Hands Off Gaza
Trump’s new genocide threat
Time to reboot the Irish solidarity movement!
15 February 2025
The January ceasefire between HAMAS and the Israeli forces brought a sense of relief. It appeared that the resilience shown by the people of Gaza over fifteen months had finally exhausted the IDF; that Trump would call for a peace settlement; that the Israelis would accept defeat and that Gaza could be rebuilt. It was even claimed that the ceasefire was a victory for the Palestinians and for the global solidarity effort in Ireland and across the world.
Now Trump has swept all that aside. He openly threatens the expulsion of the Palestinian population from Gaza and makes it clear that there will be no right of return. Egypt and Jordan are to be forced to take refugees while a region of historic Palestine is to be transformed into a holiday resort. Despite ceasefire agreements Israel is on the offensive in the West Bank and continues to carry out attacks on Lebanon.
Any chance of a wider peace is to be wiped out by yet another campaign of maximum pressure designed to starve the Iranian population.
We face an even greater threat of genocide coming directly from the US. There is a real danger of a regional war in West Asia that has the potential to escalate to a global conflict. Accompanying all of this have been attacks on political freedoms in our own countries. The rights to free speech and peaceful assembly are being suppressed in the so called liberal democratic states of the West.
If we are to counter this, we will have to revitalise the solidarity movement and adopt new demands, new tactics and new forms of organisation. Now that Trump has taken centre stage the demand is: No to US orchestrated genocide! We should not play about with a two-state solution that both the US and Israel so clearly reject. We must call for a secular and democratic Palestine with freedom for all; for the dismantling of Israeli apartheid and occupation; and for the withdrawal of the US military from West Asia.
We aim to win over the Irish people. That means the creation of a national campaign that encompasses trade unions, political parties and communities and mobilises people for effective actions.
We must steadfastly confront those who collaborate with or normalise genocide. Chief among our enemies is the Irish government. Their words of condemnation are never matched by action. Under threat from Trump’s tariff and tax policies they will be rushing to the White House for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations to engage in the familiar glass raising and special pleading. It appears that Sinn Féin will once again be a part of this. All our efforts should be geared to challenging those who will be attending this grotesque spectacle.
The other big issue is the government plan, through the adoption of the IHRA definition, to conflate anti-Israel positions will antisemitism. This could make the very act of protest illegal. The tokenistic Occupied Territories Bill has already been dropped.
To do this we will need a much more organised and formal movement. We should canvas immediately for the full affiliation of political parties and trade unions. We should call for a national convention to renew the campaign; adopt a new programme; and to plan for action.