Anti-Imperialist League: THE “AL-AQSA FLOOD” IS A TORCH OF RESISTANCE
We hereby share a statement by the Anti-Imperialist League published on occasion of the the Anniversary of Al-Aqsa Flood.
THE “AL-AQSA FLOOD” IS A TORCH OF RESISTANCE WHICH STRENGTHENS THE DETERMINATION OF THE OPPRESSED PEOPLES TO STRUGGLE AGAINST THE GENOCIDAL ISRAELI STATE AND IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION
The Resistance of an Organized and Armed People is Doomed to Victory
“We know that Israel claims to have modern spying tools and the most powerful intelligence apparatus, but we have seen its collapse under the claws of the resistance and trampled on by the shoes of the resistance.” (Marwan Al Abdel)
The cause of the war is not the Palestinians, but Israeli Zionism and its imperialist supporters. The Zionist state of Israel has been waging a colonialist war against the Palestinian people for decades in order to usurp land belonging to the Palestinian people.
October 7, 2024, is the first anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood. October 7, 2023, marks a new stage in the struggle of the Palestinian National Liberation Forces against Israeli Zionism, which has always been a great source of resistance for the anti-imperialist and anti-fascist forces of the world. The Palestinian National Liberation Forces, united under one roof, have realized a “deluge” that has terrified not only the genocidal State of Israel, but also the imperialists, from whose unlimited economic, political, diplomatic and military support they benefit. 28 points of Gaza, the world’s largest open prison, surrounded by fences and walls, including the “new settlements”, symbols of colonial occupation, were entered by land, by air with para-gliders and by sea. The righteous resistance movement launched a shock operation. Israeli Zionism and its patrons, the US and the surrounding imperialists, characterized this development as the beginning of a comprehensive war.
With October 7, not only the Israeli genocide, but also the imperialists suffered a great loss of prestige and the myth of an “unshakable power” was severely wounded. Under the wings of the giant international monopolies and imperialists (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, …), especially the USA, protected by the famous “Iron Dome”, having the most powerful intelligence network in the world, with the cooperation of the reactionary regional States, the Israeli State was once again given the “bitter lesson” that “the driving force of history is the people and only the people”. Those who think they will win the war with technological means have suffered great defeats in the face of organized masses who do not hesitate to die for their cause at every turn of history. Although the Israeli State tried to achieve results by committing all kinds of crimes, including genocide, after the great shock it experienced on October 7, it could not achieve any results, its internal balances were shaken, a great opposition accumulated within the country, and the bubble of military and technological greatness and invincibility burst.
The Zionist State of Israel’s image of invincibility was shattered by the Al-Aqsa Flood. Beyond the surrender imposed by the Oslo Accords, it was a new beginning at a point when Zionist expansionism was “normalized” and the Palestinian cause was thought to be “over”. The Al-Aqsa Flood shattered many established understandings and shattered the status quo that had long been taken for granted about Palestine. The process of “normalization”, including Palestinian isolation, came to an end. In popular parlance, once again, “power has broken the game.”
“Without a people’s army the people have nothing.” (Mao Tse-tung)
This move of the Palestinian National Liberation Forces has shown the possibility to defeat the strong by a weak but organized movement based on the people. This possibility has an instructive depth for all revolutionary and national resistance movements.
Israel is a huge military and technological power with great material-military support; but the glorious history of the class struggle has repeatedly proved that those who are determined in their struggle for their just cause, those who organize for this cause, those who establish the right ties with the oppressed peoples and make them part of the struggle, despite all impossibilities, defeat the forces with great means.
There is a situation in which the “gigantic power” that has declared absolute sovereignty over the Palestinian territories and surrounded it with security walls, that has brought 4 Arab states to their knees in 6 days, that has entered into prisoner swaps in a way that makes it look like there are thousands of Palestinian resistance fighters for one soldier, that can operate all over the world, that has the political-military-economic support of the imperialists led by the USA, is helpless. The power that creates this helplessness is a people who have been under siege for decades, isolated from the world, meeting even their basic needs through tunnels, and condemned to poverty and destitution.
While it is a reality that the imperialists and their henchmen have enormous resources, it should not be forgotten that the masses of the oppressed and exploited people also have historic experiences of resistance and struggle. The war tactics of the Vietnamese communists who defeated American imperialism in Vietnam despite all its brutality, who dug tunnels underground against aerial bombardments and turned the underground into a center of resistance and attack, have today become the weapons of the Palestinian resistance forces in urban centers. On October 7, after the shock of the attack had worn off, there was propaganda that Israel would quickly crush the resistance in Gaza and destroy the tunnels. But was this the reality? Despite all the psychological warfare and the manipulation of the huge propaganda apparatus, it was the will of the Palestinian Resistance Forces that determined the war, not the lies and exaggerated stories of the Israeli State and its supporters. The war organized in these tunnels continues to shake the Israeli State.
In nearly a year of war in a tiny area, the Israeli State has not even been able to reach the prisoners of war held by the Palestinian Resistance Forces, let alone achieve victory.
The Al Aqsa Flood has also destroyed the shabby theories put forward by revisionists and reformists in the name of peace, democracy, disarmament and reconciliation. It is the armed forces of the Palestinian Resistance Forces, the united armies of the resistance forces that will stop the genocidal Israeli State and its imperialist supporters. Therefore, the events since October 7 have eliminated all options other than armed struggle.
In the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution, the bourgeoisie has become reactionary in every respect and is equipped “from top to bottom” with the apparatus of violence. For this very reason, “The seizure of power by armed force, the settlement of the issue by war, is the central task and the highest form of revolution. This Marxist-Leninist principle of revolution holds good universally, for China and for all other countries. But while the principle remains the same, its application by the party of the proletariat finds expression in varying ways according to the varying conditions.” (Mao Tse-tung)
The proletariat, the oppressed peoples and nations, wherever they are in the world, can resist the “top-down” organized violence of the counter-revolution only by organizing the violence of the revolution, only in this way can they win their independence, only in this way can they seize political power. This is why Mao said, “Without a people’s army the people have nothing.” Mao, who put forward the theory of the People’s War, the most advanced theory of war of the proletariat, and led it in practice, advised the international proletariat and oppressed peoples and nations that without organizing the violence of revolution, without educating the proletariat and oppressed peoples and nations in this reality, without adopting revolutionary violence as a principle, political power cannot be seized and national independence cannot be won.
The experience since the end of the 19th century, when the bourgeoisie completed its reactionaryzation, has concretely shown us that in many parts of the world the proletariat and the masses of oppressed people have been able to resist, succeed and establish political power against the ruling classes only when and only where they themselves have armed forces and wage armed struggle. The bourgeoisie will not willingly give up its power, it will fight to the death for it and will use not only its own power but also the power of the other bourgeoisies of the world. Therefore, the proletariat and the oppressed nations and peoples must organize resistance and revolutionary violence if they really want to seize political power, end the system of exploitation and win their national independence.
The genocidal State of Israel is the embodiment of imperialist aggression and colonialism
“If Israel did not exist, the US would have to invent an Israel. Israel is the greatest power the US has in the Middle East to protect its interests in the region. Imagine the world in this situation without Israel. How many warships would there be in the Mediterranean? How many troops would be deployed in the Middle East?” (US President Joe Biden).
Israel, with its Zionist character, has from the very beginning been the imperialists’ foothold and outpost in the region. For US imperialism, the existence of Israel means the deployment of dozens of warships in the Mediterranean and tens of thousands of military forces in the Middle East. The Zionist structure of the State of Israel is shaped by racism and religionism. They see themselves as a “chosen race” obliged to obtain the land “promised by God” at any cost.
On May 14, 1948, the British mandate ended and the Jewish National Council, convened in Tel-Aviv under the leadership of Israeli settler David Ben Gurion, declared the establishment of the State of Israel. From that date onward, some of the Palestinian people living on their own land began to live under the rule of another state overnight. This was also the beginning of the Palestinians losing their land piece by piece, being squeezed into a narrow space and finally being completely expelled from their lands.
The Zionist State of Israel cannot be defined without mentioning imperialism. The Zionist State of Israel is the USA, Britain, France, Germany, Canada. It is more than a state, it is a “bloody dagger” that imperialism has thrust into the Middle East region and an embodiment of evil that embodies the savage practices of the exploiters and is proud of it. It is the symbol of imperialist aggression at State level. The State of Israel is a genocidal State.
The Zionist State of Israel is the 21st century reincarnation of the genocidal aggression of euro-centric colonialism, which has extended from Africa to Asia, from America to Australia since the 15th century.
This genocidal process serves US interests in the region. For this reason, it is vital that Palestinians never raise their heads again. On November 5, 2023, following a meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman with the Foreign Ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the General Secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, US Secretary of State, Blinken, stated his position as follows: “A ceasefire now would allow Hamas to regain power and repeat what it did on October 7.” This statement was made under the auspices of supporters who shed crocodile tears for Gaza. Once again, it has been seen that all reactionary States, including Turkey, which want the Israeli attacks to stop and use the sensitivity of their own public opinion for their demagoguery, cannot even afford a “humanitarian ceasefire” unless their masters want it. It has become clear that the task of these countries, which support the Palestinian cause with the strongest rhetoric, is only to play the role of “pastor” on the Palestinian issue for US imperialism. Lacking the power to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza, these countries are unable to make the slightest contribution to the Palestinian cause. Their statements and declarations of support for Palestine are nothing but lies. The truth is that these countries are lackeys whose interests are aligned with US imperialism.
The International Court of Justice should condemn not only the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, but all State officials who support Israel’s genocide, expulsion and atrocities for crimes against humanity
The Zionist reactionary regime, with the support of the imperialists and their henchmen in the region, has resorted to genocide and deportation against the civilian population in front of the eyes of the whole world, without recognizing any humanitarian rules, in order to get out of the deadlock it has fallen into after the heavy loss of prestige it has suffered. Gaza, which has an area of only 365 square kilometers and is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, is being burned, destroyed, dehumanized and dismembered before the eyes of the whole world. In short, Zionist Israel, backed by the political-economic and military support of the US, Germany, France and British imperialism, has turned Gaza into a graveyard. It has deliberately targeted buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, camps with intense bombardment, killing thousands of Palestinians and wounding tens of thousands. One million people are displaced in Gaza, with a population of 2.3 million. Gaza has been subjected to a wave of attacks aimed at complete dehumanization.
200 UN workers and 169 journalists have been killed. Hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, aid convoys, refugee camps have been bombed. The total death toll is over 40,000. This process of genocide and brutality is being carried out with the protection and support provided by the warships belonging to the navies of imperialist states such as the USA, France, Germany, England and Canada, anchored off the coast of Gaza. The imperialists are primarily responsible for this process of genocide and atrocity. The imperialists have a collective responsibility here. The imperialists have equipped the State of Israel with the legitimacy to commit all crimes that fall within the scope of ‘crimes against humanity’ even according to the “international ‘criteria’ of the bourgeoisie. For this reason, not only the president of Israel, but also the officials of all other supporting States, especially the president of the United States, who support this whole process of genocide, should be tried for crimes against humanity in the International Court of Justice. Just like the members of the US Senate who gave Netanyahu a standing ovation every minute of his speech in the US Congress, in which he described the genocide and atrocities they committed, should also be tried. Because the genocide inflicted on the Palestinian people is carried out with the “collective wisdom and support” of the imperialists.
The moments of deepening crisis of the imperialist system deepen the contradictions between the imperialists and necessitate the expansion of the wars of aggression against the oppressed nations and peoples.
As the global war of division and hegemony intensifies, diversifies and intensifies, masks are falling and everyone is taking positions according to their class. The nature of international laws and who they are created to serve are revealed. Democracy, equality, all the values propagated by the bourgeoisie are being trampled underfoot. In the face of the genocide and brutality of Israel, supported by the imperialist coalition, in struggle and collusion, led by US imperialism, the politicians and security forces of “democracy and human rights apostle” States such as the USA, Germany and France have taken off their masks of “States that respect human rights and freedoms” and turned into fascist aggressors against the masses who embrace the Palestinian resistance.
The world is in a vortex where inter-imperialist contradictions are intensifying, regional conflicts are spreading and the world is surrounded by war tendencies. Imperialism is following the path of overcoming the bottlenecks and crises through wars and escalating aggression against oppressed peoples and nations. At the same time, this pushes it towards a political intensification aimed at a struggle for new re-partititon of economical influence and domination. While the rotten monopoly financial capital moves unbridled in the world markets, it does not hesitate to establish its hegemony by resorting to wars. This paves the way for the aggravation of the inter-imperialist contradiction and the option of military aggression to come to the agenda more and more.
One of the most obvious consequences of the crisis of decomposition of the imperialist system is the process leading up to and after the invasion of Ukraine. In recent years, the US and NATO policy of encircling Russia in Eastern Europe and warmongering has intensified. In the same time Russian imperialism continuously lost its influence as the main hegemonic force in the Ukraine from 1991 onward, and the US and EU could expand economically and politically. The result of this provocation was the military invasion of Ukraine by Russian imperialism on February 24, 2022. Despite the intensive technical, logistical and economic support provided by NATO to Ukraine for more than two years, Russia has made steady progress. The economic sanctions against Russia imposed by the western imperialists, led by the US, have failed to deter, create contradictions, create new areas of tension and weaken the worldwide influence of Russian imperialism. Ukraine’s military loses against Russia has led the US and NATO not to retreat, but to moves that further provoke Russian imperialism. The US gave Ukraine permission to use weapons inside the officially recognized territory of Russia, the process of equipping Ukraine with F-16s was accelerated, and the US and NATO arms industry continued to feed Ukraine.
All similar developments in the world cannot be considered independent from the war for hegemony and re-division on a world scale. Today, the world is witnessing a war with re-devision as its axis, a war that by its very nature will last for years and will diversify and expand in terms of means and fields. In this war, global actors as well as their proxies play a role in the encirclement and retention of territories. The struggle is political, economic, military and diplomatic. Creating trade corridors and developing maneuvers to render them dysfunctional are among the tools of this process. There is a division of regions not only in terms of resources, wealth etc. but also according to their strategic importance. The US-centered NATO’s policy of encircling Russia, the inclusion of Finland and Norway into NATO, the military buildup in the countries bordering Russia, the military encirclement by the US and its “allies” in the Indo-Pacific region against China, the buildup at the entrance to the Red Sea, in Somalia, Ethiopia and Taiwan are all expressions of this.
NATO General Secretary Stoltenberg has openly expressed the threat of nuclear weapons, saying that there are “discussions about taking nuclear assets out of storage and making them available to an alliance that must demonstrate to the outside world that it has a strong deterrent potential” and that “as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world in which Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons and NATO does not have nuclear weapons is a more dangerous world.” In the same interview with The Guardian, the NATO Secretary also emphasized the threat posed by China’s development of nuclear capabilities. However, NATO’s main focus seems to be on “upgrading its nuclear weapons against the Russian threat”. Certainly, these developments and discourses should not lead us to conclude that inter-imperialist war is imminent. On the other hand, we must recognize that war will increasingly be an option.
The situation shows that regional conflicts are on the rise, expanding from the Middle East and the Red Sea to the Gulf, the African continent and Southeast Asia. There is a political situation in the Middle East in which the contradictions that already existed before the Al-Aqsa Flood of the Palestinian resistance against Zionist Israel on October 7, 2023 have deepened. There is a picture in which Zionist Israel, with the full support of the US and western imperialists, focuses on making Gaza a safe zone by destroying, dehumanizing and occupying it with a brutal massacre, deepening the occupation with reactionary settler politics in the West Bank and further fragmenting the fragmented Palestine. At the same time, Israel is trying to escalate the conflict with Iran in a calculated manner, under the guidance of the US. Israel makes no secret of its desire to expand its attacks into Lebanon and Syria. To this end, it is organizing the process in close contact with the United States. During Israeli Defense Minister Gallant’s visit to the United States on June 23, plans to attack Lebanese Hezbollah were discussed. US warships are positioned in the Mediterranean to threaten the movements and countries in the region that are on the Palestinian side and for a possible Hezbollah-Israel war. It is clear that this would escalate regional conflicts and provide Iran with a platform for new moves.
Due to its rich natural resources and strategic location, the Middle East region has always been one of the most important epicenters of the struggle for re-division between imperialists. Therefore, wars have become a natural part of life in this region.
The conflicts between the Palestinian people and the occupying Israeli state have always had an impact beyond its own scale. In addition to many intertwined and mutually determining reasons, as mentioned above, the central importance of the Middle East in terms of world energy resources and the struggle for dominance over energy resources are decisive. Since no energy source has yet emerged that will render oil and natural gas insignificant, it will continue to be one of the focal points of the struggle for dominance in the world.
Chinese social-imperialism has recently been trying to gain a foothold in the Middle East equation. Last year it made an important move by mediating the problems between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It continues this process with a meeting with Palestinian organizations. This meeting was attended by representatives of all Palestinian resistance forces. Palestinian factions with different positions including Fatah and Hamas, agreed to end their hostilities and form a government of “national unity” as part of the negotiations mediated by the Chinese government. According to the agreement, dubbed the “Beijing Dialogue”, these factions will come together to form an interim reconciliation government. According to the communique, it was agreed to achieve national unity that includes all factions within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This can be seen as an important step for the Palestinian national liberation and anti-colonial forces to continue their struggle together against the State of Israel and its supporters. Israel and its supporters took action and Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, Chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, who was in Iran. The aim of this assassination was to demoralize the resistance forces in the context of Hamas, which stands out with its power and effectiveness within the Palestinian Resistance Forces, to show the power of Israel, and to intimidate Iran. By drawing Iran directly into the war, Israel aims to directly involve the imperialist powers led by the US in the war. In this way, Israel’s genocide and occupation of the Palestinian people will be relegated to the background and a “legitimate ground” will be created for an attack on Iran, which has been a target of the US for many years. Moreover, with Iran’s de-facto involvement in the process, the region will turn into a wider battlefield as organizations such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Hashd al-Shaabi in Yemen and Iraq become a direct part of the national resistance war.
The October 7 attack dynamited the US-led normalization process between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and then Saudi Arabia. In addition to the Abraham Accords, energy, trade routes and political normalization, the plans for the complete destruction of Palestine have also suffered a serious blow. In this way, the US wanted to consolidate its hegemony in the region and weaken the growing influence of China and Russia. The Al-Aqsa Flood has the characteristic of upsetting all these plans and orientations and condemning all reactionary forces to a new search for balance.
Identifying the Palestinian Resistance Forces with HAMAS, narrowing the resistance and presenting it as a “Conflict with Islamists” is an attempt to legitimize Israeli genocides in public.
Every strong break in the class struggle clarifies contradictions and reorganizes the ranks. In such moments of historical rupture, there is not only a rapprochement between imperialists and reactionary States, but also an ideological and political rapprochement between those who define themselves as anti-imperialist, revolutionary or anti-war of imperialist aggression in the evaluation of the situation that arises. In essence, each class evaluates what is happening within the framework of the perspective guided by its own class interests and takes its position accordingly. This is what happened in this process.
The Palestinian struggle for national independence and against the occupation is based on an indisputable right. This is the main point to emphasize in this struggle. The Palestinian National Liberation Struggle and its leaderships have been shaped in various ideological-political forms, although the basic points of departure have remained the same. It is a fact that forces with Islamic references were initially supported by the imperialists to oppose socialism and to make national liberation struggles dependent on the imperialists. The loss of credibility of the leadership of the Palestinian National Liberation Struggle, which started with Arafat and continued with Mahmoud Abbas, in the eyes of the Palestinian people is a decisive factor in the emergence and even the dominant position of these forces. The persistence of the movements with Islamic references in the resistance against those who constantly made concessions to Israeli expansionism and imperialists and lost their credibility due to corruption, has gained the sympathy of the Palestinian people.
The fact that the Palestinian nation is under occupation and that this occupation is constantly expanding should not prevent the identification of the fundamental contradiction in the evaluation of the forces here. The main contradiction here is between occupation and anti-occupation. The resolution of this contradiction will form the basis for the resolution of the contradiction between the progressive and reactionary forces in Palestinian society. The issue we will now focus on is that the struggle of the Palestinian nation for its right to self-determination and against the occupation is justified and must be supported. Those who reject the legitimacy of the struggle of the Palestinian National Liberation Forces against the occupation and for national independence on the grounds of the nature of HAMAS are the supporters of imperialism who legitimize the occupation of Israeli Zionism and justify the occupation and aggression of imperialist and reactionary allies, especially US imperialism.
“We are here and we are in the struggle as the PFLP. We are very strong in Gaza, we have thousands of members. Since October 7, we have suffered hundreds of martyrs. We were here before Hamas, we were here before the Islamists. We were the main force that led the armed struggle in 1973 …” (Maher Al Taher, PFLP International Relations Officer)
The unification of the Palestinian National Liberation Forces and their joint struggle against the State of Israel is a very important development for the Palestinian national liberation struggle. Geographically divided, politically fragmented and having lost its central leadership embodied in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Palestine is now reuniting with all its parts. It is clear that this reunification disturbs many people. Because a Palestine without unity is always doomed to defeat. The State of Israel and its supporters did their best to prevent this reunification. With this process, the international arena tried to create doubts about the resistance of the Palestinian people, especially by emphasizing the ideological identity of HAMAS. It was even said that organizations such as HAMAS represented reactionism due to their Islamic identity, and open or indirect support was given to Israel’s genocide and brutality.
Describing the Palestinian resistance as a conflict between religious identities is an organized and deliberate distortion of reality. It aims to conceal the reality that gave rise to the Palestinian resistance. Israel and its supporters systematically carry out this propaganda. This is to cover up the expansionist colonialism of the imperialist-backed Israeli reaction since 1948 and the nearly 80 years of genocidal practices of Israeli Zionism. In this way, they want to squeeze the Palestinian resistance into Islamist identities in order to back up their own public opinion on the one hand and to hide the existence of revolutionary forces from the eyes on the other.
The reactionary ideology of HAMAS and other Islamic-oriented organizations and the role they play in the Palestinian resistance today does not eliminate the injustice of Israel’s enslavement, subjugation and oppression of Palestine. Nor does it remove the political character of the Palestinian struggle for liberation from this yoke, whatever its ideological orientation. This struggle does not have an Islamist character, but it has a content that aims to liberate Palestine from the yoke. In this context, the struggle of the Palestinian people is in every sense a National Liberation Struggle. The “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation and the Palestinian National Liberation Struggle as a whole have a national essence whose content cannot be determined only by HAMAS and similar Islamist organizations.
All kinds of reactionaries who doubt the creative power of the oppressed, exploited and subjugated masses of the people are bewildered by the realization of something that is impossible “according to them”, take refuge in conspiracy theories and ultimately portray the actions of the oppressed masses of the people as a project of this or that section of the ruling powers. For them, the peoples’ masses are ignorant, powerless and impotent. Without the consent of the ruling powers, they cannot realize anything independently of them. It is not the job of the oppressed masses to shake the thrones of the rulers! Various versions of these groups, whose brains have been enslaved by the ruling classes, did not hesitate to repeat the same nonsense in chorus when the actions of the Palestinian National Liberation Forces began. Worse still, those who are struggling for existence in similar conditions to the Palestinian people are also part of this reactionary picture. Although they know that the arguments used in the reactionary propaganda against the Palestinian National Liberation and anti-colonialist forces are also used against them, they have unhesitatingly sacrificed the principle of support for the just struggle of oppressed nations as a result of the tactical relations and interests they have developed with the imperialist and reactionary forces in the region. The intertwined relations with imperialism have a significant impact on the dynamics of determining this wrong attitude. It is also exemplary in terms of showing the dimensions of this relationship.
The Palestinian National Liberation Struggle has a long history of struggle
As PFLP official Marwan al-Abdal said, “As far as Hamas is concerned, Hamas – even alone – is fighting today not for its own program, not for a Party or a side, but for the defense of the Palestinian people. It is fighting against the historical and social enemy, the enemy of all Palestinian Parties. Israel has always wanted to demonize the resistance. For the ruling exploiting classes, any resistance force that rises up against the given order of domination and exploitation is demonized. The resisting side, whether revolutionary-communist, religious or whatever ideology it carries, will be condemned for resisting. In conclusion, we are in a stage of national liberation and this requires everyone to unite in a single national front. This is what we are demanding. Why was there talk in the past about reconciliation between the Palestinian sides and ending the division, about meetings, about creating a broad front, about discussions about the PLO? Because we are under occupation and we need unity. There is no disagreement about that. So the element of unity is a kind of strength that the occupier does not want us to achieve. Unity also means strengthening. They want to divide the resistance. We know and the occupier knows that there is an Israeli project to divide the Palestinian resistance.
We are fighting under the joint operations room of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – Abu Ali Mustafa Martyr Brigades. The joint operations room is not a new organization. It was established in previous wars and has accumulated experience, planning and expertise. This room also receives help and support, so it does not feel orphaned. Above all, it is united in military operations and for the first time the joint operations room is confident.
Moreover, this popular resistance is aware that it is engaged in a comprehensive struggle with imperialism and Zionism and with the ‘normalizing’ Arabs in the region. It knows very well who is enemy and who is friend.”
The Palestinian National Resistance is above all the united resistance of the Palestinian people. The resistance of the Palestinian National Liberation Forces against Israeli aggression and colonial expansionism began in 1948, when Palestinians were dispossessed and expelled from their land. In the early years of the resistance, the Islamic Forces were not even part of the Palestinian armed struggle. Many organizations influenced by ML and Mao Tse-tung Thought, such as Fatah, the Democratic Front and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, adopted the armed struggle against the State of Israel from their inception. The Palestinian national liberation struggle, both nationally and internationally, has mainly been the cause of revolutionaries and communists. After the First Intifada turned into a major resistance in 1987, Islamic forces decided to take up armed struggle. HAMAS and Islamic Jihad are the organizations that emerged in this process. After Fatah ended the armed struggle with the “Oslo Accords” and the compromise line came to the fore, Islamists came to the fore in the resistance.
The “Al-Aqsa Flood” was a move not only by HAMAS or similar organizations with an Islamic ideological formation, but also by 14 Palestinian organizations that formed a national resistance front, and the process was organized by the “Joint Operations Room”. This “Joint Operations Room” is also the coordination center of the Palestinian resistance and the ongoing war. The organizations in the coordination center of this war are the Izz ad-Din Kassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Mujahedin Brigades, Nidal al-Amuri Battalion, Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, National Resistance Brigades of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Abdel Qader al-Husseini Brigades, Martyr Jihad Jibril Brigades, Martyr Ayman Jude Groups and Storm Army. Since October 7, cadres and fighters of leftist organizations such as the PFLP and the DFLP, and the Nasser Saladin Brigades have been martyred. All these organizations are still involved in the conflict.
Moreover, the practice of Palestinian organizations acting together had already begun before October 7. The first “Joint Operations Room” between resistance forces outside Fatah was founded in 2006. In 2014, 12 organizations united against Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge”. In 2018, this chamber was formalized as the “Joint Chamber of Palestinian Resistance Groups”. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, which was expelled from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, was not included in this chamber despite its verbal support. The Nidal al-Amudi Battalion, the Nasser Saladin Brigades and the Mujahidin Brigades were formed by Fatah cadres who rejected the Oslo Accords and left the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which left their weapons and became the security force of the Palestinian Authority.
On the 22nd day of the operation, 5 Palestinian resistance organizations (PFLP, PFLP-DC, PFLP-GC, HAMAS and Islamic Jihad) issued a joint statement. The joint statement emphasized the importance of adhering to national unity and rejecting the enemy’s attempts to divide the people or monopolize any part of it, stressing the importance of uniting efforts and tightening ranks in this fateful battle. The statement blamed the US for the process and summarized the aim of the struggle as follows: “As we wage this struggle in defense of our land, our people and our holy sites, we reaffirm our commitment to the right of our people to resist and our confidence in the victory of our people in this battle for liberation, return, self-determination and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
The ideological-class character of national independence and anti-colonial movements is of course important, but in terms of the whole question, the legitimacy of the resistance and rebellion against the colonial occupation of Palestine is essential. The right of nations to self-determination is an indisputable right and the struggle of the Palestinian National Liberation and anti-colonialist forces is legitimate both in substance and form.
The struggle of the Palestinian National Liberation and Anti-Colonial Resistance Forces is an ally of the proletariat in the struggle for world revolution
The contradiction between the oppressed peoples of the dependent countries and colonies and the imperialists is the central contradiction of our epoch. The deepening of the general and inevitable crisis of the imperialist system increases the intensity of the contradiction between these countries and their oppressed peoples and the imperialists. The resolution of this contradiction in favor of the oppressed peoples and nations deepens the internal contradictions of the imperialist system and ultimately weakens it. In this sense, the struggle of oppressed peoples and nations against imperialism adds strength to the struggle of the proletariat. It is because of this reality that Lenin, Stalin and Mao Tse-tung, while listing the contradictions that make up the imperialist system, emphasized the contradiction between imperialism and the oppressed peoples and nations as the contradiction that marks our epoch. This is also a definition that defines the position of the forces struggling against imperialism vis-à-vis the imperialist system and thus clarifies the allies of the proletariat. National liberation movements are allies of the International Communist Movement. These two forces complement each other in the struggle against imperialism. We need to look at the Palestinian National Liberation Struggle from this perspective.
This new state of war between the Israeli State and the Palestinian National Resistance is a new stage in the ongoing struggle between right and wrong. The Palestinian National Liberation Struggle is historically and politically just. Zionist reaction and its imperialist supporters are on the wrong side. In this struggle, the conscious proletariat and the oppressed peoples of the world stand with the Palestinian National Resistance. The fact that the attack that sparked this war includes the settlements of Israeli Zionism does not change “what is right”. Palestine is in a war of defense, it is right and its war is legitimate. If Palestine wins this war against Israel, it will, as Comrade Lenin said, be welcomed “with love” by the international proletariat.
Colonization or semi-colonization is the inevitable tendency of imperialism. The period we are passing through is one in which this is once again strongly evident. The States, burdened by huge debts, have carried the system to this day with money that the real economy cannot handle. The system has been bankrupt for some time. Nevertheless, it continues to exist through dependent and especially semi-colonial States. The intensity and continuity of today’s regional wars, chronic inflation, increasing and today expanding taxes are all part of this. It is clear that these are not independent of imperialism and the bankrupt system of the monopoly bourgeoisie. In this respect, we must put forward and defend the right of nations to self-determination as a principle that must be defended in the anti-imperialist struggle. Our consciousness must be clear on this issue.
It is an objective reality that the components of the struggle of the peoples of dependent and colonized countries against the colonialists and imperialists show class diversity and that each class and stratum has its own point of view and differences regarding the nature of the society to be created. The fact that the ideological and political line of the proletariat is not effective or decisive in such struggles, although it expresses an important deficiency, does not change the nature of the problem as a whole.
“The unquestionably revolutionary character of the vast majority of national movements is as relative and peculiar as is the possible reactionary character of certain particular national movements. The revolutionary character of a national movement under the conditions of imperialist
oppression does not necessarily presuppose the existence of proletarian elements in the movement, the existence of a revolutionary or a republican programme of the movement, the existence of a democratic basis of the movement. The struggle that the Emir of Afghanistan is waging for the independence of Afghanistan is objectively a revolutionary struggle, despite the monarchist views of the Emir and his associates, for it weakens, disintegrates and undermines imperialism;” (Stalin)
The fact that the understanding of anti-imperialism, anti-imperialist struggles, anger and resistance against imperialism of classes other than the proletariat are limited and contain inconsistencies cannot be seen as an obstacle to the relations we have established and will establish with them. What we are obliged to do in this situation is to fulfill the mission of leadership in overcoming these inconsistencies. This, as the AIL’s program emphasizes, “goes hand in hand with the effectiveness of the proletariat’s worldview in this struggle.”
The struggles for national independence and the revolt against colonialism were correctly identified by Lenin as allied forces of the proletariat in the world struggle of the International Proletarian Movement in the Age of Imperialism and Proletarian Revolutions. At the same time, it was made clear that the “National and Colonial National Question” is another sphere in which the class struggle is embodied and that it is imperative to “achieve unity” in the struggle against the imperialist system. One of the main pillars of the existence and survival of the imperialist system is the plundering of “colonial and dependent countries” and the transfer of huge resources to the imperialist States. In this context, the enemies of the international proletariat and the peoples of the dependent and colonized countries are common, and in order to fight against imperialism, it is not a choice but a necessity for these forces to build a common revolutionary front against imperialism.
“Leninism laid bare this crying incongruity, broke down the wall between whites and blacks, between Europeans and Asiatics, between the “civilised” and “uncivilised” slaves of imperialism, and thus linked the national question with the question of the colonies. The national question was thereby transformed from a particular and internal state problem into a general and international problem, into a world problem of the liberation of the oppressed peoples in the dependent countries and colonies from the yoke of imperialism.
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Leninism has proved, and the imperialist war and the revolution in Russia have confirmed, that the national question can be solved only in connection with and on the basis of the proletarian revolution, and that the road to victory of the revolution in the West lies through the revolutionary alliance with the liberation movement of the colonies and dependent countries against imperialism. The national question is a part of the general question of the proletarian revolution, a part of the question of the dictatorship of the proletariat.” (Stalin)
“From this it can be seen that there are two kinds of world revolution, the first belonging to the bourgeois or capitalist category. The era of this kind of world revolution is long past, having come to an end as far back as 1914 when the first imperialist world war broke out, and more particularly in 1917 when the October Revolution took place. The second kind, namely, the proletarian-socialist world revolution, thereupon began. This revolution has the proletariat of the capitalist countries as its main force and the oppressed peoples of the colonies and semi-colonies as its allies. No matter what classes, parties or individuals in an oppressed nation join the revolution, and no matter whether they themselves are conscious of the point or understand it, so long as they oppose imperialism, their revolution becomes part of the proletarian-socialist world revolution and they become its allies.” (Mao Tse-tung, On New Democracy)
In our age when the bourgeoisie is completely reactionary, the struggles for national liberation and colonialism are also part of the process of the New Democratic Revolution. Because the processes of colonialism and occupation in our epoch cannot take place independently of the imperialists and therefore every anti-colonial and anti-occupation struggle objectively includes anti-imperialism. While carrying out the anti-colonial and anti-occupation struggle on a proletarian line ensures the development of a direct and consistent New Democratic Revolution process, since the components of the struggle of the Palestinian Resistance Forces are mainly focused on anti-occupation and the elimination of the colonial situation, the resolution of this issue in favor of the Resistance Forces will also mature the preconditions for the progress of the New Democratic Revolution process.
“In this era, any revolution in a colony or semi-colony that is directed against imperialism, i.e., against the international bourgeoisie or international capitalism, no longer comes within the old category of the bourgeois-democratic world revolution, but within the new category. It is no longer part of the old bourgeois, or capitalist, world revolution, but is part of the new world revolution, the proletarian-socialist world revolution. Such revolutionary colonies and semi-colonies can no longer be regarded as allies of the counterrevolutionary front of world capitalism; they have become allies of the revolutionary front of world socialism.” (Mao Tse-tung, On New Democracy)
The Palestinian National Liberation Struggle is Doomed to Win
“As Lenin pointed out, the proletarian civil wars against the bourgeoisie, the dictatorship of the proletariat against the bourgeois states and the national revolutionary wars of the oppressed peoples against imperialism are inevitable and revolutionary wars…” (6th World Congress of the Communist International, 1928).
As anti-imperialists and revolutionary forces of the world, first and foremost we are in favor of a world without war and we are fighting for it. But we know that this will not happen without ending the system of exploitation and barbarism in which we live. For this reason, we stay away from “humanist” and “pacifist” perspectives and slogans, and we see the destruction of the objective grounds that actually create wars as a necessity for the end of wars. Therefore, we determine our attitude by looking at the objective grounds and contradictions on which wars take place and which contradictions they aim to resolve.
For those who struggle to create a world without war and exploitation, the problem is quite clear. There will be wars until the objective ground that creates wars, that is, the reality of class society, is eliminated. Therefore, humanity must struggle to create a classless society. For this, they have to organize the revolutionary counter-violence of the working class and the oppressed against the violence of the ruling classes and fight to erase the ruling exploiting class forces from human history forever. As Lenin said: “Only after we have overthrown, finally vanquished and expropriated the bourgeoisie of the whole world, and not merely of one country, will wars become impossible.”
Within the imperialist system of exploitation and plunder, wars are waged mainly on two fronts: On the one hand, unjust wars that serve the continuation of the system of exploitation and benefit this or that exploiting class(es), and on the other hand, wars that serve the interests of the oppressed, exploited and suppressed working class and oppressed peoples, i.e. just wars. We are both in favor of just wars and part of these just wars.
In Lenin’s words, “imperialism is political reaction”. For this very reason, the struggle for peace and for the freedom of peoples, women, nations and nature must be seen as a component of the revolutionary war against imperialism and fascism.
It must be reiterated once again that today the anti-imperialist struggle is also closely linked to the democratic struggle. On a world scale, the principles and values of democracy have decayed in the hands of the bourgeoisie, and the struggle for democracy and consistent democratism have gained a unity that unites with the anti-imperialist character. This means that the values, principles and political line of proletarian democracy with its consistent anti-imperialist character are more and more integrated with the oppressed peoples.
Anti-imperialism is a sine qua non of the struggle for democracy. Of course, this does not mean that every democratic struggle and movement must be consistent and revolutionary to the end. It only means that every democratic struggle contains an anti-imperialist essence, which we must be responsible for grasping in order to develop and unify it.
The path that anti-imperialists must follow is to grasp the interests that condition the solution. In this case, it is clear that we are talking about a responsibility that focuses on the interests of the oppressed peoples who are the subjects of the struggle for democracy. The achievement of democratic rights is possible with the success of the struggle against imperialism. The importance, depth, scope and necessity of the anti-imperialist struggle determines the scope of the struggle for democracy. Addressing the issue at the international level is another important issue that needs to be emphasized. Recent events show that the conditions for anti-imperialist struggle at the international level have matured. The existence and struggles of the nations whose right to self-determination has been usurped and whose territories have been occupied have mobilized a considerable mass of people. The progressive sections of the world have embraced the struggle against the great destruction caused by imperialism with great hatred and persistence. The intolerance shown to this struggle, especially in the “advanced democracies”, is a strong indication of the nature of the conflict of interests in this field. There is a clear intolerance both towards the struggle and towards the counter-attack. The interests of those who created the problem clash with the interests of those who favor a revolutionary solution to the problem in Palestine, for example.
The only true friend of the Palestinian people are the masses of millions of people who, despite the bans and repression, fill the streets with an anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist spirit in every corner of the world. Against the reactionary domination that legitimizes the isolation of Palestine and the massacre of Zionism with the “story of terrorism”, it is the independent actions of the people who stand by Palestine without calculation, embroider “Long Live Free Palestine” on the walls everywhere, and flag the symbols of Palestine.
The Palestinian National Resistance, shaped as a powerful anti-imperialist struggle of great historical value, is much more glorious today. The last torch that illuminates this greatness is the Al-Aqsa Flood. The guiding features of the Palestinian struggle illuminated by the Al-Aqsa Flood still shine brightly today. These are the characteristics that communists have repeatedly illuminated, explained and practiced in all their struggles. These are the features that teach us how to win.
The strength and success of the Palestinian resistance, its quality that upset all the regional calculations of US imperialism and Zionism, will be a lever in the struggle of the oppressed nations and masses of people. The success of the organized resistance of a powerless, besieged, poor and deprived oppressed nation against the imperialist and Zionist reaction, organized at the highest level and possessing all the means of domination, almost a war machine, will be a reference for the liberation struggles. The fact that this resistance deepens the struggle for imperialist hegemony, makes it open and raises it to the level of conflict will reveal the necessity of organizing just and revolutionary wars against this reactionary hegemony. The greatness, determination and persistence of the Palestinian liberation resistance will unmask all regional reactionary forces and raise the consciousness and determination of the oppressed to struggle.
We are in a new process in which we are doomed to win against all imperialism. Imperialism is a bankrupt economic and political system waiting to be thrown into the dustbin of history. The peoples have mighty arms to lift this gigantic heap of trash. It is our fundamental duty to organize, arm ourselves and participate in the struggles for power without hesitation. We must be in full solidarity with the Palestinian national resistance, unhesitatingly emphasizing, embracing and defending every revolutionary feature embodied in it. This will not only be solidarity. We must also wage an active, open struggle in our countries against all the regional and international extensions and collaborators of Israeli Zionism. Israel is supported or fed in different ways by many States and many international monopolies. As anti-imperialists, we must work to target the sources that support and feed this occupation and massacre in the countries where we live. We can only do this by believing in and being guided by the power of the peoples to win in the end.
As the Coordination Committee of the Anti-Imperialist League, we call on all revolutionary, anti-imperialist, anti-occupation forces to support the Palestinian National Liberation Struggle and to be part of the resistance, whatever it costs. We must embrace the struggle of the oppressed Palestinian people against Israeli Zionism, one of the battering rams of the imperialist system, strengthen the resistance and show our solidarity with concrete actions.
THE STRUGGLE OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL LIBERATION FORCES AGAINST OCCUPATION AND COLONIALISM IS JUST AND LEGITIMATE!
THE IMPERIALISTS AND ALL REACTIONARIES ARE PAPER TIGERS!
LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL LIBERATION FORCES!
LONG LIVE THE RIGHT OF OPPRESSED NATIONS TO SELF-DETERMINATION!
DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM, DOWN WITH THE ZIONIST STATE OF ISRAEL!
The Coordinating Committee of the Anti-Imperialist League
October 2024
Addtionally the AIL has also published a video on occasion of this anniversary: