The following short statement, titled Whether or Not the Firing has Ceased, appeared on the front page of a Socialist Standard:
"Once again war rages in the Middle East. Once again men and women, deluded by the nationalist and religious slogans of their rulers, kill and wound each other. Once again wealth is destroyed and resources wasted. The sight of our fellow workers serving as tank fodder in this way sickens Socialists and our sympathies go to them and their families. We hope for an immediate end to this latest slaughter of our fellow workers in a cause which is not theirs, and re-affirm that only the establishment of world Socialism can abolish war forever."
Can you name this particular conflict? If not, here's a clue taken from the same edition of our journal:
"If ideas we¨re worn like garments, most upholders of capitalism would make their speeches in the nude. As soon as the...war began, both sides, claimed heavenly justification and support. The Times (8th October) reported that Dr.Abdel Halim Mahmoud...called the conflict a holy war and said:
The enemies of God have committed aggression on Muslim lands and desecrated our sanctuaries. It has become the duty of every Muslim to make every sacrifice to liberate Muslim territories..
..Brigadier-General Mordechai Piron, chaplain to the..armed forces, said "Snap":
[We are] fighting a sacred war against a cruel foe...prayers and blessings for your success in repelling the enemy. The Lord will give you strength...."
The Socialist Party has for over 100 years argued that religion is used to divide and distract the working class and that war is endemic to the capitalist system. Thousands of workers sacrificed themselves on the altar of profit during the Yom-Kippur conflict, which started this month in 1973. How many more millions will die unnecessarily before we decide to bury capitalism?
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