RAISING A BLACK FLAG OVER THE DESTRUCTION OF DEMOCRACY

14 july 2011, Communist Party of Israel המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית http://maki.org.il

Decisions of the 14th session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Israel

July 8, 2011

The Boycott Law ("The Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott - 2011"), which has just passed in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), is an outrageous attempt by the Israeli right to silence every form of criticism of government policy and especially the policy of settlement in the occupied territories. By threatening to impose costly damages on offenders, even without proof of damage, the right wing is attempting to shut out the voices of those who resist the occupation, and call, for instance, for a boycott of consumer products produced in the settlements.

This law joins a full series of other discriminatory and racist laws that have been proposed by Netanyahu's right wing government in recent years - laws that trample upon democracy, but have been approved by the Knesset.

The CPI condemns the "Boycott Law" as a grave assault on the freedom of speech, the freedom of criticism, and the freedom of protest, and calls for the forces who would defend our democratic space to rally together to put a stop to the fascist threat and to put an end to the injustices of the occupation.

Calling for a public campaign in favor of the UN General Assembly's recognition of a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders
The Obama government and European governments are applying pressure on the Palestinian Authority, demanding that it retreat from its appeal to the UN General Assembly - due to convene in September - to recognize a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders. These pressures are in service of the war-mongering policies of settlement and occupation pursued by the Netanyahu government, which are disastrous for both Israelis and Palestinians.

The Central Committee raises an alarm against the catastrophe that the next war will bring upon Israel and the regions' nations. This war is being devised by the Netanyahu government in an attempt to prevent a political settlement, that would involve retreating from all of the occupied territories, and to block the anticipated vote in the General Assembly over the Palestinian issue.

The Central Committee of the CPI stresses that the only steps that can lead to a just and stable peace agreement which can guarantee the security of the two people and their futures are: the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, alongside Israel; the evacuation of all the settlements; dismantling of the separation wall; and a solution of the refugee problem based on UN resolutions.

The CPI congratulates the residents of Bil'in and all those struggling against the separation barrier, for their important victory in removing the fence from part of Bil'in's lands.

The Central Committee calls upon members of the party to enlist in the public campaign, initiated by Hadash, for Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state within the June 4, 1967 lines. We send our blessings to TANDI (Movement of Democratic Women in Israel) and all of the Israeli women, who initiated a similar political action in collaboration with Palestinian women in the occupied territories.

Stop the blood bath in Syria and establish a democratic regime
The CPI's Central Committee reiterates its unambiguous stance against the killings, oppression, and mass persecution of the Syrian people, who are fighting for their freedom, for democracy and for social justice. The popular demands are legitimate and just demands.

We utterly reject any attempt on the part of the United States, Israel, and their allies to intervene in Syria by saying that they are taking the side of the people against the regime. The United States and its allies never intervened anywhere for the interests of the peoples it claimed to defend: it intervened only in the interests of the corporations and in order to establish imperial hegemony.

A regime that kills its own people, who are struggling by peaceful means, cannot be progressive and cannot claim any legitimacy. Our position is clear: we stand alongside the popular movement that is fighting for democracy, social justice and civil liberties, and which rejects any foreign intervention in the Syrian issue or dependency on imperialism, and which struggles against the Israeli occupation.

The voices that issued from the meetings with the Syrian opposition held in Turkey and France, as well as during the visit of the U.S. ambassador in the city of Hama, and which invited foreign powers to intervene, do not reflect the genuine interests of the Syrian people, and are at odds with the spirit of the masses' legitimate demands. We condemn the position voiced by various circles, both within the regime and within the opposition, who are pushing to resolve the question of the Syrian popular demands by means of an understanding with the U.S. and its allies that will create dependence on those foreign powers.

We call for an immediate end to the blood bath in Syria, and for the establishment of a democratic regime that strives for social justice, and that adheres to the principle of Syrian independence, and its national and geographical unity. We reject any attempt to divide the Syrian Arab people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or any other category.

We place a great deal of faith in the Arab-Syrian people, which carries a proud heritage of resistance to colonialism and occupation, and which fulfills an outstanding role in developing a progressive and enlightened culture. We are convinced that the Syrian people will not allow its wishes and its struggle to be hijacked, and will not allow its country to become a protectorate of the West.
We call upon all the elements of the society and people in Syria to attain full democratization and bring to an immediate end the bloodshed which is being carried out by the regime against the demonstrators who are using peaceful means while struggling for their rights.

Developments in Sudan
South Sudan has declared independence, and we honor the will of the Sudanese people both in the North and in the South. Sudan, as a country containing the sources of the Nile, is one of Africa's most important states. With its land and water resources, the country has untold possibilities for developing a thriving agricultural sector, as well as tremendous potential in terms of natural resources, especially in its southern part. Therefore, Sudan's status is of tremendous economic and strategic importance.

The West, and the United States in particular, is setting its sights on Sudan. The Western powers have worked for many years to keep Sudan divided, by fueling ethnic and geographic strife, while taking advantage of the crimes of the regime in Khartoum, and its denial of the legitimate demands of the Sudanese people in the south.

The division of Sudan was realized in wake of a referendum that took place in the south, whose results were also acceptable to the regime in Khartoum. This division was not a necessary step for solving the question of the south. It was advanced as part of Western intervention and the criminal policies conducted by the government in Kharoum, which ignored the desires of the country's inhabitants.

Rise in the cost of living and erosion of wages
During the past five years, the average real wage has risen by less than 3% while the prices of food have risen by 25%, the prices of fruit and vegetables by 36% and the cost of renting or buying a flat have doubled. The wave of price hikes, which have eroded the purchasing power of working families and senior citizens, is the product of a combination of monopolistic behavior on the part of the large corporations and the privatization policies of the government in support of capital.
The CPI calls upon the Histadrut (Labor Federation) to ensure that the workers receive immediate compensation for the recent price hikes by paying a one-time cost-of-living payment of 10% of the workers' wages.

Solidarity with the strikers
The CPI stands in solidarity with the workers of Haifa Chemicals, who have been on strike for three months now to demand a collective agreement and a fair wage for all the employees of the firm, and to protest against their degraded working conditions; with the doctors, striking to improve their working conditions and to save public medicine; with the nurses, who are implementing sanctions because of the lack of salaried positions and the abandonment of patients in the hospitals; and with all those fighting against factory shutdowns, layoffs, the privatization of government companies; and employment through temporary employment agencies.

An end to home demolitions
A year has gone by since the residents of Al-Araquib, joined by Jews and Arabs, began their resolute and courageous campaign to protect the village and villagers from the repeated demolitions of their meager homes at the hands of state representatives.

The CPI condemns the house demolitions in the Negev, which are an expression of the racist, anti-Arab policies that are attempting to uproot tens of thousands of Bedouin Arabs from their lands and villages.

The CPI's 26 Convention – in December
The Central Committee of the CPI has decided to hold the party's 26th convention on the 8-10th of December 2011, and has asked the relevant party institutions and organizations to begin preparations for the convention.

4,500 Israelis and Arabs march in Jerusalem to support Palestinian independence

Police intervene to separate marchers and right-wing counter-protesters, despite organizers' claim march went peacefully.

Tikkun תיקון (USA)
From Ha'aretz Friday, July 15, 2011

By Nir Hasson

Over 4500 Palestinians and Israelis took part in the "March for Independence" Friday, calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Although the organizers of the march issued a statement saying the march was carried out peacefully, police had to intervene and separate right-wing and left-wing activists.

Jerusalem 'March for Independence', July 15, 2011. Photo by: Daniel Bar On

The event was coordinated with the police, and organizers had pledged to prevent any violence from breaking out, despite the expected right-wing counter-protests.
Participants in the march held signs quoting South African leader and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela saying "only free men can negotiate", while others bore slogans calling for support of Palestinian independence.

Several MKs participated in the march, including Zehava Galon of Meretz and Dov Hanin of Hadash. Other prominent public figures took part as well, such as former Speaker of the Knesset Avraham Burg and former Attorney General Michael Ben Yair.

The march took a symbolic route, following the green line that used to divide East and West Jerusalem before the Six Day War in 1967. It began at Jaffa Gate and ended at the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the opposite route taken by right-wing activists during Jerusalem Day last month.

"After years of Israel speaking about peace and building settlements, checkpoints, walls and outposts, the young generations from both sides are starting to understand that they are being duped," said Hillel Ben Sasson from the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement said on Thursday.

Ben Sasson added that "in Jerusalem of all places, the heart of the conflict, Israelis and Palestinians will march together calling for independence and for an end to the running amok of the Netanyahu government, which is leading us to a political abyss."