down Israel for its continuous violations to the International Law and the international Humanitarian Law.

5- To refuse the attempts that aim to transform the Palestinian Authority, which was established as a temporary interim authority, into a permanent authority under occupation. On the contrary, efforts must be exerted to achieve the goal of establishing the Palestinian state and garner international recognition towards Palestine full membership at the UN, and end the occupation on its land, which is an urgent task of the Palestinian state. There is also a need to reconsider the agreements and commitments of the PA with Israel, and this must come to protect the Palestinian achievements in building the PA institutions on the path to build the independent state.

SECOND 

The Central Committee stressed that achieving the above-mentioned issues means that the direct central task of the national movement is the immediate end of the occupation and the independence of the Palestinian state which was recognized by the UN; all this must go in line with the struggle to realize the right of return for the Palestinian refugees in accordance with Resolution 194; therefore, the motto of the current phase is Independence Now and we have to mobilize all efforts of the Palestinian people in order to achieve this and we need also to work towards finding the Arab and international solidarity elements; this can be done through:

At the Palestinian level:

1- To start organizing large-scale centralized popular moves that can begin with mass protests and sit-ins until they reach massive demonstrations in all the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It must be a growing process that can create a comprehensive movement of popular resistance against the occupation under the slogan of "Ending the Occupation and Realizing the Palestinian State". It is important that Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are included in these moves in order to portray and reflect the unity of the Palestinian people around the goal of establishing the state. In order to do so, we have to unify the bodies of popular resistance and build a unified front for popular resistance from all the forces; we need also to form a central command for this front that assumes the responsibility of leading and organizing and guiding these popular moves at the central level. Poplar committees and bodies need to be established also in the districts; we can also gain from the rich experience of our people in the struggle and make use of the morale that followed the Gaza battle and the voting at the UN. This requires also mobilizing support to the Palestinian people inside the homeland and in the Diaspora, as the conditions allow in each area.

2- To accelerate work and end the internal split and build national unity on the basis of a joint struggle program and implement what has been agreed upon in Cairo and use it as basis to deal with all developments; to make use of the positive atmosphere that emerged following the aggression on Gaza and the voting at the UN.

In this context, the Palestinian People's Party calls for:

* To accelerate steps and hold the command meeting in order to activate the PLO; this meeting includes the general secretaries of the factions and the Executive Committee and the Speaker of the Palestinian National Council and some independent figures; at the conclusion of this meeting, the participants must announce the steps that aim to end the internal split.

* To form an establishing council for the Palestinian state on a temporary basis (it might be for one year). This council includes the members of the PLO Central Council and the Palestinian Legislative Council and national figures. This should be an interim phase until holding the Palestinian National Council and legislative elections and presidential elections.

* To form a national reconciliation government on the basis of the new situation, including the possibility of reducing the size of the government, taking into consideration the former decision of the Central Council regarding the Palestinian state government.

* To interact with all Palestinian people and communities and mobilize the potentials of the Palestinian people and activate the PLO role, including activating and holding elections in its unions and bodies.

3- At the Palestinian Authority level:

* To reconsider the commitments of the PA with Israel, especially in the security and economic fields, and in all other matters, including services, and start work to implement this according to a well defined plan.

* The PA has to focus its priorities on supporting the popular movement as mentioned above and support the steadfastness of the people when confronting the increasing occupation measures and offer them basic services in the health and education fields and amend the PA priorities and plan on this basis.

* To adopt an emergency financial budget in order to confront the situation and its priorities and recruit funds externally and internally and link the whole process of spending with the requirements and priorities of the above-mentioned plan and program.

* The elements of this plan are based on the following: collective responsibility for the financial burden and this means that the lower-income employees must not bear the burden alone; to support the health, social and education services and secure the minimum level of financial resources; to guide the legitimate popular moves against the occupation steps of stealing the PA funds; this must be a step and part of the struggle to end the occupation; to discuss all legal moves to hold Israel accountable at the international level; to achieve consensus on this plan with the popular sectors and this should be part of the current efforts to hold a socio-economic conference.

4- To start making changes in the PA institutions in a manner that matches the new status of the state of Palestine.

THIRD

At the Arab and international level

- To interact and communicate with the Arab brotherly peoples and their democratic forces and make use of the current transformations in the Arab world in order to garner support to the struggle of the Palestinian people.

- To focus the Palestinian efforts on boycotting Israel and imposing sanctions on it because of the continuous occupation, the aggression, the ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination.

- To interact with the international solidarity forces and the boycott movements and form a unified committee that can work with them in order to organize a centralized international solidarity campaign based on boycott and the decision of The Hague.

- To interact with the representatives of the Arab parties and forces and coordinate with them to this effect.

FOURTH

At the level of international agreements and organizations and diplomatic struggle:

- To work with the UN in order to end the occupation and cling to this demand and push towards imposing sanctions on Israel which violates the international law and denies all UN resolutions.

- To start work towards joining the international agreements that assist in exposing the occupation and holding it accountable for violating human rights and war crimes and for attacking civilians, mainly Geneva Third and Fourth Conventions and Rome Charter and other agreements.

- To join all international organizations and UN bodies, mainly the committees and commissions that work to support our struggle against occupation, such as the ICC; this work should be part of an integrated agreed upon plan.

- To activate cases and special meetings of the UN organizations, mainly to head towards the Security Council on the issue of settlements. To call for the resumption of the conference of the high contracting parties to the Geneva Convention. To call on the UN General Assembly to assume its responsibilities in the context of (Uniting for Peace) and other steps that demand from the UN to use its role and charter towards the end of the occupation on the Palestinian state lands and achieve the rights of the Palestinian people.

- To activate all causes and potential efforts to impose sanctions on Israel because it continues to violate the international charters.

FIFTH

The negotiations:

* The Central Committee warned of the attempts to push the Palestinian side to return to negotiations; this might undermine the success that has been achieved at the UN; the Central Committee calls for linking any such call with the halt of settlements and to abide by the international resolutions and secure that the UN sponsor any future negotiations on the basis of negotiations between two states with the aim of ending the occupation of the lands of the Palestinian state and resolve the issue of the refugees on the basis of Resolution 194.

“5 Broken Cameras” Documentary Review

Peter Miller

Ever since the latest assault by Israel on Gaza, which resulted in over 130 Palestinian deaths, and displayed the terror used by the Israeli Government in order to perpetuate the colonization of Palestine, more and more Canadians have started to question Canada’s unconditional support of Israel.

Now two documentaries critical of Israel, “5 Broken Cameras” and “The Gatekeepers” are nominated for the Academy Awards as best documentary film.

“5 Brocken Cameras” follows the story of Emad Burnat as he films his village’s resistance to a separation fence implemented by Israel that expropriated Palestinian agricultural land. The film is structured around the destruction of Burnat’s 5 cameras that occur between 2005 and 2009. At one point, Burnat’s camera saves his life when a bullet is fired into it as he is filming.

The documentary displays an inspiring, non-violent resistance from villagers in Bil’in, who received solidarity from around the world as they protested the occupation of their agricultural land. Emad Burnat and many of the villagers are unemployed and live off the land, harvesting olive trees. Therefore, losing their land brings great hardship to the people in Bil’in.  The documentary shows the tremendous courage of the Palestinian protestors, who face relentless repression by Israeli solders as they take part in weekly protests and direct action in order to get their land back.

Two of Burnat’s best friends are leaders of the resistance, and particularly inspiring. Bassem Abu Rahmah who also goes by Phil in the film, is loved by all the children in the village. Burnat’s filming reveals Phil’s kind-heartedness as he plays with children and jokes with his friends. It is amazing to see Phil act as such a strong, loving spirit encouraging fellow villagers to take part in the struggle, despite all of the hardship that has occurred.

Burnat’s other close friend is Adeeb Abu Rahmah. His bravery is shown many times. At one point he hugs an olive tree, demanding the soldiers turn around and leave the land. At another time he falls purposefully on the ground while in confrontation with Israeli Soldiers during a protest. He spreads his arms out and dares the soldiers to shoot him.  Soon after while still on the ground, he again begins demanding them to leave.

The inspiring film can also be hard to watch. Terrifying examples of Israel’s repression of Palestian protest are caught on Burnat’s camera. In nightly raids, Israeli soldiers arrest children in the village and take them away for the night in order to make them afraid of ever protesting again. During protests, shots are fired, and tear gas is always used. One of Burnat’s friends dies from a gunshot wound, 2 of his brothers are arrested, and at one point, Burnat’s camera captures a soldier shooting his brother at point blank in the leg, as other soldiers hold his brother down.

Burnat is targeted because his videography is documenting the gruesome repression of his villagers, and helping motivate solidarity around the world for Palestinian people. At one point he captures soldiers coming to his door in order to arrest him during a nightly raid. He is placed in house arrest at one point, and films himself during it because he has hardly anything else to do.

The film’s nomination in the Academy Awards is a positive development. Let’s hope that it’s nomination will cause more people to see it, and become witnesses to the colonization of Palestinian land by Israel. Let’s also hope that as more and more people watch this film they not only witness the repression of Palestinian people, but also are galvanized to take action against Canada’s unrelenting support of Israel’s crimes. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that that film wins at the Academy Awards and sends a message to Canadian and American people that our governments are on the wrong side of history when it comes to this conflict.

Discussion on strategy and tactics and the fight for peace

The following message was sent-out by a Manitoba correspondent from People's Voice Newspaper and offers the writers perspective about the current situation with some Canadian political parties and the war, as well as the importance of Syria. Rebel Youth is including the reflection for discussion and debate. Some questions to start debate, by RY, are also included.

As we wait for information about the next Gaza rally, check out the statement from the Communist Party about the situation. [You can also read the YCL statement here] The solution to the conflict must respect the working people of all nations in Israel's present boundaries, and those previously expelled.

It is important to see how the big political parties are perceiving the conflict, because it explains why no big party has called for a ceasefire. Perceptions are affecting their view of the urgency of talks to end the conflict:

• Harper's position is openly partisan (unbalanced), dishonest (portraying the Israeli people as the only victim) and pro-war. We can't expect the bigger opposition parties to criticize Harper when their portrayal of reality is so similar.
• The NDP's only statement this month on Gaza (read here) hides its view of who is escalating the conflict. It covers up the Israeli government's responsibility for war crimes against Gaza (breaking the ceasefire, targeted assassinations, disproportionate and illegal use of force, the continued occupation, etc).

In recent years, the NDP has supported some key UN resolutions relating to Israel, and it would have been useful to add them to this statement, showing leadership and vision for a way out.

Certainly, this is a time to pressure Israel both for a lasting ceasefire and to enter talks for a long-term solution, as noted here: "Canadians for Justice in Palestine and the Middle East laments politicians’ unwillingness to call for ceasefire."

Why Syria is important

Before getting to the Communist Party's statement about Gaza, some words about Syria where imperialism is stoking the civil conflict to monumental heights.

Imperialism is pretending it doesn't have a clue to whom it is giving weapons in Syria. These are people (many or most of whom are not Syrian) highly encouraged by imperialism's generous gifts of guns, who agree with imperialism that it was correct to boycott the Syrian elections in May and any kind of non-violent change. For now, they are motivated to agree there is only a military option to create social change in Syria, and are prepared to take many people to the grave with them believing in imperialism's professed humane intentions for Syria and its natural resources.

Compared to Netanyahu's Gaza aggression, launched while he's still piqued by Mitt Romney's loss, Syria is a bigger tipping point to a broader war against Iran (and through Iran, against Russia and China).

Implicit in the Communist Party's statement is the serious point that we need to look at imperialism's aggression in the Middle East as a whole. There is danger in emphasizing aggression against Iran and Gaza at the expense of Syria, which is also in flames and firmly targeted by imperialism.

Imperialism is continuing to plot and act against Syria, where more people often die daily than all who have died in the recent bombardment of Gaza by Israel. The last week has seen

• more discussion of a "no-fly" zone in Syria, which would produce a worse catastrophe than Libya
• discussion of setting up anti-aircraft artillery in Turkey to shoot down Syrian aircraft in Syria
• sending more funds and communication equipment to the "rebels" (UK)
• official recognition of a new unelected group of puppets who would take Syria over in the name of imperialism (Turkey, Gulf states, France, UK), much like how Karzai was appointed in 2001 to head up Afghanistan.

These are alarming and fast-moving developments, which point to the need to develop far greater awareness and action in solidarity with the sovereignty and people of Syria.

Discussion

1. The author starts with the situation and perspective of the Harper Conservatives and the NDP. What are the authors main points about this question? What are the main points of the Communist Party's statement on the bombing of Gaza? What are about the YCL statement?

2. Why do you think the Harper Conservative government is taking the position it is, for Israel? What about the NDP? Why do you think the NDP chose not to mention their previous policies? Do you agree with these decisions?

3. Are the positions of the Canadian government and opposition on international issues important to consider for youth and student activists working on international solidarity? Why or why not?

4. Part two of the reflection urges greater awareness of Syria. What do you think? Why has Gaza drawn more attention in Canada that the situation in Syria? What could more solidarity and action with the Syrian people look like?

On the recent murderous aggression against Gaza

The Young Communist League of Canada greets the announcement of a cease-fire in Gaza positively and the halt of the slaughter committed by Israel towards the Palestinian people over the past days.

We call on all youth and students who oppose war to remain vigilant less the aggression be restarted with a ground invasion. We urge youth and students to deny the Netanyahu government any credit or thanks for stopping the bombing, and re-double and continue our mobilization efforts to win a just peace in the Middle East.

Deliberately confusing the way forward to justice, imperialism and the corporate media has again tried to present the Israeli-Palestine conflict as a struggle of equals -- while the US government alone pours billions of dollars of military aid to maintain Apartheid Israel. This lie is wearing very thin. Youth should take note that the massive and rapid vocal support for the Palestinian cause in the streets of the world (including by pro-peace voices in Israel and the imperialist countries) was helpful and necessary to win this latest cease-fire.

We cannot have a repeat of 4 years ago where the Israeli state launched a 3 week massacre of 1,400 Palestinians (including over 300 children), targeted Palestinian civilians, destroyed civilian infrastructure and used weapons made illegal under international law.

This most recent attack could have also dangerously escalated into a broader regional conflict. We denounce the Harper Conservative government for immediately giving full diplomatic support for the bloodshed (and further note that, shamefully, the Mulcair New Democratic opposition did not even call for a cease-fire). In just a few days the bombing not only further shattered and wounded the social and economic fabric of Gaza -- which is already under siege like a giant prison-camp -- but also claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, including children and babies.

The so-called 'Operation Pillar of Defense,' coming between the US and Israeli elections, cannot be viewed separately from the continuous occupation of Palestine and the genocidal strategy of Zionism with the full support of imperialism. Since 1948 the people of Palestine have been fighting for their right of self- determination. As long as there is occupation there will be resistance.

The Young Communist League of Canada repeats our full support for a viable and truly independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, respecting the Green-line boundaries and including the right of return for all displaced Palestinians, the removal of all the illegal settlements, the total dismantlement of the infrastructure of the occupation like the Apartheid wall, and the de-militarization / de-nuclearization of Israel including its occupation of the Lebanese Shebaa Farms and the Syrian Golan.

Until this is won, the YCL will continue to mobilize in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, including voicing our support for the Palestinian statehood recognition bid at the United Nations and supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

November 22
YCL-LJC CEC

A poem for Gaza

Israeli and Greek Communist Parties Condemn Assault on Gaza

Israel: Demonstrations against deadly military operation in Gaza

Communist Party of Israel - Thursday Nov 15, 2012  

Hundreds gathered in protest outside Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Tel Aviv apartment complex on Wednesday night, following the Israeli deadly operation in Gaza. Another demonstration was held in Jerusalem, near the Prime minister's house. The activists among them several Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel) members chanted slogans such as: "Israel, Palestine, two states for two peoples," "Money for welfare, not war," "No war for tycoons," and "Defense minister, defense minister, how many kids did you kill today?" One of the placards waved at the protest referred to Barak as Israel's "No. 1 terrorist," while others called for an immediate cease-fire and an end to the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.

 
Amit Ashkenazi, a spokesman for Hadash's election campaign who participated in the demonstration, accused the government of taking a cynical step to raise support for the right wing ahead of the January 22 election. "This will only bring death to Palestinians and Israelis, and we call on everybody who is able to come stand by our side and fight against this step before civilians and soldiers on both sides are killed," he told the press. More protests were planned for Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa on Thursday, the Hadash spokesman said. On Wednesday, MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), strongly condemned the operation "The Netanyahu administration insists on not learning from experience," he said. "Assassinating leaders is never a solution. Leaders were assassinated in the past, and others came to replace them, and in the meantime a new round of blood and fire just began." He called for "serious negotiations" with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, alongside "a genuine, two-sided ceasefire agreement in the south."

Communist Party of Israel website (English):

http://maki.org.il/en/index.php

The Murderous Operations of Israel in The Gaza Strip 

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) - Thursday Nov 15, 2012

The KKE condemns the murderous military operations of Israel in the Gaza Strip. Operations, which are related to the effort to generalise the imperialist intervention and war at the expense of Syria and Iran, which the staffs of the USA, NATO, the EU and Israel have drawn up and are promoting, with the active assistance of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar.  

The KKE supports the struggle of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation. For an independent, viable, sovereign Palestinian state in the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. We still demand: The cessation of the settlements and the withdrawal of all the settlers who reside beyond the borders of 1967. The tearing down of the unacceptable wall. The right of return of all the Palestinian refugees to their homes, based on the related UN decisions. The lifting of every blockade of the Palestinians, on the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The immediate release of all the Palestinians and other political prisoners who are being held in Israeli gaols. The withdrawal of the Israeli army from all the occupied territories of 1967, including the Golan Heights and the Shebaa region in Southern Lebanon. 

 The KKE demands that the Greek government immediately cancel the military cooperation of our country with Israel. That the base at Suda close and more generally that the territory, ports and airspace of Greece not be provided for a war against Syria and Iran, which will lead to a great deal of bloodshed and destruction for the people of Greece and the other peoples of our region. 
The press office of the KKE CC



*Bolding of text by RY blog editors