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following
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Statement of the Central Executive
Committee, Communist Party of Canada, Jan. 9, 2009
Israel's
savage and criminal attack
on Gaza, which started on December 26, has exacted a heavy toll in
human suffering. More than 800 Palestinians - mostly civilians - have
been slaughtered to date, and thousands more have been injured or
maimed. The constant bombardment of Gaza City and other centres has
created a humanitarian tragedy of staggering proportions. Israel's
aggression is nothing less than a crime against humanity.
And yet,
despite growing
international condemnation and an explicit UN Security Council
resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all
Israeli land forces, the Olmert government has declared its intention
to continue the devastation and slaughter. The Zionist leadership in
Israel is thumbing its nose at the world, confident that its
imperialist allies, including Canada, will permit Israel a `free hand'
to continue its aggression.
This
genocidal assault must stop
now! The Communist Party demands that the Harper government reverse its
blatantly pro-Israeli policy and instead take real and immediate action
to force an immediate ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal!
No Justification for this
Aggression
The Israeli
propaganda machine,
with the help of its imperialist and corporate backers abroad, peddles
the myth that it is the victim of unprovoked rocket attacks fired by
Hamas militants in Gaza, and therefore claims the right to search out
and destroy the "terrorist" infrastructure in an act of "self-defence".
Nothing
could be further from
the truth. It is the Israeli regime which has been provoking the
Palestinian people over many decades of occupation. It is the Israeli
state that has sealed off the Palestinian population, enclosing them in
a virtual prison and denying them any access to the outside world. In
recent months, Israel has tightened its siege of Gaza, cutting off its
1.5 million residents from essential supplies of food, water,
medicines, fuel and other basic needs.
Ever since
1948, the Israeli
state has oppressed and persecuted the Palestinian people, and stolen
their lands. In recent years, this occupying power built the "apartheid
wall" (ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice), and has
continued to build and expand Jewish settlements inside the Occupied
Territories.
The criminal
strangulation of
Gaza - together with the stifling occupation and oppression in the West
Bank - constitutes an intentional plan by Israel to solve the
`Palestinian problem' by making social and economic conditions
unliveable in the Occupied Territories. The Israeli regime hopes to
break the Intifada and drive the Palestinian people permanently out of
the rest of their homeland - essentially a racist, genocidal policy.
Under such circumstances, the Palestinian people have every right to
resist the occupying power by any means at their disposal.
End Canada's complicity with
Israeli
war crimes
The role of the
Harper government
in this tragedy has been appalling and unacceptable. Its pro-Israeli
position was summed up in the Dec. 28 remarks of the new Foreign
Minister Lawrence Cannon: "Israel has a clear right to defend itself
against the continued rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups ...
those rocket attacks must stop."
This
statement demonstrates once
again that the foreign policy of the Harper Conservatives is in total
lock-step with U.S. imperialism in fully backing Israel's aggressive
and expansionist strategy in the region. Under pressure from the
well-organized pro-Zionist lobby, the federal government is actually
colluding in this aggression, blatantly indifferent to its impact on
the Palestinian people, or the dangerously destabilizing effect it is
having on peace and security in the Middle East as a whole.
What then
should Canada's
position be? The government should give its complete and unequivocal
support to the demand for an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of
Israeli troops, and the lifting of the siege of Gaza. And it should
warn Israel that failure to comply will be met with swift and
comprehensive action - including the imposition of sanctions and the
severing of diplomatic relations.
For a Just and Lasting Peace
The roots of the
current tragedy
in Gaza lie in the longstanding colonialist policies of successive
Israeli governments. The state of Israel does not hesitate to trample
on the national rights of the Palestinian people or the sovereignty of
neighbouring Arab states. It has repeatedly violated international law,
and with the help and protection of U.S. imperialism, has rejected
dozens of United Nations resolutions which could form the basis for a
just and lasting political settlement of the Middle East conflict.
The only
just solution that can guarantee genuine and enduring peace in the
Middle East must include:
*
ending Israel's illegal occupation
of all territories, including East Jerusalem, seized in the 1967 war;
*
establishing a viable and genuinely
independent Palestinian state;
*
guaranteeing the right of return
for all Palestinian refugees; and
*
recognizing and developing peaceful
and cooperative relations with all states in the Middle East.
There is no
other "road map" to
a just and lasting peace in the region. In order to pressure Israel and
its imperialist allies to accept such a just peace, the time has come
for the world to impose comprehensive economic, political, military and
diplomatic sanctions and a full boycott against the `outlaw' state of
Israel. We urge the labour movement, the anti-war movements, and all
those in Canada who support peace and justice, to unite in a massive
campaign of action for "Peace NOW!" around the demands for an immediate
ceasefire and for the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza and
the rest of the occupied territories.