THE Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) conducted a dharna on October 29 in solidarity with Palestine and condemning Israeli aggression. All the members of the Central Committee, including the Polit Bureau members, participated in the dharna.
Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M), in his inaugural address, strongly denounced Israel's aggression against Palestine. He emphasised that Israel's aerial and ground offensive aimed to displace all Palestinians from Gaza and occupy the region. Yechury lambasted the United States and its allies, including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, for unconditionally supporting Israel. He noted that the presidents of the United States and France, as well as the prime minister of the United Kingdom and the chancellor of Germany, personally visited Israel and expressed their support, despite Israel's violations of international laws and UN resolutions. Yechury called for an immediate declaration of a humanitarian ceasefire and the removal of the inhuman blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel. In this context, he also criticised the Indian government's decision to abstain from a vote at the UN on a resolution that sought to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. This, he said, is a complete reversal of our avowed foreign policy positions, which always stood for Palestine. Yechury concluded by asserting that lasting peace in the region and the world at large could only be achieved when a Palestinian State is established with pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital.
Biman Basu, a veteran leader of the CPI(M), briefly recounted the historical support that India has consistently provided to Palestine right from the days of our freedom struggle. He emphasised that it is now imperative for us to rally the people of our country once more in opposition to the imperialist-backed assault on Palestine.
Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and the chief minister of Kerala, expressing solidarity with Palestine, condemned Israel which has been continuously violating many UN resolutions with impunity. He noted that Israel's audacity to defy the UN and international public opinion was emboldened by the unwavering support it receives from the imperialist United States. It is very unfortunate that Indian government has decided to join hands with two such countries and enter into an alliance – I2U2 (India, Israel, US and UAE). Vijayan demanded the Indian government to stand in solidarity with Palestine and extend all possible humanitarian aid to the ravaged country.
Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, exposed the fallacy of arguments that support Israeli aggression by pointing out that it was not solely targeted at Hamas. She questioned where is Hamas in West Bank and who has given them the right to kill infants, women and ordinary citizens residing in Gaza, in the name of targeting Hamas. Brinda Karat referred to the gruesome images emanating from the Gaza, where entire families are being wiped out by Israeli bombing. She appealed all the people to join hands in solidarity with Palestine.
Manik Sarkar in his address criticised the US imperialist intervention in West Asia and its continued support to Israel. He said that imperialism always intends to destabilise regions and world peace by inflaming conflicts. The NATO backed war in Ukraine is another example of imperialism’s evil designs. He recalled the Non-Aligned Movement and the role played by India in the early 1980s. During that period, Yasser Arafat was warmly welcomed and India was one of the first countries to recognise PLO and the State of Palestine. From that stage, the present BJP government has made a complete U-turn in foreign policy, where Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is being accorded a red carpet welcome, while support to Palestine is pushed to the back. He called upon the entire Party to undertake an extensive campaign throughout the country, explaining to the people the history of Palestine and its people’s struggles.
Md Salim, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and secertary of the West Bengal state committee in his address questioned as to which religion gives one the right to kill each other and destroy everything. He said all those who claim to speak on behalf of religion and carry out such attacks are in fact acting against the basic tenets of their religions. He exposed the difference between Zionism and Jewish religion – the former is a political project which wants to establish a State on the basis of religion, while the later is the practice of a religion, which is a personal choice of individuals. Zionism and Hindutva share many similarities he stated, as both of them want to establish religious States, where people pursuing other faiths would be persecuted and treated as second grade citizens. It is for these ideological reasons, both RSS and the Zionists in Israel share deep rooted friendship. He said nationality and religion are two separate entities and should not be mixed.
The dharna concluded with a resolve to intensify solidarity protests across the country and expose the imperialist designs to destabilise the entire region. It was resolved to implement the call given by the Central Committee by mobilising broad sections of Indian society, which would force the government to stick to the historical position of our unflinching solidarity with Palestine.
