Lift the Siege

Once again in the Middle East innocent workers have been killed .When faced with aid organisations challenging the state of siege they have placed around Gaza , the Israeli state decided that overwhelming military force was the only way to deal with the situation. Governments try to make out that they are different to the terrorists, that they have values , hence the sanctimonious "regrets" for loss of human lives. Yet little separates them in means and methods or purpose.

Socialists side with no state, for all states are merely organised forces of national coercion. We are opposed to the lot of them and support the interest of the oppressed, not selectively, but wherever they are. Socialists are always spontaneously on the side of the oppressed against the oppressors and the use of force by the state of Israel clearly exposes it as the oppressor. But just because we sympathise with the victims of Israeli oppression does not mean that we favour the solutions popular amongst them. Our opposition to Zionism does not mean that we support Hamas or Fatah . Unlike many on the Left , we don’t single out Jewish nationalism for special condemnation. We condemn all nationalisms equally. All states are artificial and illegitimate, Israel in particular and a future Palestinian state would still be a capitalist state.

The Socialist Party has warned of the dangers of political apathy, of trusting in leaders, of accepting all that governments say without question. Our inaction is an important element in our continuing exploitation, for the master class see in it our consent for their excesses.Capitalism may well breed war, but our apathy is very much a part of the process. It is the inaction and complacency of the working class that enables such horrendous injustices such as Gaza to go on.The real evil in this world is caused by the rival gangs of ruling class thugs who control the media , and the ignorance of the masses who support them and their divisiveness of nationalism and religion.

Peace is always better than war. Because wars are never fought in the interests of ordinary people. And because in wars it is always ordinary people who suffer. So, irrespective of the issues involved or the terms agreed, Socialists can only welcome the ending of any war in any part of the world. Stop the killing - stop the suffering - is our permanent policy.