The following text is an excerpt from a flyer being distributed by the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members in the California Bay Area. To read the full text please visit PLP.org.
No doubt over two million Gazans are rejoicing that the bombing has stopped and some bits of food and other aid are getting through. But the commitment of the Zionist machine to the genocide of Palestinians and the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza remains. There are just some temporary tactical changes of plan to placate the new powers in Washington and the Israeli rulers demanding progress on hostages. Meanwhile, the need of the U.S. for its one reliable, nuclear-armed ally in the Middle East remains in place, for 80 percent of the fossil fuel resources of the world are in this area and 80 percent of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels. The U.S. also cannot lose control of critical trade routes of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf as it vies for world control with China. The U.S. will never divorce from Israel, no matter its crimes.
For nearly fourteen months Israel has mercilessly attacked Gaza, killing upwards of 64,000 (Lancet, 1/9), injuring hundreds of thousands, destroying 90 percent of housing and most of the health, education, sanitation and power infrastructure. The entire population has been affected by malnutrition, lack of treatment of disease and psychic trauma. But even this is less than the level of destruction that the Zionist regime has desired from the outset, as stated by Zionism's founders and every Prime Minister since. “Thin” the Palestinian population “to a minimum.” said Netanyahu in 2023 (Theintercept, 12/03/23). Complete ethnic cleansing has always been the goal. In a declining imperialist and capitalist world order, there are no ceasefires! War remains constant. From Gaza to Ukraine to Sudan, only a communist world—one run by and for the international working class, without borders—can abolish the profit motive and end the imperialist wars driven by competition for territory and resources.
A sorry recycled Ceasefire
The current ceasefire is no different from that which was proposed in May 2024 by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt. Phase 1 calls for Israeli troops to pull back to a border buffer zone, end fighting for six weeks, and free 1904 Palestinian prisoners as Hamas frees 33 hostages. Phase 2 is supposed to commit Israel to withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border and completely withdraw by day 50. But according to an Israeli official, Israel will not do so unless Hamas is fully dismantled, which will not happen as there is no indication that Hamas has been destroyed or even has fewer fighters than it did before. Both Netanyahu and his far-right Finance Minister Smotrich have said they have no intention of seeing this ceasefire last past Phase 1 (Mondoweiss, 1/22).
The whole deal only happened at this time because of fear of President Donald Trump's. unpredictability and aggressiveness and his threat that "all hell will break out" if hostages are not released by January 20 (NPR, 1/7).
Trump has also said that the ceasefire is unlikely to hold (Middleeasteye, 1/21) and that he will resume sending 2000 pound bombs to Israel. He is pressuring Jordan and Egypt to accept 1.5 million Gazan refugees and has noted what great real estate Gaza represents. Israel has already violated the agreement by refusing to allow thousands of displaced Gazans to return to the north, as of January 26.
If Israel does not succeed in expelling Gazans or eliminating Hamas, both of which are unlikely, it will continue its long term reliance on dividing and ruling Palestinians - the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, on the one hand and Hamas on the other. Israel has actually funded Hamas for years for this purpose, first at its inception in 1987 and again since 2018.
We should have no illusions that anyone in the U.S. or Israeli Government cares a whit about any workers' lives, Palestinians or hostages. As soon as the Gaza deal began, Israel upped its attacks in the West Bank (WB), without any objection from the U.S. They have attacked Jenin, long a center of resistance, killing at least 14 by January 25, destroying roads and displacing thousands from their homes, all with the help of the Palestinian Authority. For the past week, Israel has erected 17 new metal gates at the entrances of towns and villages in the WB, in addition to the more than 700 that previously existed. From October 7, 2023 to December 31, 2024, Israeli settlers staged at least 1,860 attacks on Palestinian communities as the army stood by and watched (Aljazeera news, 1/23). Over 12,000 WB Palestinians have been arrested and over 6000 acres of land annexed (Mondoweiss, 1/25).
So we may speculate that Netanyahu is getting weaker or that he is more afraid of Trump than Biden, but the Israeli program of seizing as much Palestinian land as possible while getting rid of as many Palestinians as possible continues.
Who is supporting workers in Palestine?
The main problem for workers in Palestine, as for workers across the world, is that they do not have leaders or an organization to fight in their interests. Just being the leader of an oppressed group or nation does not mean that a group's ideas or tactics are correct. Fatah has always been in open collaboration with the Zionists and U.S. imperialists. Hamas is an Islamic group that has ruled over Gaza without regard for the welfare of those who are not its adherents, gathering wealth and privileges for itself and subjecting thousands to death and deprivation. The current war has brought massive hardship down on Gazans who were not prepared or protected, as have many previous smaller Hamas attacks on Israel.
Workers in Palestine, like those in Israel and all workers of the world, need a struggle for the overthrow of capitalism and imperialism, an end to nationalism, and the institution of a society run by and for the workers of the world - a communist world lead by the Progressive Labor Party.
