The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 1st November 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 1st November 2024
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Palestinian and Lebanese guerrillas step up the fight while the imperialists launch another diplomatic charade in a feeble attempt to divert attention from America’s key role in Israel’s genocidal war against the Arabs. Israel continues its indiscriminate bombing of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. An Israeli was killed and dozens more injured when a resistance fighter drove a lorry into a bus stop near an Israeli military base north of Tel Aviv. And the UN Security Council has expressed “grave concern” over Israel’s ban on UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency), warning against the dismantling of the aid agency.
The Security Council sounded the alarm on Wednesday, two days after the Israeli parliament adopted a bill banning UNRWA that will take effect in three months’ time. The ban also restricts UNRWA’s delivery of critical support to the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
The Security Council called on Israel to “abide by its international obligations” and “respect the privileges and immunities” of the agency. The 15-member body urged “all parties to enable UNRWA to carry out its mandate, as adopted by the General Assembly, in all areas of operation”, saying the agency has been the “backbone” of humanitarian relief in war-torn Gaza. “No organisation can replace or substitute UNRWA’s capacity and mandate to serve Palestinian refugees and civilians in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.”
Founded in 1949, the agency provides services for over six million Palestinian refugees living across the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. In Gaza, it is the primary UN agency delivering healthcare and essential humanitarian support to the Palestinians trapped in the blockaded territory.
Meanwhile Ayman Odeh, the leader of the communist-led Hadash-Ta’al bloc in the Israeli parliament, told a conference held by the Haaretz (The Land) newspaper in north London that the British government must “end all military, financial, and diplo- matic support” to Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government.
The conference included speeches from former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert, Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn and a video address from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. All speakers at the allday event, including Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken, were openly critical of the Netanyahu government.
Speaking at Sunday’s event, Odeh said: “It is beyond time that the United Kingdom joins the 146 nations officially recog- nising Palestine. The UK must make good on the government’s promise to support an immediate ceasefire by ending all military, financial, and diplomatic support of the Netanyahu government’s war crimes and working to broker a prisoner-hostage exchange deal. Not a single penny must be allowed to go to the government of Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir to recolonise Gaza and annex all of Palestine. “But this recognition must not be symbolic, nor seen as a reward to be withheld for another day. It must be implemented now, as a step toward creating the conditions for sincere negotiations that will finally bring about a two-state solution based on democracy, equality, and justice.”
Odeh called for an end to the “horrifying war” in Gaza and the removal of the “criminal” and “fascist” government of Netanyahu. “The war must end now. There must be a prisoner-hostage exchange deal immediately. And all nations of the world must do their part to end the atrocities and demand an immediate renewal of negotiations toward a final agreement. Let today be the last day of this criminal war, and let it be the first day of a new era in the history of our peoples.”