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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

No to sanctions – no to war!

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

Another week. Another stand-off in the Persian Gulf as Trump mouths off in Washington about a crippling new round of sanctions against Iran to try and force the Islamic Republic to open up the Strait of Hormuz. China is refusing to join the sanctions regime while the Russians are reportedly stepping up their arms supplies to Iran via the Caspian Sea.

In Tehran, these “Economic D-Days” were dismissed by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of the Iranian parliament, who rhetorically told Trump that his ministers were “way out of their league” and that he “stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat”. And Britain, Australia and Canada broke ranks with the Americans to condemn Israel’s “shameful” decision not to pursue criminal investigations into the April 2024 attack on a civilian food convoy in Gaza. In a joint statement, the three Commonwealth governments said the Israel announcement on World Humanitarian Day was “particularly egregious”, adding that the families of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed “deserve justice and accountability”. The attack was one of “countless incidents” in Gaza where there had been no accountability and they called on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law and ensure humanitarian workers can operate safely.

People’s China says it will not join Washington’s campaign to isolate Iran economically, rejecting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call for Beijing to fall in line as officials in Beijing branded sanctions and pressure counter-productive to resolving the six-month US war on Iran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing that “sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue”, urging “all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means.”

“China always believes that military actions, sanctioning, pressuring do not help solve the problem; it only builds up tensions in the current situation,” Lin said, adding that such actions do not fit the interests of any party.

Lin added that China “op poses illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorised by the UN Security Council”, and said Beijing “hopes all sides take responsibility to solve the current issues through political settlement”.

Back in occupied Palestine, young Palestinian and Israeli communists came together earlier in the month to take part in the 29th Farkha International Youth Festival – a long-standing initiative combining voluntary work, political discussion and internationalist solidarity.

Held in the West Bank village of Farkha, the festival brought together young activists from the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP), the Young Communist League of Israel (YCL), Hadash (the Israeli communist-led Democratic Front for Peace & Equality) and other progressive forces. Participants worked side-by-side in voluntary projects and joined political and cultural activities.

The gathering carried particular significance amid the continuing Israeli occupation and the war in Gaza. At a time of deepening nationalism, racism and attempts to divide Palestinians and Israelis, the presence of young Israeli and Palestinian communists offered a clear message of joint struggle against occupation and chauvinism.

The co-operation between activists from Farkha and communist youth from Israel has been developing over the last few years through regular visits, joint volunteer work and political contact. “This is already not a relationship between an outside group and a village they come to volunteer in. It is a real political partnership – something very rare in our reality” says Ella Keidar Greenberg, secretary of the Tel Aviv branch of the Israeli YCL.