- India and world should not remain silent spectators to Israel’s continued aggression
- Impose sanctions and boycott the only apartheid regime of world
By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: After CPI (M), another constituent from the left bloc, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation has urged India and the world not to remain silent spectators as the apartheid regime of Israel continued its brutal aggression against Palestinians for the seventh consecutive day killing over 100 Palestinians including children. CPI (ML) said the international community must impose a military embargo on Israel’s brutal siege of Gaza and mass crimes against Palestinians and boycott the Israeli regime for its apartheid policies.
Expressing grave concern over the escalating situation in the West Asia as Israel is threatening to run down over Gaza strip, CPI (ML) General Secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya said the people in the occupied Palestinian territories of West Bank and Gaza are facing a new wave of brutal aggression by Israel apartheid regime.
Since Friday Israel military forces launched a series of airstrikes in Gaza massacring around 100 people – including ten children. The youngest victim of this Israeli crime against humanity was 10 years old. The aggression comes as a further blow to the people in Gaza who are already reeling under devastating humanitarian crisis due to the ongoing an-air-sea blockade and continues bombings by Israel that has destroyed Gaza’s most of the vital infrastructures.
In his address to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a bellicose statement saying the Israeli forces would launch a full force attack on Gaza, with Defence Minister Benny Gantz mobilizing thousands of reserve troops. Netanyahu, who is already facing a massive corruption scandal and electoral crisis, had been long unleashing violent acts against Palestinians to woo the country’s right-wing sections in his favour. He had already announced a full-scale plan to annex over 30% of the West Bank, particularly in the Jordan Valley. The proposed annexation will mostly be in Area C of the occupied West BAnk, where most of the illegal Israeli settlements have been built.
The airstrike comes in the background of growing resistance by Palestinians against Israel’s annexation move in Sheik jarrah, locality in the occupied East Jerusalem. The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood has more than 3,000 Palestinians families who face constant violence by illegal Israeli settlers and evictions and the destruction of property by Israeli forces. On May 7, worshippers gathered at the Al-Aqsa mosque expressed their solidarity with the families who were threatened with the eviction in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The Israeli forces stormed the mosque and brutally attacked people who were inside the compound, lobbing tear-gas and firing rubber bullets.
Since then, Israeli forces have escalated their violence inside the mosque and against the protests by Palestinians demanding an end to the illegal annexations and military occupation. Armed Israeli settlers have also been given free hand by Israeli military forces to attack Palestinians. More than 700 Palestinians have been injured in Israel attacks in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem since last Friday.
The communist leader Bhattacharya described the annexation plan by Israel is a clear act of “ethnic cleansing and eliminating” the presence of Palestinian population for their own land.
He reminded that India had played a crucial role in supporting the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and was one of the first countries to sever trade relations with the apartheid regime and subsequently imposed wide range of embargo on South Africa.
However, he said it is unfortunate that Narendra Modi led Indian government is standing on the wrong side of the history by supporting the Israel apartheid regime.
“Indian government continues to expand its relation with Israel and is imprinting both Israeli arms and tactics to be used against the people in Kashmir and for repressing the democratic and people’s movement in India”, he added.
The CPI (ML) leader said the need of the hour is that India and the international community must impose a military embargo on Israel’s brutal siege of Gaza and mass crimes against Palestinians through their support of Israel’s military industry.
As the Palestinians’ continue to resist the Israeli brutality, apartheid and military occupation, CPI (ML) Liberation reiterates its complete solidarity with the people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation. We also reiterate our support for strengthening the global Palestinian call of Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BSD) against Israel, he added.
Earlier, CPI (M), the largest party of the Left Front, promptly issued a statement condemning the Israeli aggression in the strongest possible terms and asked the Government of India to play its role. So far, major other opposition political parties including Congress kept silent on Israel’s continued onslaught on the unarmed people of occupied Palestine.