The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 29th March 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 29th March 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Israeli forces are continuing their relentless offensive in defiance of the UN Security Council that voted on Mon- day to demand an end to the fighting in Gaza. Last week Russia and People’s China, backed by Algeria, vetoed a bogus American peace proposal that they said was “an effective green light for Israel to mount a military operation in Rafah” where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering.
The new Security Council resolution that was put forward by the ten non-permanent members of the council received unanimous support from four of the veto powers including the UK. The fifth, the USA, dropped its veto threat and abstained.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the resolution saying “this resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable”. But the Israelis have consistently ignored UN resolutions and they will surely ignore this latest effort to establish a ceasefire in Gaza – unless the Americans stop them. That’s not likely. The White House claims the UN resolution is non-binding. But they are, in accordance with Article 25 of the UN charter, which was ratified by the USA – a view accepted by the Sunak government which, in a rare departure from the American script, insists that the Security Council resolution is legally binding.
The Palestinian resistance welcomed the Security Council resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip which has been under constant Israeli bombardment since early October. But that offensive is continuing, and many believe that the American abstention was just a cosmetic move to appease the growing opposition to Israeli aggression amongst the ranks of the communities that traditionally support Joe Biden’s Democratic party.
The mobilisation of the American people, including many non-Zionist Jews, to demand that the White House end its support for the genocide that has already caused more than 32,000 deaths and 74,000 wounded, clearly forced the hand of the Biden administration – already shaken by recent polls that showed that support for the Democrats in the run-up to the American presidential election in November was evaporating.
PR stunt or not it still enraged the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who cancelled a planned visit to Washington in protest saying that the American abstention was “a clear retreat from the consistent position of the United States at the Security Council since the beginning of the war” that had hurt the Israeli war effort.
Hamas welcomed the UN Security Council’s call “for an immediate ceasefire”. The Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood that runs the Gaza Strip stressed the necessity of reaching a permanent cease-fire that led to the withdrawal of all Zionist forces from the Strip and the return of displaced persons to their homes from which they were forced out. Hamas also affirmed its readiness to immediately engage in a prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners held by both sides.
Hamas said the movement stresses “the importance of freedom of movement for Palestinian citizens and the entry of all humanitarian needs for all residents, in all areas of the Gaza Strip, including heavy equipment to remove rubble, so we can bury our martyrs who have been under the rubble for months”, The movement called on the UN Security Council to force the Israelis to comply with the ceasefire and to stop the genocidal war and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile in Jordan a Hamas leader said the war in Gaza was “unlike any battle the resistance has waged”. Khaled Meshaal said “It is a pivotal battle in the history of the conflict and in the lead-up to freeing Palestine”. Meshaal also said that despite the continuing negotiations, Hamas insists that Israeli captives will not be released until Israel halts its war, withdraws its troops from Gaza, allows displaced civilians to return to their homes, and ends a blockade on the Gaza Strip. “Hamas is waging a negotiating battle that is no less fierce than its armed fight to achieve a halt of the Israeli aggression,” he said.