International League of Peoples' Struggles
Statement of the ILPS Commission 6 (Concerns on Peasant Struggles)
The International League of Peoples‘ Struggle (ILPS) Commission 6 holds Zionist Israel and its main backer, US Imperialism accountable for its genocidal war against the Palestinian people.
Palestinians have been waging a national war of liberation for 75 years after the destruction of their society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of their people. This is popularly known as the Nakba or the catastrophe.
As of this writing, 5,087 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, but this does not yet include those killed in the West Bank, while thousands more have been wounded. Most of these are children and women. The US has unequivocally provided all out support to Israel including providing military aid.
Other than that, Zionist Israel has cut off all essential services to Gaza including electricity and water that could lead to the death of babies in incubators and patients relying on dialysis. Lack of water on the other hand can lead to dysentery and even cholera.
Zionist Israel is also limiting the amount of aid going into Gaza including food and medicines.
The Palestinian resistance fighters that attacked Israel on October 7 were mainly as a response to all the atrocities the Palestinians have faced over the decades.
These include the almost total destruction of Palestinian agriculture. In Gaza alone, from 1948 – 1967 it contributed more than one-third of Gaza’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), providing 33-40% of employment, and 90% of exports.
This, however, gradually declined after the Oslo Peace Agreement. In 2018, agriculture contributed to only 3% of Gaza’s GDP and workers in agriculture declined from 14% in 2010 to only 6.7% in 2017. This has led to poverty and unemployment.
This is due to Israel’s imposition of a blockade in Gaza including imposing an access restricted area (ARA) on lands near the fence separating Israel from Gaza since September 2000.
ARA reduced arable lands by 35% that used to produce 75,000 tons of agricultural products worth US$50.2 million. Other than that, Israel occupation forces restricted open markets for agricultural produce including export opportunities.
Besides ARA, as part of the blockade, Israel also reduced the fishing area off the coast of Gaza from 12 to three nautical miles.
It is almost certain that new restrictions will be imposed in the ongoing genocidal war of Zionist Israel in Gaza as Israel wants the total withdrawal of Palestinians in Gaza or impose a much larger buffer zone in the Strip.
Limiting the Palestinians right to their land including agricultural land is in effect also genocidal as what country can exist without agriculture.
Not only is Zionist Israel guilty of International Humanitarian Law, it also violates the Palestinian peoples socioeconomic and cultural rights. In essence those leading Zionist Israel are war criminals.
ILPS Commission 6 reiterates its call to support the Palestinian people’s right to a national war of liberation against US-Zionist control of their lands and hold them accountable for its genocidal war against the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian resistance is a beacon to our resistance against US- backed Zionist aggression. It gives inspiration to all people struggling for national and social liberation, like those of the armed resistance movements in the Philippines, India, Kurdistan and West Papua among others. As such, we must support their resistance as if it was our own.
From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!
Palestinian resistance is a beacon to our resistance!
Long live international Solidarity!
#FreePalestine
