Independent Mass Struggle—The Renewal of the Spirit and Practice of Intifada—Can Win
The balance of power has shifted in the ongoing crisis of the Middle East in favor of thestruggle of the Palestinian people for an independent nation and a place of dignity and equal rights among the powers of the world.
The main danger now is that no leadership will display the boldness that the Palestinian people’s history of heroic struggle requires.
No longer should anyone treat the Palestinian struggle for independence and freedom as modern history’s hopeless cause. On the contrary the opportunity for victory is at hand. To seize this moment it is necessary to base every strategy and tactic on the real source of the power of the Palestine people—the refusal of the besieged and victimized Palestinians to accept defeat or permit betrayal. The long history of youth-led uprisings against Zionist atrocities and imperialist oppression is the real source of the possibility of victory now.
In face of the Zionist regime of genocidal intimidation and massacre, a policy of murdering militants and slaughtering civilians, over and over young women and men have fought with sticks and rocks and bricks against tanks and the advance weaponry the US has always provided the Zionist military machine. The struggle of the brave young Palestinian fighters and martyrs can now come to fruition. No sacrifice will have been in vain.
To understand the possibility of victory now as solely a question of the maneuvers among the various Middle Eastern and imperialist politicians would be fatal. Of course Palestinian leaders must take advantage of the ongoing maneuvers of the politicians. But relying on any of these politicians is merely to set up a new scenario of betrayal—and we have seen far too much betrayal, too many dashed hopes already.
We must understand how deep is the commitment of both the Israeli and the American governments to deny Palestine any real independence–any meaningful exercise of the Palestinians’ fundamental right to self-determination. The imperialists and Zionists fear a real victory for Palestinian freedom both in and of itself and because of the inspiration it would give to oppressed people throughout the Middle East and around the world. Unless the Palestinian people maintain their independent fight, the American imperialists and the Zionist rulers will never agree to anything other than a Palestine as a subservient client state to Israel, a forever impoverished source of cheap labor for the Israeli economy and a slavish cheering section for American policies in the Middle East. The blood of the Palestinian martyrs cries out against such an outcome.
To secure victory now, three things essentially are needed.
First, the Palestinian people must demand that any leadership that legitimately speaks for them should issue a Declaration of Palestinian Independence now, with a firm date set, and must demand that, in the first place, the Arab and Islamic governments and peoples recognize Palestine as the fully independent nation that it is. The Palestinians themselves must declare the existence of their nation and demand recognition for it. “Who would be free themselves must strike the blow.”
Our nationhood is not a maneuver to be endlessly delayed until the US State Department and the Zionist government have had their customary opportunity to pick away at the simple Palestinian demands for justice until there is nothing left.
Second, words of sympathy for Palestinian suffering are not enough. The Arab and Islamic governments that claim to support Palestine must arm the Palestinians. This is the only way to prevent Zionist atrocities and place the Palestinian people once and for all on the road to victory. Those governments that mouth words of condemnation of Israeli brutality but do not help arm Palestinian fighters to resist it are hypocrites and should be labeled as such.
The Key Is the History of Intifada
Third, and most important, the spirit and practice of Intifada–of the ongoing independent mass struggle of the Palestinian people–must be renewed and sustained until victory is achieved. In this permanent policy of resistance the leadership of the heroic youth will be crucial. And the active engagement of Palestinians throughout the Middle East, not only in Gaza and the West Bank, will be important. The entire Palestine diaspore has a role to play!
In each place, the struggle will assume the forms appropriate to that place but the essential principles will be the same: full support for a truly independent Palestine, assuming its rightful place among the world’s nations; equal rights and justice for the Palestinians everywhere and for all oppressed peoples; the rise of democracy and the end of absolutist and reactionary rule; the rights of women; the abolition of torture and tyranny; the liberation of the peoples of the entire region from foreign domination and exploitation.
The Palestinian people have been for long a vanguard people in the global fight for freedom and justice. Their victory will be a global one, setting a bright flame of hope before fighters against oppression everywhere. The enemies of the Palestinians continue to tremble and threaten. But wherever people fight to make the cause of truth and justice real, the Palestinians have powerful allies. Now is the time for this alliance for justice to triumph..
In solidarity with the people of Palestine—
Our Blood Is Your Blood!
London and Detroit, 24 November 2012
Movement For Justice/By Any Means Necessary
