Leaflet: No to Genocide! Defend Gaza! Defend Palestine!
15 October 2023
Palestine solidarity rally, Belfast (15/10/23)
The people of Gaza are facing horror that exceeds that of the siege of Leningrad and the Warsaw Ghetto. Deprived of food and water, they are directed here and there by the Israelis, but at every point they are bombed.
Israel has the right to defend itself, they say, and the West stands beside them in agreement. That's not what the Zionists say at home. There they call for genocide against "human animals".
This is an understandable reaction to killings by Hamas, say their supporters. The problem is that this was the Israeli policy before the attack. The mixture of right-wingers and fascists in the government are committed to demolishing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to create a Greater Israel. Settlers and troops have been let loose in the West Bank. Over 400 Palestinians have been killed, many of them children.
The US used to have a predictable slogan - the two -state solution. Not anymore. Now Israel is to rule unchecked.
Netanyahu, busy in Gaza, ordered an attack on Damascus Airport. He argues for a wider war, including Iran, and sees this as his main chance.
Western governments are now threatening basic rights. A call for a free Palestinian is now seen as antisemitic hate speech and arrests of demonstrators have already taken place.
The main task now is to build mass demonstrations and push back against western support.
However, we must now face the reality that we need a new discussion to rebuild solidarity with Palestine. The first step is to abandon any confusion about a two-state solution. We need a democratic state. Israel is not a democratic state. We want an end to the constant ethnic cleansing and slaughter of Zionist rule.