Here we post the emergency leaflet of the Socialist Party distributed on stalls and protests around the country over the last two days in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.
Stop the Slaughter of Peace Activists by the Israeli Defense Forces
News reports have not yet provided a definitive account of the extent of the IDF attack on the flotilla of eight humanitarian aid ships on their way to Gaza. However it is clear that IDF forces have taken over some of the ships and up to 20 unarmed activists have been slaughtered and over 100 injured. There are eleven Irish nationals on this flotilla and we do not yet know the condition they are in.
An IDF officer is reported in this mornings Jerusalem Post describing how IDF paratroopers landing by helicopter on the ships in international waters were ‘ambushed’ by aid workers ‘armed’ with whatever was at hand! Joe Higgins, Socialist Party MEP stated “I am already aware that language has lost all meaning to the Israeli authorities having received some e mails myself from the Israeli Embassy in Dublin late last week defending their position when I was making representations to them in anticipation of the attacks on the aid flotilla.”
The IDF carry out these atrocities safe in the knowledge that their allies in the west will leave them unchallenged. Indeed by welcoming Israel into the OECD last week the Israeli political establishment can now label itself as part of the ‘advanced’ west.
The Socialist Party condemns this attack and demands that that ‘MV Rachael Corrie’ which left Dundalk harbour this weekend carrying aid for Gaza be allowed to make it’s journey without harassment.
Mass Struggle needed to defeat Israeli State
While the Israeli government claims to be acting in the interests of the Israeli population it uses methods, like the permanent blockade of Gaza, that are reminiscent of the collective punishment imposed in the past on Jews in the old ghettos of Europe. This Israeli government does not defend the real, long-term interests of Israeli citizens and oppresses the Palestinians. Only a joint movement of ordinary Palestinians and Israeli Jews against the Israeli capitalist state can prevent further atrocities and secure democratic rights for all.
The Egyptian government must immediately open its border with Gaza and allow free movement across it.
Join us today
The Socialist Party is part of the CWI,an international organisation that struggles against the horrors of capitalism and for a socialist alternative. We organise activists in the Middle East and Internationally.
We call for:
- For an immediate end to Israeli attacks and the blockade.
- For the trade union movement internationally to mobilise workers in solidarity.
- Build independent workers’ organisations throughout the Middle East to defend working people and the poor and lead the fight against oppression, capitalism and imperialism.
- For the overthrow of all the capitalist regimes including the Arab states and Israel. For governments of workers and the poor across the Middle East to end the cycle of violence.
- For a socialist Palestine and a socialist Israel, with agreed and open borders that reflect the wishes of local people, as part of a voluntary socialist federation of the middle east
