Notwithstanding nationalisations of oil, telecommunications, electricity and public services, the main levers of the economy still remained in the hands of the capitalists. In addition, a new layer of state bureaucrats and managers – the so-called Bolibourgeoisie – enriched themselves in this period and acted as a brake on the revolutionary process.
By partaking in this hunger strike, Umer Khalid, Teuta ‘T’ Hoxha, Qesser Zuhrah Day, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Lewie Chiaramello, Jon Cink, and Kamran Ahmed are resorting to an unimaginable act of desperation and commitment to the struggle for their own justice and a Free Palestine. They should not have to do this – and there is an onus on all of us to do everything we can to prevent their deaths.
Working-class protesters raided the crops of wealthy Palestinian landlords, forcing them to reduce rents. They went on strike and refused to pay taxes. Israeli Civil Administration bodies in the occupied territories were boycotted and Palestinians refused to work in Israeli settlements. A grassroots movement spearheaded by women and girls sought to establish Palestinian food autonomy, and began collectively cultivating crops.
The original plan written in Russia’s interests is based on the approach of 19th Century European, Russian and US imperialism. Ukraine will become a US protectorate, allowing the western powers access to exploit the country’s natural resources, while at the same time accepting the brutal annexation of key parts of the country by Russian imperialism in return for empty promises and the removal of sanctions on Russia.
There is no reformist road to breaking with capitalism. When it has been tried, the results have been a disaster. Capitalism has at times been prepared to tolerate reforms, such as the creation of the welfare state and NHS post-World War 2. It did so because the alternative was a revolution. Faced with a powerful, organised workers movement, the ruling class risked losing their wealth and privileged place in society.
The Tunisian Revolution opened the door to a wave of protest movements and the raising of social demands across the country. Gabès, which had suffered from gas emissions and pollution caused by the chemical complex since the 1970s, also rose up. Protests escalated to the point of sit-ins inside the factory and even temporary shutdowns of production, demanding either the closure of the complex or a radical solution to reclaim their city from what they call “pollution and death.”
There is so much wrong for us to see. The evil is now so deep, and we are so far into the revolution that we see that corruption is only the tip of the iceberg, just one of the methods they are using to abuse us. We are living in a collective nightmare. And everyone, the whole world is experiencing it. The longer it goes on, the harder it will be to clean up the consequences of their actions.
Only through the political self-organisation of the Palestinian working class and youth acting together with the organised working class of the Middle East and North Africa can imperialism and the capitalist regimes, along with those who have misled the Palestinian struggle throughout its history, be challenged and a genuine revolutionary movement for the liberation of Palestine succeed. This is why international solidarity is critically important, the imperialist-Zionist war machine with its genocide needs to be stopped so that the Palestinians themselves are able to enact their own liberation. Their victory would be a victory for the working class and oppressed all over the world.
The global solidarity movement for Palestine is already unparalleled in world history. And it’s not only the scale of the protests, but what people are witnessing – the unimaginable horror, hypocrisy and cynicism – and how deeply this is changing the political outlook of millions across the planet. The basis is being laid for explosions of anger and discontent. In this way the genocide and the struggle for Palestinian liberation is directly changing politics in many countries, and laying the groundwork for new political movements.
This struggle is fundamentally a feminist one. Sanitation work in India is not gender-neutral—it is an occupation overwhelmingly performed by women from Dalit communities. Their bodies are on the front lines, exposed to toxic waste, health hazards, and the social stigma of their caste. When the government moves to privatize sanitation services, it is not just threatening jobs; it is directly targeting the livelihoods of thousands of marginalized women.
A struggle for Palestinian national liberation is bound with a need for more fundamental revolutionary change. The Israeli State is part of the system of capitalism and imperialism that dominates and exploits the peoples of the Middle East and beyond – a system built on racism, exploitation, poverty and oppression. Its whole rule must be torn down.
The destruction of the Israeli Apartheid state is not just the responsibility of the workers of West Asia, it is even more the responsibility of workers in the imperialist powers which have established, supported and armed Israel to defend their plunder of the region. Unless workers’ organisations fight for Palestinian liberation they will be unable to fight effectively for the genuine liberation of their own members.
