Kali Akuno, Executive Director of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund. The organization is working to rebuild the Gulf region devastated by Katrina and US Governmental neglect.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Written by Kali Akuno
National Organizer, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Monday, October 2, 2007
The Question
Are the revolutionary and progressive movements in the US going to sit idly by and wait for the Zionists and imperialists to raze Gaza to the ground? Or are we going to take preventative action to stop the genocidal assault being so thoroughly planned (and executed) right in front of our eyes?
What is at Stake?
The US Left, and all of its national and social sectors, must be clear about what Palestine represents in the capitalist world-system today. Palestine is the barometer of the extent to which imperialism is willing to go to in the present era to liquidate the struggles for national liberation. In Palestine, particularly since the elections of January 2006, we see the overall political and financial commitment of imperialism to crush any movement that threatens the political integration and homogenization now required for capital accumulation.
Where white supremacy, colonial occupation, capitalist patriarchy, mass incarceration, and economic strangulation are not enough to either contain or destroy the national consciousness and anti-colonial sentiments, ethnic cleansing and genocide are now wholly justifiable and permissible options for imperialism. This is what is happening to Palestine, specifically to the people and political forces in Gaza being deprived of electricity, water, medical aid and supplies, and food by the Zionist occupying forces.
The recent designation of Gaza as an "enemy entity", with the full backing and encouragement of their US masters (see the statement of the Israeli Security Cabinet on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 during a visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN18202330 ), seeks to legitimize the cleansing of Gaza by military means and prepare the political justification for its imminent execution.
It should go without saying that given Palestine's preeminent position amongst the anti-colonial struggles of the world that if imperialism is able starve and cleanse Gaza in order to liquidate its liberation movement, either in whole or in part, the prospects for the remaining national liberation struggles, either less well-known or developed (ex. the New Afrikan and Puerto Rican liberation movements against US colonialism, the Basques, the Kurds, and countless 1st Nation or Indigenous Peoples), to attain self-determination and independence will be seriously compromised, if not practically extinguished for the foreseeable future.
If there ever was a time for the US Left to devise its own "preemptive" action plan that time is now. Considering what is at stake for the Palestinians and oppressed peoples all over the world, the US Left cannot allow its internal confusions and aversions about the various national liberation and social movements currently at play in the world to come in the way of defending the human rights of the Palestinian people as they did in the case of Haiti and the Lavalas Movement in February 2004. Our varying positions on Hamas and its tactics of resistance to Zionist occupation should in no way prevent us, in our totality, from trying to prevent the wanton destruction and wholesale massacre being planned for Gaza.
A Call to Action
To avert ethnic cleansing and wholesale destruction in Gaza, the US Left must act and act decisively. Recent precedent exists for such action in the example of the massive mobilizations carried out January 2002 through March 2003 to stop the US invasion of Iraq. What is, and has historically been missing in the case of the Palestine is the lack of political clarity and will amongst considerable segments of the white Left to confront Zionism and its supporters. This crisis demands that this limitation be overcome immediately – least the US Left be held complicit for this pending massacre.
Given the recent retreat on Palestine by the likes of forces like ANSWER, which has traditionally held one of the strongest stances on Palestine amongst the predominant anti-war coalitions, and the historical weaknesses of the white left to deal with issues of racism and national oppression, it is not likely that initiative on this struggle will come from these forces. Leadership for this initiative must come from the oppressed nationalities contained in the US (as rightfully it should, as ultimately we are and will be our own liberators) to move and advance the stance and agenda of the entire US Left.
In the spirit of solidarity and mutual aid, this is a call imploring Afrikan (i.e. the Afrikan Anti-Zionist Front needs to be reignited), Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and 1st Nation organizations and peoples to organize and mobilize in support of the Palestinian people against ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza.
To prevent this impending crime against humanity, we must educate our forces about this impending danger and ask of them that they take action by conducting teach-in's, rallies, marches, direct actions, and boycotts that confront Zionist interests and those of their political and financial supporters here in the US.
A national day of action, I also firmly believe is necessary, calling on all of the forces of the US Left, in November or December of 2007 to send a clear message to the Bush regime, the Zionists, and imperialists to let them know the world is watching and won't tolerate ethnic cleansing and genocide anywhere.
For more information contact visit http://www.mxgm.org or email kaliakuno@gmail.com.
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