The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 26th July 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 26th July 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Hamas and Fatah joined hands in Beijing to sign up to a national unity agreement that brings together all the Palestinian resistance movements. The guns blaze as Palestinian guerrillas take on the might of the Israeli army in Gaza. Syrian President Bashar al Assad holds talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, addresses the US Congress in Washington, receiving standing ovations and lavish praise for the fine job he is doing for American imperialism in Gaza.
Fourteen Palestinian resistance movements have signed a national unity agreement aimed at maintaining Palestinian control of the Gaza Strip. The deal, finalised on Tuesday in People’s China after three days of intensive talks, lays the groundwork for an “interim national reconciliation government” to rule postwar Gaza, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The agreement was signed by long-term rivals Hamas and Fatah, as well as 12 other Palestinian resistance movements.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that no matter how the international situation changes, China will always firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian people. Noting that the conflict in Gaza has caused an enormous humanitarian disaster, Wang said that to resolve this historical injustice, the principle of “Palestinian-owned, Palestinian-led and Palestinian-ruled” must be upheld.
“Today we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity,” senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told the media in Beijing and Jamil Mazhar, the deputy leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called what is already being dubbed the ‘Beijing Declaration’ a major step towards Palestinian unity.
Mustapha Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, one of the 14 Palestinian movements that signed the accord, said the agreement goes “much further” than any other reached in recent years. He said its four main elements are the establishment of an interim national unity government, the formation of unified Palestinian leadership ahead of future elections, the free election of a new Palestinian National Council, and a general declaration of unity in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks. The move towards a unity government is especially important, he said, because it “blocks Israeli efforts to create some sort of collaborative structure against Palestinian interests”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Beijing Declaration and expressed his appreciation for the diplomatic efforts being made by China in facilitating the process, but the Zionists were quick to slam the deal. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz denounced Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Fatah movement which runs the Palestinian ‘autonomous’ government in the West Bank, for closing ranks with Hamas and said no-one but Israel will control Gaza following the end of hostilities.
But Israel no longer calls the shots in the Middle East. Though the Israeli army is good at killing defenceless women and children, it’s another matter when it faces determined armed resistance. The Zionists have failed to crush Hamas and the other partisan forces in the Gaza Strip, and they’ve failed to rescue the Israeli prisoners in resistance hands.
Netanyahu clearly is still of use to the Americans who pull his strings. But calls for his resignation to pave the way for new elections are growing in Israel. Massive protests calling for the end of the Netanyahu coalition and for a hostage deal were held across 80 locations in Israel last weekend. The largest demonstrations were staged in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Caesarea, with thousands participating at each event.
Speaking in front of Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan, 24, is a hostage in Gaza, declared that there is one person who stands between the families of those held captive and their loved ones, “and that is the prime minister, to whom it is more important to save his seat than it is to save lives”.
“There is a deal on the table that’s been ready to be closed for several weeks. And we’re standing here today, after another wasted week, in which Netanyahu again torpedoed the deal and dragged his feet,” she said on Saturday.