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.

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".

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.

Exposing occupation

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events with the goal of educating people about the nature of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and also to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to end Israeli Apartheid and win a free Palestine.

Launched in Canada, IAW is now held in cities across the world. Israeli Apartheid week kick started in Guelph on Monday March 11 with a workshop titled Apartheid 101 by Greg Shupak, a sessional lecturer at Guelph. The discussion involved an overview of the conflict's history and its current dynamics as well as a look at how the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid applies to the situation.

After discussing the history of the conflict, Shupak provided participants with examples that shows Israel is committing apartheid. Shupak illustrated how the apartheid system affects Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.

Apartheid is defined by the UN as  “…a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group … over another … and systematically oppressing them…”.

Two aspects of apartheid are the “denial of a member or members of a racial group or groups the right to life” and imposing upon an ethnic group living conditions calculated to bring destruction. Shupak cited Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Cloud, and the Siege of Gaza as examples of the denial of the right to life for Palestinians.

During Operation Cast Lead that occurred December 2008 to January 2009, 1,400 Palestinians were killed, many from direct attacks on civilian targets. Operation Pillar of Cloud was another of example of collective punishment on the people of Gaza that occurred recently from November 14 to 21 last year. The conflict was instigated by Israel when Ahmad Abu Daqqa was killed by Israeli soldiers when playing soccer. Hamas and Israel were able to negotiate a cease fire shortly after, but Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari who negotiated the ceasefire with Israel was assassinated by Israeli soldiers. Israel brought many deaths and injuries to Gazans during this conflict as well.

The siege of Gaza has been in place since 2006. The siege is regarded as illegal by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and OXFAM. Canada was the first to accept the blockade, that goes as far as blocking the import of construction goods making it impossible for Gaza to rebuild infrastructure after being attacked by Israel. 61 percent of Gazans are food insecure according to the World Food Program, and the Red Cross states the blockade is an example of “collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international law.”

Another characteristic of apartheid discussed by Shupak  is the restriction of the right to freedom of movement for an ethnic group or groups. The restriction of the freedom of movement is a humiliating process for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians are subject to a checkpoint system, are made to have permits in order to be permitted to leave their own village, and there are settler only roads all over the West Bank.

Apartheid also occurs when land of a particular ethnic group or groups is expropriated. In the ongoing colonization there are over 300,000 Israeli settlers that live on land settlements in the West Bank that are illegal under international law.

Shupak cited other characteristics of apartheid that Israel perpetuates. These included the denial of the right of Palestinians to freedom of opinion and expression, the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of Palestinians by Israeli security forces, systematic torture of Palestinians in Israeli jails, and denying Palestinians the right to education and the right to leave and return to their country.

In order to drive the message home that Israel is operating an apartheid system, Shupak cited famous people, and former Israeli officials, who describe apartheid in Israel and Palestine. Desmond Tutu, a former South African Archbishop, Nobel Peace Prize award winner, and advocate against South African Apartheid, has stated his opposition to Israeli Apartheid.

Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter also states that Israel is committing acts of apartheid, as does Ami Ayalon, the former head of Shin Bet, the Israeli Domestic Security Agency. Shulamit Aloni, a former Israeli Education Minister and Michael Ben Yair, Israel’s former Attorney General, also both say that Israel and apartheid go hand in hand.

After the event, participants were left with more resources to be able to tell the rest of the Guelph Community that Israel is committing violations against the human rights of Palestinians. Israeli Apartheid Week is hosting two more events this week. One event is titled “Israeli Activism against Occupation and Apartheid: Strategies for Solidarity” and will be led by Israeli anti-israeli-apartheid activist, Noa Shaindlinger. This event will provide ideas to activists in Guelph about where to go next when it comes to solidarity work with Palestinians. The final event is a film screening of “5 Broken Cameras” that was nominated for Best Documentary in the Oscars, Thursday at 7 pm in UC 442.

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.

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

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

Salute to the Estelle

Rebel Youth reprints this editorial from People's Voice newspaper and sends our continued full support to the campaign to break the blockade on Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

     Canadians were relieved to hear that Jim Manly, the former Member of Parliament, had been released from an Israeli prison. We join with others in extending our thanks to all the passengers and crew of the Freedom Flotilla vessel Estelle, for their courageous action against the illegal blockade of Gaza.

     Details are gradually emerging about the brutal conduct of Israeli troops during their seizure of the vessel, which was bringing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. Israel's lie that the Estelle may have been bringing weapons to Gaza is utterly ludicrous; few boats have ever been subjected to such intense and public searches before sailing.

     Several passengers on the Estelle were members of parliament from Norway, Sweden, Greece and Spain. But no current Canadian MPs were on board, and none dared express support for the solidarity mission. This is sad but hardly surprising, since the Harper Tories and the corporate media immediately demonize any public figures who criticize the Israeli state's apartheid policies. One of the worst examples is the National Post's shameful slander of Gaza solidarity activists as "holocaust deniers." Such media could look at Canada's home-grown white supremacists for some real anti-Semitism; perhaps their reluctance stems from embarrassing links between these hate groups and ultra-right activists inside the Conservative Party.

     Fortunately, criticism of Israel's policies is stronger in other countries. As the Flotilla organizers said, "the Estelle's mission was successful in declaring to the world that Israel's blockade of Gaza is inhuman and illegal, and showing to the Palestinians in Gaza that our solidarity is relentless and we will come again." Very true, and the Harper Tories will not silence us here in Canada.

Debate and discussion: imperialism and the war on Iran.

As peace and anti-war activists build for the October 6th rally against war on Syria or Iran, Rebel Youth is providing the following article and commentary for discussion about the looming military threat on Iran. A lot of critical analysis is being given to this danger, and as youth and student activists we need to make the link with the day-to-day fight for peace in our communities, campuses, workplaces, unions, and other organizations. 

What is a good approach?

The main article below presents one way of approaching this question. The article is by the website Global Research published by the Canadian-based Centre for Research on Globalization. To get discussion started we are also presenting a commentary reply, by a writer for People's Voice newspaper on international issues. You can read more about the protest events against the war here and we provide some more links at the end of this article.

From Global Research:

According to U.S. officials, Israel is training and supporting Iranian terrorists who are trying to topple the Iranian government. Those Israeli-funded terrorists have faked documents to falsely indicate that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.

Israel has admitted to previous use of false flag attacks to justify war against Middle Eastern nations.

For example,   Israel admits that an Israeli terrorist cell operating in Egypt planted bombs in several buildings, including U.S. diplomatic facilities, then left behind “evidence” implicating the Arabs as the culprits (one of the bombs detonated prematurely, allowing the Egyptians to identify the bombers, and several of the Israelis later confessed).

Please read the rest of the article on Global Research, which presents a series of facts to support this claim.

Commentary reply:


The article "Will Israel Launch a False Flag Against Iran to Start War?" (Global Research, Sept. 28h 2012) presents an interesting speculation, but really, why would Israeli Prime Minister B. Netanyahu think he needs a "false flag" incident?  He and other warmongers in the Israeli leadership, and the most belligerent sections of the U.S. ruling class, have argued that they have all the evidence they need to launch pre-emptive strikes against Iran.

In a region overflowing with deadly weapons and conflicting interests, there are constant clashes and military confrontations. Any such incident could be seized upon by the war hawks to attack Iran. Could the constant chatter about "false flags" divert people from the difficult but necessary task of mobilizing against the drive to militarism and war?

That's a problem some anti-war activists have with those who are often predicting "false flags" at any moment. Just in the past couple of months, this included failed predictions about the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, the closing ceremonies, the 9-11 anniversary, and various others. We cannot become mesmerised by trying to guess which date will see some type of provocation, or else we will become immobilized observers.

Yes, there are conspiracies at the highest levels of the ruling class, and always have been. But this is not what drives imperialism. A meteor from space could hit the next Bilderberg meeting and the capitalist system would carry on as usual after the mess was cleaned up.

That said, the danger in the Middle East is very real. War could break out before the US Presidential election, but not necessarily. Will be too late to protest the day after it begins, considering the ability of Iran to strike back against the U.S. and Israel with unpredictable consequences? Clearly the answer is yes. That's why now is the time to do everything we can to mobilize in the streets for Oct. 6th.

For discussion:

1.  What did you think about the Global Research (GR) article? What is a "false flag" attack? What do you think of the main idea? What do you think of the sources and documentation? Have you ever read similar articles on the internet? Who is the intended audience and what does the author want to achieve in terms of action?

2. The "Commentary Reply" is written from a different point of view. How would you characterize the main argument? Unlike the GR article, the Reply does not site any sources -- do you think that weakens its argument? Who is the intended audience and what does the author want to achieve in terms of action?

2. What do you think? Both writers claim that conspiracy exists, but one author emphasizes that conspiracy does not "drive" imperialism. What is a conspiracy theory? How is it different from (or similar to) a class-based analysis of imperialism? What does drive imperialism?

3. Thinking more broadly from this concert example, how theory and analysis connected with action, strategy and tactics?

4.  In your community, is there a mobilization against the threat of war on Oct. 6th? How could you, a youth organization you are involved in, or your YCL club, help build for this mobilization? How does this connect with the YCL's strategic goal of fighting the Harper Conservative government and building unity behind a Charter of Youth Rights?

5.  What ways can we make the struggle against war and for peace stronger in the youth and student movement in Canada?

Read more: http://www.canadianpeacecongress.ca/

The Syrian conflict must be resolved by the Syrian people themselves

Statement of the Central Executive Committee,
Communist Party of Canada
August, 2012

The crisis in Syria continues to deepen with every passing day. Thousands have been killed or injured, including countless civilians caught in the crossfire between armed opposition groups and government forces. Thousands more have been displaced from their towns and villages and forced into internal or foreign exile by the fighting. In this very real sense, the situation has become a human and social tragedy of the first order.

But what is actually taking place in Syria? Who is really provoking the violence and prolonging the agony of the Syrian people?

The Western corporate‑controlled media would have us believe that the root cause of the conflict is the “tyrannical” government of President Bashar El‑Assad which clings to power at any price, willing to sacrifice the health and security of its own people. This “big lie” is central to the intensifying propaganda campaign to vilify El‑Assad in order to conceal the role of reactionary and clerical forces bent on destabilizing and ultimately overthrowing the current government and seizing power for themselves. And if necessary, this demonization campaign will be used as a pretext for imperialist military intervention and occupation to directly impose “regime change”, as was done in Iraq and most recently in Libya.

The global media offensive against Syria is only one aspect of a multi‑faceted imperialist strategy to crush (and possibly dismember) the Syrian state. The broader objective is to fashion a “New Middle East” of weak and pliant Arab states under the domination of U.S. and European imperialist powers and their local gendarme in the region, the expansionist state of Israel. This would guarantee unfettered access to the petroleum and other natural resources of the region, and extend imperialist geopolitical hegemony into the “underbelly” of Asia, further encircling both the Russian Federation and China.

Undermining the Syrian state is pivotal in achieving this imperialist ambition. Due to its central location in the region, its secular character and socially progressive policy orientation, and its firm solidarity with the just struggle of the Palestinian people and its opposition to the expansionist policies of Zionist Israel, Syria has long been in the cross‑hairs of U.S. imperialism. For their own reasons, reactionary Arab regimes – especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar – as well as Turkey are also anxious to weaken and crush Syria.

“Regime change” in Damascus and its replacement with a more pliant, pro‑imperialist regime would compound this catastrophe for the Syrian people. It would also dramatically alter the regional balance of forces, weakening the anti‑imperialist forces, and serving as a prelude – and launching pad – for NATO/Israeli aggression against neighbouring Iran, the most powerful state in the region.

When anti‑government protests erupted in Syria last year, U.S. imperialism and its local and regional backers seized the opportunity to launch its “tried and true” destabilization campaign, using popular discontent (and the at times crude methods used by local Syrian officials to quell the protests) as a cover to move into action. Many Syrians were justifiably angry at the impact of neoliberal “reforms” which weakened national production, increased unemployment, and widened social and economic disparities between the mass of working people and national and foreign capitalists, aided by weak, misguided and sometimes corrupt government officials.

But legitimate opposition voices were quickly either co‑opted or shunted aside by hardcore, heavily foreign‑financed and armed gangs determined to make Syria ungovernable. Terrorist attacks to spur further government crackdowns, sectarian violence to incite distrust and enmity between the Sunni majority and the Alawite and other minorities, the smuggling of heavy weapons and even mercenaries from abroad, and finally open calls for direct foreign intervention in violation of Syria’s national sovereignty – this has been the orchestrated game plan carried out by the “internal opposition”. The extent of foreign covert intervention already evident in the conflict proves that this is not a “civil war” but rather a highly coordinated imperialist conspiracy against Syria.

The misnamed “Friends of Syria” – the cabal of U.S. and other imperialist powers, the reactionary and despotic Arab regimes, and the counter‑revolutionary Syrian National Council – have dismissed every attempt of the Assad government to dialogue with the “opposition”, to achieve a ceasefire under the Kofi Annan peace plan, or to introduce constitutional reforms ending the state of emergency and opening the way for more open parliamentary elections. Instead, they have forced through several rounds of anti-Syrian sanctions at the UN Security Council, and have denounced Russia and China for vetoing strident and dangerous resolutions which would have given a green light for foreign imperialist aggression under the sanction of the United Nations, as was done in March 2011 against Libya.

The Harper government has played a particularly despicable role in this sordid affair, beating the drums for sanctions and war on Syria. Unfortunately, the main opposition parties in Canada’s parliament – the Liberals and NDP – have done little better. Indeed, all three parties have thrown in their lot with the imperialist conspiracy against Syria, arguing in favour of “humanitarian interventionism” and the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) as a justification for yet another aggression.

The Communist Party of Canada fundamentally rejects the building war frenzy over Syria and Iran, and warns that such military adventurism could well lead to a dangerous conflagration throughout the Middle East region, and beyond. We call for:
·        full respect of Syrian national sovereignty and independence;
·        the removal of sanctions; an immediate halt to all covert financial and military support to the Free Syrian Army and other armed groups inside Syria; and
·        the renunciation of a military “solution” in favour of a ceasefire by all combatants and a comprehensive national dialogue to restore peace to that troubled country.

A critical perspective on the Houla massacre

Whomever is responsible for the Houla
massacre, it is difficult for us not to see
imperialism's outcry as crocodile tears

Stephen Gowans,
Reprinted from What's Left  
Syrian government forces may or may not have been responsible for the killing of 108 civilians at Houla. Witness accounts point to militias that may have been acting independently of the Syrian government. One account describes the killings as avenging a rebel sectarian attack on an Alawite village.

All the same, no witness account has been independently verified. The events are, in the words of a UN monitor, “murky”.

The US government, nevertheless, has reached far beyond the evidence to blame the Syrian government for the atrocity, a brazenly hypocritical public relations assault on Syria. In light of the serial massacre of hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan civilians, including children, by US drone strikes, the US government has no credibility as a self-appointed champion of the innocent.

Examining the conflict with reference to US foreign policy goals, and the objectives of other parties, it is likely that the Assad government’s opponents are depending on armed conflict and the exploitation of the public relations opportunities the conflict provides to meet their goal of regime change.

Damascus, on the other hand, has more to gain from working out a modus vivende with its internal opposition than trying to win a shooting war with armed rebels that have the backing of the formidable diplomatic and material resources of the United States and wealthy Gulf petro-monarchies.