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The
Michigan Socialist | Opinion | Editorial
End foreign rule! Free
Palestine!
THE HISTORY OF Palestine and the Palestinians
has been marred by centuries of foreign occupation and
repression, with their right to self-determination, equality,
freedom, and peace denied. In the 20th Century alone, the
Ottoman Empire, British Empire, Jordan and Egypt have each
taken their turns at ruling the Palestinians.
In 1948, Israel was formed and became the
fifth ruler, placing over 50 percent of Palestine under
Zionist rule, though the Palestinians were the overwhelming
majority. After the Israeli invasion of Egypt, Syria and
Jordan in 1967, Israel conquered the remaining areas of
Palestine: the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. Both
incidents created large waves of Palestinian refugees,
accounting for one of the largest refugee populations in the
world, who were, for the most part, terrorized and expelled by
the Israeli Defense Forces.
Unlike the former rulers of Palestine, Israel
is the only ruler to build permanent settlements, expropriate
Palestinian land, request taxes while denying suffrage to the
Palestinians, deny Palestinians access to roads, services and
resources, create a massive refugee population and continue to
occupy and rule the Palestinians who are denied legal status
and live in limbo.
The Socialist Party of Michigan recognizes
this historical plight of the Palestinians and supports their
national right to be free from foreign control and to live in
dignity. To this end, we demand:
- The immediate, unconditional and unilateral
withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from all lands
occupied in the 1967 invasion;
- An end to the $3 billion a year aid given
to Israel by the United States. The governments and
corporations of the World, in particular those of the U.S.,
must also halt all sales of military and civilian equipment
that could be used by Israel against the Palestinian
people;
- An immediate halt to settlement building,
the expropriation of Palestinian land, the Jewish populating
of Palestinian-majority cities for the purpose of creating
Jewish-majorities and the Zionist ambitions to expel all
Palestinians, with the ultimate aim of dismantling and
evacuating the present settlements and pave the way for a
viable Palestinian state, encompassing all of the territory
occupied by Israel in 1967;
- An immediate end to violence against all
innocent, non-combatant civilians, in both Israel and the
Occupied Territories, committed by either the Israeli
Defense Forces or Palestinian guerrillas; the rights of
civilian non-combatants must be protected at all
times;
- The immediate release of all conscientious
objectors and political prisoners, both Israeli and
Palestinian. Israel must respect the right to refrain from
military or civil service, and the right to free speech,
expression and protest;
- The abolition of all discriminatory
policies within Israel and the Occupied Territories against
non-Israelis and non-Ashkenazi (European-origin) Israelis in
regard to employment, housing, services, resources, permits
and movement; no taxation without equal
representation;
- A solution to the Palestinian refugee
problem: either compensation and reparations equivalent to
the current value of all property lost at the time each
person sought refuge, or immediate return with full
restoration of property and citizenship rights, with all
costs paid by the State of Israel;
- The abolition of Zionism as the official
ideology of the State of Israel, and the elimination of its
theocratic-nationalist character. Zionism is a colonial,
racist and xenophobic ideology that contradicts the essence
of democracy, equality, freedom and secularism. The
so-called "Jewish character" of Israel inhibits it from
providing equality to all its citizens;
- A democratic and secular Israel and
Palestine living side-by-side in peace and cooperation, and
hopefully working toward a unified federal republic. Israel
should give to the newly formed State of Palestine all taxes
collected from the Palestinians, since 1967, to be used to
rebuild Palestine's infrastructure and fund universal
education and health care, and other social services.
The Socialist Party of Michigan supports the
Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation. We support
armed resistance as a legitimate means of self-defense, aimed
at ending the occupation. We also support and encourage
worldwide demonstrations, strikes, rallies, boycotts and
divestment actions, and the use of civil disobedience and
other non-violent means and cooperation between all ethnic,
national and religious groups to end the occupation and
achieve peace and security for everyone in the region.
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