Gaza unveils a new world order of endless war
The old slogans of solidarity are not enough
5 November 2023
Destruction in Gaza.
The new policy of the US and their satraps is being spelt out in rivers of blood across the Middle East. Even supporters of the US and Israel are horrified by the unrestrained nature of their offensive and by the goal of genocide and ethnic cleansing. Even more horrifying is the shameless western defence of genocide and the slaughter of children by both politicians and the media.
The danger in the Middle East
Weeks into the slaughter Biden suggests a two-state solution. But the current violence arises directly from the US abandoning the pretence of a Palestinian regional Bantustan in favour of the Abraham Accords drawn up by the Trumps and continued by Biden. In the accords relations between Israel and the reactionary Arab governments was the be rationalised and the Palestinians were to be ignored. This policy had suffered a major setback when China had brokered peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Hamas attack was designed to put Palestine back on the agenda.
The Abraham accords are dead for now, although the willingness of the Arab bourgeoisie to sell out Palestine is now overwhelmingly established. Israel has fallen back on terror and the US have mobilised to fully support them. The future is military confrontation across the area, with the "Arab Street" held in check by regimes that are universally repressive and with pressure building everywhere across the region and within each state.
The current war is not confined to Gaza. Killings and ethnic cleansing are carried out by settlers and the Israeli army across the West Bank. Exchanges between the Israelis and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon escalate with every day that passes Israel bombs Syria at will, including attacks on civilian airports. American aircraft bomb militias who attack illegal US bases in Iraq
It's hard to see how a broader regional confrontation can be avoided. The US and Israel have carried out a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, including economic blockade and bombing and assassinations within Iran. Russia has military forces in Syria and supports the government. It may decide to transfer air defence systems to the Syrian army.
The deployment of two US carrier groups and substantial air and ground forces to the area is a direct threat to Iran. It may decide to respond now rather than to await their turn as the offensive in Palestine grinds on.
Despite the concentration of military power, the imperialists will find it difficult to assemble the forces to carry on universal repression in the Arab world or to win a longer war and even more difficult to avoid a geopolitical shift than transfers greater influence to China and Russia in the region.
New World Order
Joe Biden sees no response to his global rivals other than a military one, in his budget demand for a $100 Billion war budget, he lays out the project of a new world order. The Ukraine war is to continue indefinitely despite the hundreds of thousands dead and the ongoing escalation by the West that pushes towards global war. The aggression and genocide in the Middle East are to be ramped up and billions are to be invested in war with China, even though they have done nothing other than out-perform the US in industrial productivity. The threat of nuclear war creeps closer.
The war comes home
Europe has swung behind the US. A growing militarisation sucks countries into NATO. They all massively increase their military budget on the instructions of the US, at the cost of public services, an effect increased massively by the economic and sanction campaigns against those deemed to be opponents.
As governments mobilise an already existing attack on worker's rights is amplified. The media and internet tech spew out propaganda. Opposition voices are demonised, sanctioned and declared illegitimate. The right to protest is declared illegal and the police given a free rein.
Against this we have spontaneous mass protest across the world. That mass movement is held at bay by imperialism, by former social democratic parties and by populist groups paying lip service to opposition to Zionism and the US. Above all we have the confusion and decay on the left, with many supporting the Ukraine war and opposing the Palestinian massacre, while signing up to a cancel culture now being used to cancel our civil rights and suppress opposition to war.
At some stage mass protests and the internal contradictions of the capitalist states will bring the ongoing massacre to an end. The overall offensive will continue. Gaza will be left in rubble, with countless casualties and strangled by Israel. War threats from the US will resound across the Middle East. Ukraine will drown in blood as NATO encourages endless provocation and escalation. The campaigns to target China abroad and workers’ rights at home will continue.
A spontaneous movement to protest the massacre in Gaza is not enough to deal with these threats. A new movement will have to draw all the strands together in an overall anti-war and anti-imperialist current, appealing directly to the working class to organise in its own defence.