January 13,Washington, DC—Marking 100 days after Israel’s fascist attack on working class in Gaza, at least tens of thousands rallied and marched here to condemn Israel’s genocidal attacks, calling for the liberation of Palestine “from the river to the sea.” Progressive Labor Party brought the message that the liberation of the working class, from Palestine to the U.S. and China, will come with communist revolution and global working-class unity. This message resonated with marchers, as they eagerly took  500 Challenge newspapers and hundred-plus communist leaflets from PL’ers, with some making donations to build the PLP.

The PLP rallied within the broader rally behind a banner calling for communist revolution. A leader of the local transit union declared that ATU Local 689, based on the initiative of PLPers in the union, voted overwhelmingly to demand a ceasefire in Palestine and an end to U.S. supply of weapons and money to Israel. But, he added, it was time for the labor movement to move beyond resolutions and take job actions and solidarity strikes to force the U.S. bosses to stop supporting Israel’s military devastation of Gaza, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

“Not another penny, not another dime, No more support for Israel’s crimes!”
Another PLP member, suspended from her job teaching middle school for Facebook posts opposing Israel’s murders of children, called on the crowd to never back down. She said that, when asked by “investigators” from the school board whether she was scared by the charges of antisemitism against her, she replied, “Scared of who? Look, I was in Charlottesville fighting real Nazis, you and the Zionists don’t scare me!” Dozens of contacts were made with marchers interested in the fight for communism, boding well for the long-term struggle.

A group of 150 trade unionists in D.C. rallied and marched to join the larger protest, a glimmer of what engaging the labor movement with communist leadership could mean to intensifying this struggle against genocide.

The rally in DC and other US cities was part of a global day of struggle, with millions worldwide marching to condemn Israel’s attacks, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and condemning the U.S. and Genocide Joe Biden for arming Israel to the teeth as part of its imperialist project. Many of these rallies globally were held at U.S. embassies and consulates, exposing the truth that the U.S. imperialists provide military and financial backing to  Israel to enable it to serve U.S. economic and political interests in the Middle East. Control over energy resources and trade routes are vital to U.S. imperialism.

Don’t be lulled into complacency by countries opposing Israel
South Africa made a powerful, chilling case against Israel at the United Nation’s International Court of Justice for murdering 23,000 Palestinians including thousands of children. Israel’s president Isaac Herzog arrogantly dismissed the charges as “preposterous” and a “blood libel”. The majority of the UN General Assembly has supported Palestine, but the U.S. has vetoed any Security Council resolution calling for a “ceasefire” or “cessation of hostilities”. The U.S. finally agreed to abstain on a meaningless resolution to improve humanitarian assistance in Gaza. But none of the countries that have lined up to support Palestine diplomatically or judicially will stop Israel. Only armed struggle can change the situation on the ground, which is exactly why the US imperialists have placed two aircraft carrier groups in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and 12 battleships in the Red Sea area to intimidate and kill any armed resistance to Israel’s genocide.

A wider war looms
Inter-imperialist rivalry is intensifying globally. The genocide in Palestine is one particularly brutal instance of this. The U.S. side is weakening and shrinking, but it will not cede power, money, and influence without a fight. Already engaged in two wars (Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Palestine), depleted of much of its weaponry and with vastly understaffed armed forces, the U.S. imperialists are increasingly vulnerable as other imperialists sharpen their knives. The UN vote reflects the decline of US power. In the Middle East, several armed groups (Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Islamic groups in Iraq and Syria) have already engaged in a limited way militarily against the U.S. and Israel. Many at today’s rally understood the danger of a wider war, holding signs saying “Hands off Yemen”! Meanwhile, China’s Belt and Road extends into the Middle East, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and the African continent, implicitly challenging U.S. hegemony.

For those seeking solutions to this sharpening conflict, rebuilding the communist movement on an internationalist and revolutionary basis is the first order of business. Intensifying the class struggle goes hand in hand with this approach. Let’s be clear-eyed about the devastation that imperialism is creating in Palestine and the rest of the world as well, and move urgently to boldly advance into the battle against racism and genocide and for communism!

Mount Rainier, Maryland, January 9—A neighborhood group in this small town outside Washington, D.C. rallied in the pouring rain to protest Glenn Ivey, their congressional representative, for his outspoken support for Israel’s brutal genocidal attack on Palestinians. Not surprisingly, Ivey received massive campaign contributions ($7 million!) from the leading Zionist lobbying group in the U.S., the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). (Guardian, 1/10/24). A PLP member was part of this bold group who marched to his office to deliver an anti-genocide petition with 476 signatures from his constituents. Many refused to leave his office and were arrested. The grassroots movement in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters is growing everywhere, and with communist leadership from the PLP, can build a mass revolutionary movement to topple capitalism, the cause of genocide globally.

U.N. calls Palestinian conditions “horrific”
New York Times, 1/13–The twin specters of a widening regional war and intensified suffering of civilians loomed over the Middle East on Saturday as the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen threatened to respond to American airstrikes, and a senior U.N. official warned of a “horrific” humanitarian crisis in Gaza that he said was hurtling toward famine…In northern Gaza, corpses are left in the road and starving people stop aid trucks “in search of anything they can get to survive,” Martin Griffiths, the top U.N. aid official, told the United Nations Security Council on Friday. With the risk of famine in Gaza “growing by the day,” he repeated earlier criticisms of Israel, which he said was delaying or denying permission to humanitarian convoys bringing urgently needed aid to northern Gaza…Israeli attacks have killed at least 23,000 people in Gaza since, according to the Gaza health authorities. At least 1.9 million people, or 85 percent of the population, have been forced from their homes, Mr. Griffiths said.

Gaza war spreads into a wider conflict
Al Jazeera, 1/12–For months, top United States officials have repeatedly said that President Joe Biden does not want to see Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip escalate into a wider conflict in the Middle East…later, the US confirmed it had collaborated with the United Kingdom to launch “strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels'', in coordination with a handful of other countries…“It does run contrary to what the administration has been saying, but it was also inevitable, “Everybody watching this situation knew that it was a matter of time before the war in Gaza spilled out across the region…The Iran-aligned Houthis control large swaths of Yemen including the western coast overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which leads to the Red Sea. The group began firing missiles at Israel and attacking commercial ships shortly after the war on Gaza began in October.

Is inter imperialist struggle accelerating?
The Guardian, 1/13–The first of what may be many US-led air strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi Shia militants in Yemen… reflects…another unwelcome fact. The dominant power in the Middle East is no longer the US, western-aligned Egypt, Saudi Arabia or even Israel. It is the Houthis’ main ally, Iran…China has created spheres of geopolitical and economic influence to rival and, if possible, supplant those of the US… In 2021, the two countries [China and Iran] signed a 25-year strategic investment and energy pact. Under Chinese sponsorship, Iran has joined the Brics group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation…Iran sells millions of barrels of discounted crude to China each month, transported there by “dark fleet” oil tankers…With Russia…Iran supplies armed drones that Moscow uses to kill Ukrainians. US intelligence reportedly believes Russia’s Wagner mercenary group plans to provide Hezbollah with a medium-range air defense system…Iran…may soon take delivery of advanced Russian Sukhoi SU-35 fighter-bombers…nuclear weapons-related enrichment programme is reportedly advancing rapidly…an Iranian bomb, may be closer than ever.

War in Asia would be much worse
Bloomberg, 1/8–War over Taiwan would have a cost in blood and treasure so vast that even those unhappiest with the status quo have reason not to risk it. Bloomberg Economics estimate the price tag at around $10 trillion, equal to about 10% of global GDP — dwarfing the blow from the war in Ukraine, Covid pandemic and Global Financial Crisis.

China’s rising economic and military heft, Taiwan’s burgeoning sense of national identity, and fractious relations between Beijing and Washington mean the conditions for a crisis are in place…Everyone from Wall Street investors to military planners and the swathe of businesses that rely on Taiwan’s semiconductors are already moving to hedge against the risk. National security experts in the Pentagon, think tanks in the US and Japan, and global consulting firms are gaming out scenarios from a Chinese maritime “quarantine” of Taiwan, to the seizure of Taiwan’s outlying islands, and a full-scale Chinese invasion.

MARYLAND, December 19, 2023—Tonight the fight against Zionist efforts to intimidate teachers who have supported Palestinian workers in Gaza took another step forward.  The teachers have not been content to rely only on grievance procedures and lawyers but have continued to organize and speak up. Over 130 protestors gathered outside the Board of Education tonight in the cold to support the “Solidarity Not Silence” campaign.

Parents, teachers, students, and community members vigorously chanted, “When teachers are under attack, what do we do, stand up, fight back!” and  “Jewish, Arab, Black and white, workers of the world unite.”  After several sharp speeches from teachers, members of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP), Jewish Voice For Peace, and Palestinian students, a group of about 50 marched over to the building where the closed meeting was being held and chanted and pounded on the windows. PLP members distributed nearly 50 CHALLENGEs with articles about this struggle and the fight at the American Public Health Association (CHALLENGE, 1/3).

Anti-Zionist teachers attacked
At least five teachers have now been put on administrative leave since  November 15 in this wealthy county on the border of  Washington DC.  A Takoma Park Middle School teacher was charged with antisemitism because of Facebook posts protesting the massive attacks on Palestinian civilians by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Another teacher had a tagline on her email that said, “From the river to the sea” and is being attacked for having something “political”  -- a charge that has not been used against others with a variety of political slogans. One of the teachers at the rally said, “I am not surprised at the attack since the ‘progressive ’ community can’t handle this issue - they separate over Israel.” Indeed the county has a reputation for being liberal but last year the council passed a resolution that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” and this year the U.S. Congress did the same thing. Students at Towson University were disciplined and the organization, CASA, which serves the immigrant population had its funding cut. Obviously “free speech” does not extend to critiques of U.S. imperialism.

Focus on destroying capitalism
PLP members have the responsibility to move the discussion beyond free speech debates. One member summed up our outlook by stating “This is about the economic system of capitalism that depends on the exploitation and misery of the entire human population to survive. This is about the U.S. government’s desperation to control resources such as oil, pipelines, and sea routes in the Middle East. …Hundreds of thousands of workers around the world say no to the continued genocide of the Palestinians. Hamas, the PLO, these misleaders cannot be trusted to end the exploitation and murder of the workers in Palestine. Only an international movement against capitalism can free the workers of the world.” After this everyone joined in the chant: Same Enemy, Same Fight, Workers of the World Unite!