Editorial Board
The French state announced in late July that it will recognize the state of Palestine at the upcoming UN General Assembly in September, and the UK prime minister Keir Starmer pledged to do the same at the September assembly with the cowardly caveat of: “unless the Israeli government takes substantial steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace reviving the process of a two-state solution”. They were joined later by Canada and then Australia most recently, to make for a wave of imperialist powers pledging to recognize a Palestinian state next month.
This follows the so-called “New York Declaration” of July 30 wherein the Arab League and the European Union called for the resurrection of the dead “two-state solution”, condemned the Palestinian resistance’s glorious Al-Aqsa Flood operation, and called on the resistance to disarm before the formation of a demilitarized state under the collaborator Palestinian Authority (PA). Telling of its intentions to form a weak and subservient Palestinian state, the document’s blueprint for this future state does not mention the right to return for the millions of Palestinian refugees. Beyond this, the two-state solution envisions a disarmed Palestinian state with non-contiguous territory, a series of islands surrounded by the genocidal Zionist entity, which is continually seizing territory in the West Bank—which together with Gaza would form this imagined Palestinian state.
In this context, the solidarity movement should not be tricked into thinking some imperialists have become peace-loving doves, but should instead see the proclamations as maneuvering from these imperialist powers to secure a favorable position in the Middle East amid a series of imperialist defeats at the hands of the Palestinian national liberation struggle and the peoples’ resistance in the region.
The pledges to support the formation of a Palestinian state are held up by the imperialists not as punishment of Israel for its genocide, but as a reward—they offer Israel an off-ramp: slow down the genocide, and the imperialists will step in to handle the resistance “peacefully”.
In this context, the Palestinian resistance factions released a joint statement on July 31, affirming the New York Declaration as a sign that the Palestinian people’s resistance and steadfastness is thwarting the Zionist genocide, alongside the growth of international solidarity with the Palestinian cause. They go on to say that the issue of the Palestinian people’s right to national liberation cannot be held as a bargaining chip—as Starmer explicitly does—that the resistance refuses to disarm, and that the first step towards a Palestinian state is stopping the Zionist genocide, completing the prisoner exchanges, and the reconstruction of Gaza. They pose, counter to the imperialists’ plans, that a reformed Palestinian Liberation Organization representative of all Palestinian political factions must govern, while condemning “[t]alk of integrating the Zionist entity into the region… [as a] reward to the enemy for its crimes and a desperate attempt to prolong its existence on our stolen land.”
Palestinian statehood has been placed back on the agenda not by these imperialists’ late declarations, but by the guns of the resistance on October 7 and since, and by the resolute struggle of the Palestinian people and the solidarity movement across the world.
Imperialist Powers Aim to Outmaneuver US Imperialism
The imperialist powers pledging to support the formation of this demilitarized state, run by the lackey PA, are maneuvering into a space opened up by the continuing failure of the US-Zionist genocide, including the blasting apart of the Abraham Accords—the “normalization” of the Arab states with Israel under US control. They seek to exploit the failures of US imperialism, the sole hegemonic imperialist superpower in the world today, to gain a more favorable position in the Middle East “the day after”, through negotiations. That is, they fear the resistance scoring more victories against Zionism and the national liberation struggle developing and spreading throughout the region.
The imperialists see that the US-Zionist aggression against Iran in the “12 day war” failed despite empty US bragging and that Hezbollah in Lebanon is regaining its strength following its victory over Israel’s 2024 invasion. The Yemeni masses remaining steadfast defenders of the Palestinian people, and Israel’s planned lightning invasion and conquest of all of Gaza has already been scaled back to just a planned invasion of Gaza City—and the Zionists are having troubling mustering enough troops to begin even this smaller invasion. On top of this, international outrage is growing at the daily images of mass starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the daily massacres against people seeking aid from the death-trap US-Israeli distribution sites.
They further fear the encroachment of rival imperialism into the Middle East as the US-Zionists sink—the Chinese social-imperialists’ diplomatic coup of its mediated agreements in July 2024 between Palestinian factions should not be forgotten, nor its gobbling up of agro-exports from the region, and its recent heavy investments into mega-projects in the Greater Middle East, including the planned Trans-Afghan Railway. This no doubt makes China’s imperialist rivals nervous and hopeful for a quick return to the Abraham Accords under US domination for the US imperialists’ part, or for this new, developing process signified by the “New York Declaration”.
Also relevant to the declarations is the US imperialists’ moves pressuring the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah—the government has so far agreed to disarm Hezbollah, but it remains to be seen if they are capable of achieving what the 2024 Zionist invasion could not. Hezbollah for its part refuses to disarm and calls the move a gift to the imperialists and a blow against Lebanese sovereignty. The US is also pressuring the Iraqi government to disarm and disband the massive Popular Mobilization Units, which has participated in drone attacks against the Zionist entity since October 7.
The imperialists behind the New York Declaration and two-state drive are seeking to not be outdone in this wave of US negotiations and bullying. They see the US position weakening in the Middle East and themselves want to secure a more favorable position as the sole hegemonic superpower sinks into the quagmire of people’s resistance.
This imperialist plot will also fail. This is the strategic perspective of both the declarations and the attempts to disarm the resistance groups in the region—the imperialists all over the world are drowning and are grasping for a tree branch amid the rapids.
As the July 31 joint statement of the resistance factions proclaims: “In conclusion, our Palestinian people, like other peoples of the world who have fallen under the yoke of occupation and colonialism, will attain their freedom and independence, no matter how long it takes and how great the challenges, based on the justice of their cause, the steadfastness and resistance of their children and the support of all free people of the world in their legitimate struggle for liberation, return and independence.”
Image: French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the collaborator Palestinian Authority, in 2017, Macron social media.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
