5 June 2010
The actions of the Israeli government over the past week have once again exposed its mailed fist of violence and repression, usually covered by peace rhetoric and military spin. The action of the Israeli armed forces in preventing the Rachel Corrie, with much-needed aid, getting to Gaza is nothing short of a war crime against defenceless people.
The Communist Party of Ireland congratulates the volunteer sailors and solidarity activists on board the Rachel Corrie who refused to bow to the threats of violence and intimidation that the Israeli government has been making since the barbaric events of Monday 31 May. They have shown real courage and bravery.
World public opinion no longer believes that supplying schoolbooks, children’s toys, medical equipment and cement and other construction materials for the rebuilding of hospitals, schools, houses and sewage treatment plants is some sort of threat to Israel. The only people who do believe Israeli propaganda are western governments and those Arab regimes that have been complicit, by their actions or inaction over the decades, in the violence and repression of the Palestinian people, turning a blind eye to what Israel has done and continues to do.
We know from experience of South Africa that it was only the impact of the boycott and sanctions campaign that eventually forced the minority government to negotiate with the representatives of the black majority. This was the result of the actions of working people around the world, and in particular here in Ireland the workers in Dunne’s Stores, forcing the political establishment into taking action, just as the Gaza Freedom Flotilla is forcing them today. It is the action of ordinary people that can determine and shape the course and pace of events.
It is time for the appeasement of Israel to stop. The United Nations must begin to translate its own resolutions into action. Full economic, political, cultural and military sanctions must be imposed on Israel until such time as a lasting solution is negotiated between the people of Israel and the Palestinian people. The Irish Government should begin by breaking off diplomatic relations and sending the Israeli ambassador home.
