Thousands demonstrate in Detroit against Israel's genoicde on October 28, 2023.
Israel, with the support of all the imperialist powers in the US-NATO axis, is escalating its genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. A genuine mass movement is developing in response. This weekend, millions of people will again march in protests on every inhabited continent, including a mass demonstration in the heart of imperialist war-planning, Washington, D.C.
It is necessary to clarify the political issues raised by this movement. What is it fighting, and what strategy must it adopt?
Israel’s atrocities are being carried out with the full political and logistical support of the Biden administration and all the imperialist governments in Europe. The political purpose is to send a message: There are no limits. Colonialism is back.
On Friday, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel carried out airstrikes targeting ambulances, a UN school, and families fleeing northern Gaza, killing dozens of people. As the bombs were raining down on injured children and doctors, Blinken declared that “the United States firmly supports Israel’s right to defend itself.”
These events were intended to send a deliberate message to the entire world: The United States and Israel will continue to massacre the people of Gaza. American imperialism, with complete contempt for world public opinion, will do what it wants.
The United States’ full support for the Netanyahu government, and the massive military strike force that has been assembled in the Mediterranean, is also intended to send a message to Iran: Stand in our way, and we’ll do the same thing to you. If you oppose us, there will be nuclear bombs headed your way.
American imperialism sees the war in the Middle East as part of its global conflict with Russia and China. As Blinken was leaving Tel Aviv, he wrote on Twitter, “Arms and equipment announced today as part of continued US assistance will help sustain Ukraine’s battlefield needs.” Having suffered a major setback with the failure of Ukraine’s “spring offensive,” the United States is determined to open up a new front in this global war.