Bulletin No40 Novembre 2023 These last few days have been the occasion for a rise in the solidarity of peoples with Palestine: 300,000 demonstrators in London, 60,000 in Brussels, numerous demonstrations in the United States, in America Latin, in North Africa, and in the Arab world and even in France, despite the screed and prohibitions.
Several trade union and political organizations, in Europe and elsewhere in the world, expressed their active solidarity, such as Sinn Fein, in Ireland, welcoming the Palestinian ambassador with cries of “ We are all Palestinians!” ".
More and more, other means of struggle than just demonstrations are being put in place.
The entry of workers and their organizations into the world
Unions and citizen groups have organized actions at strategic locations for the arms trade since the start of the bombings on Gaza. Blockades and demonstrations took place at the ports of Tacoma in the United States, or even in Melbourne , Australia or Toronto in Canada. In Barcelona, the majority dockers' union has decided to refuse to load or unload any military equipment linked to the bombings in Gaza. Let's take a quick look at where we are now.
A common slogan has emerged and grown: “ Those who wage war against the Palestinian people must not be left alone. »
In Italy
Friday November 10 unequivocally marks a “ qualitative leap ” in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance as far as Italy is concerned. In Genoa, from six in the morning, one of the main entrances to the port was blocked by a gathering at a strategic crossroads of truck traffic, diverted not without difficulty towards another entrance, which disrupted the normal flow of trucks .
A few hundred protesters then left mid-morning and reached the headquarters of ZIM (an Israeli shipping company). ZIM is an Israeli-flagged maritime giant with several offices in Italy, a major player in the Mediterranean maritime-port system, whose activity (like that of other similar companies) takes place in relative "opacity" thanks to the complicity of the various national authorities which control maritime traffic.
The procession, after stopping in front of the ZIM headquarters – protected by police forces in riot gear in front of the entrance – left towards the rally, joining those who had maintained the active blockade, thus marking their presence until noon.
A gigantic Palestinian flag was painted on the asphalt near the dam, with the words "Stop War" and "Free Palestine" in English and Arabic, while in front of the headquarters of the Israeli company, we wrote in red paint on the road surface “ Stop arms trafficking. Israel murders .”
Among the leaders of the day, we find the new grassroots unions, which have existed for several years in Italy, denouncing the inaction and class collaboration of the large confederations. At the USB (Union of Basic Trade Unions), in Genoa and elsewhere, the need for a moment of struggle in the city is emerging which gives workers the opportunity to express their opposition to the massacre of Palestinians through the strike. More broadly, USB unionists reflect on a moment of national confrontation between categories of workers on how to act, as workers, across the entire military-industrial complex, from manufacturing to logistics. , and not only in port areas.
In England
This same Friday, November 10, nearly 400 trade unionists blocked the BAE company arms factory in Rochester, England. The weapons factory notably manufactures “ active interception systems ” for F35 jets, “ currently used by Israel to bomb Gaza ”, write the unions organizing this mobilization. Art, culture, education, health, seven trade union organizations came together under the slogan “ Workers for a Free Palestine ”, also responding to the call of the Palestinian unions of October 16.
The British arms industry, subsidized by public money, is involved in the massacres of Palestinians. Organizing unions want to disrupt the Israeli war machine and take a stand against their government's complicity. They urged workers across the UK to take similar measures in their workplaces.
On Saturday November 11, more than 800,000 people demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinian people. A month after the start of the Israeli offensive against Gaza, it was the largest demonstration of solidarity that took place in Europe.
In Greece
On Sunday October 29, a large demonstration in support of Palestine took place in Athens, at the call of the All Workers' Militant Front (PAME). Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the US Embassy and then marched towards the Israeli Embassy. Similar protests also took place in many other cities in Greece.
Elsewhere in the world
In India, all the unions have sent a clear message to the government so that it refuses the agreement offered to it by the fascist Israeli government, namely, sending thousands of workers to the Zionist state to replace Palestinian workers in Gaza that the Zionist authorities herded into camps before sending them back to the Gaza Strip.
In Belgium, the call from all unions, at the end of October, to refuse to take on or unload weapons at airports, weapons which are transported on cargo planes, had a real effect. Of the two airlines that make these deliveries, one of them has stopped them. The other is an Israeli company.
The particular situation of France
In France, we are not there yet. It can be noted that, although no union has yet called for action in the workplace, the CGT Ports and Docks federation could soon join the international movement. Next week, at the port of Piraeus in Athens, 12 European dockworkers and port union organizations, members of the EDC (European Dockworkers Council), are due to meet for a general assembly. The CGT federation wants to push for a day of work stoppage in all European ports to demonstrate its desire for a ceasefire. The possibility of a union boycott on the transport of weapons to Israel will also be debated, it could lead to a common position between these unions, which bring together 20,000 dockworkers across Europe.
We can also mention the boycott activity of companies trading with Israel of the BDS association (Boycott, Divestment, Sanction) and the demonstrations and gatherings which take place at least every Saturday, when they are not prohibited.
But, it is clear that solidarity actions have difficulty moving beyond the framework of demonstrations and that, despite a growing awareness among workers, the workers' movement has not yet taken its part as such, with his wrestling practices, in combat.
The blockages do not come from workers, nor from simple unions. They are the result of the knife fight waged by the government, the media , most political parties and Zionist organizations, all in the service of Big Capital, to prevent, by all means, the expression of any voice whatsoever. which goes beyond the dogma that they want to impose, to which is added the absence of significant initiatives by the union leadership and in particular by that of the CGT, while this organization has a long history of anti-colonialist and anti- -imperialists.
The affair of the march on Sunday 12 supposedly against anti-Semitism is extremely revealing of what is happening. As it becomes increasingly difficult to justify banning demonstrations, as the solidarity movement grows in our country, the vehicles of the dominant ideology have changed tactics. We put a layer on the use of anti-Semitism, which ends up emptying the word of its meaning; the most appropriate definition today would be: “ Anyone who is opposed to the State of Israel is an anti-Semite .” We wrote it, there was no need to be a great cleric to understand that this march, at the initiative of Gérard Larcher (LR) and Yaël Braun-Pivet (Renaissance) “ unconditional support for Israel ” was not in reality than a march in support of the Zionist state and Netanyahu, therefore the massacre in Gaza.
The more than relative failure of this march is good news. Let us note in passing that in Marseille, the newspaper "La Provence" announces 4,000 demonstrators and the police headquarters 7,500. As for the question of the rise of anti-Semitism, we only have one version, that of Darmanin. Can we decently trust one of the ideologues in the service of the Bourgeois State? And we clearly feel that there is the orchestration of a campaign (see the Stars of David affair). The latest delirium is made up of the wild cries of two Macronist deputies denouncing as anti-Semitic a tag where it is written on three lines: “ Fuck anti-Semitism / Free Palestine / Fuck apartheid ”.
The so-called left-wing parties have not grown in this matter. The only reason given for expressing reluctance, but participating (EELV, PS, PCF) or not participating (LFI) was the presence of the RN. Unlike a few personalities, including Rony Braumann, practically no politician said that it was an initiative to support Israel. The boos and whistles accompanying the meager procession of the left trio indicate that, rather than the RN, supporter of Netanyahu and his destructive work, it was they who were out of place in this march, because not enough pro-Zionists, probably.
Environmentalists and PS have a long pro-Israeli tradition. But neither the PCF, with its long anti-colonial past, nor the FI have the arguments to respond to this climate of multiple pressures, censorship and repression. To do this, they would have to attack capitalism, denounce the imperialists and the apartheid state. However, we know that they only want to marginally change the capitalist system, absolutely not to abolish it. To escape from the false debates imposed by the dominant ideology, we need a reading of class struggle on a national and international scale. They don't have this culture.
The horizon can clear in France, as elsewhere
However, the situation can change in the right direction. Many CGT activists are protesting more and more openly against the line of shared wrongs which is that of their confederal leadership, which objectively places the colonized people and the colonizing state on the same level. More and more workers are in demonstrations and are asking themselves the question of what to do usefully. For the Communist Revolutionary Party, the workers' movement must take head on the fundamental question of the anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist struggle. It is therefore time for actions on a scale other than demonstrations and rallies to see the light of day in our country. We support everything that is being done and will be done to help the martyred people of Gaza and the West Bank. The movement is growing in the country, a ceasefire must be obtained more than urgently. We have achieved the end of apartheid in South Africa, the end of apartheid in Palestine is in line with History.
Only even stronger international mobilization, pressure on governments friendly to the Zionist state, the boycott of multinationals that trade with apartheid, and the blocking of arms deliveries will allow this. Then, we will have to demand the withdrawal of occupying troops, the dismantling of colonies and the return of refugees.