Palestine Liberates the World!
It has been nearly two years since the murderous Zionist entity attacked Gaza after October 7, 2023. The Palestinian people broke through the siege imposed upon the people of Gaza by Israel on that fateful day, retaliated against Israeli occupation and took more than a thousand Israeli settlers captive. The fact that Hamas is in the leadership of this resistance struggle, and the fact that Hamas’ ideology is one of Islamism, does not make any difference to the fact that this act of resistance was that of the Palestinian people who have been fighting for national liberation for decades. It was a war of resistance against the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel, which has been murdering, humiliating and torturing the Palestinian people, occupying their land, stealing their lives for last almost eight decades, in its capacity as a racist and fascist settler colonial state, a military check-post and proxy of Western imperialism in the West Asia, first led by the British imperialism and now by the US imperialism.
After the liberation fighters of Gaza broke through the siege and attacked the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel, the Zionist entity attacked the small Gaza strip with all its military might. Everyone knows that this might is built by the Western imperialism, without the support of which, Israel’s settler colonial state cannot survive for even one week. All this while, the reactionary Arab regimes betrayed the cause of Palestinian national liberation as usual. As a result, their lip-service to the cause of Palestine and Palestinians makes them appear even more obscene and vulgar. The Arab people, in general, are extremely enraged by and displeased with this latest and most repulsive naked betrayal of the Arab reactionary bourgeois regimes of their countries once again.
Most of the imperialist and capitalist states are doing nothing of consequence and are watching an unprecedented genocide being carried out by the Israeli settler colonial state, though they have been making shameful and meek appeals to Israel to stop “war”, while at the same time supplying Israel with weapons and funding to continue this genocide. Only a few capitalist states are exception to this, though their number is slowly increasing. The reason behind this state of affairs is the unwavering support that the US imperialists have given to Israel. It is necessary to understand why the US and European imperialists continue to lend their unflinching support to the genocidal Israeli settler colonialism.
The US-led Anglo-Saxon imperialist axis as well as the European imperialists understand that their imperialist loot and plunder of the resources and labour of the West Asia depends on the survival of Israel as a proxy and military check-post in the region. The existence of a lumpen fascist and racist settler state in the region is also necessary for the protection of their imperialist interests in the North Africa, where the overall situation of Western imperialism has become extremely fragile of late. The national liberation of Palestine means the end of the Zionist settler colonial project and therefore also the collapse of the power of Western imperialism in the West Asia as well as weakening of its influence in the North Africa. That is why, despite the overwhelming majority of the masses vehemently opposing Israel in all the Western imperialist countries, despite the imperialist regimes becoming extremely exposed and unpopular in these countries and despite the mask of democracy falling off their faces, these regimes have continued their support to the genocidal Israeli settler colonialism. In short, the question of the national liberation of Palestine is proving once again to be an important and consequential knot of imperialism and sharpening its contradictions along with other ongoing events of inter-imperialist rivalry. The Western imperialism simply cannot tolerate a free Palestine as it means the decisive end of the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel.
Notwithstanding all the attempts to finish the very existence of the Palestinian people and nation, the Zionist entity is nearing its final collapse in an even swifter manner. Whether it will happen in two, five, ten or twenty years does not matter here. There is no doubt whatsoever that the last two years have created a new political situation in the world in general as well as within the Western imperialist countries. The Zionists have failed to suppress the Palestinian fight for national liberation in Gaza despite the worst kind of massacres inflicted upon them on a daily basis. The idea was to force the Gazan population to move out of Gaza “voluntarily” by inflicting unfathomable pain and suffering on them through genocidal actions. However, the valiant and brave people of Gaza have refused to leave repeatedly in spite of the declared plans of Trump to convince certain Arab and African countries to take in refugees from Gaza. Moreover, these countries, too, have refused to accept refugees from Gaza, as it would be highly inflammable material for the internal national politics of these countries, as most of their populations empathize deeply with the Palestinians. Resultantly, the genocidal It has been nearly two years since the murderous Zionist entity attacked Gaza after October 7, 2023. The Palestinian people broke through the siege imposed upon the people of Gaza by Israel on that fateful day, retaliated against Israeli occupation and took more than a thousand Israeli settlers captive. The fact that Hamas is in the leadership of this resistance struggle, and the fact that Hamas’ ideology is one of Islamism, does not make any difference to the fact that this act of resistance was that of the Palestinian people who have been fighting for national liberation for decades. It was a war of resistance against the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel, which has been murdering, humiliating and torturing the Palestinian people, occupying their land, stealing their lives for last almost eight decades, in its capacity as a racist and fascist settler colonial state, a military check-post and proxy of Western imperialism in the West Asia, first led by the British imperialism and now by the US imperialism.
After the liberation fighters of Gaza broke through the siege and attacked the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel, the Zionist entity attacked the small Gaza strip with all its military might. Everyone knows that this might is built by the Western imperialism, without the support of which, Israel’s settler colonial state cannot survive for even one week. All this while, the reactionary Arab regimes betrayed the cause of Palestinian national liberation as usual. As a result, their lip-service to the cause of Palestine and Palestinians makes them appear even more obscene and vulgar. The Arab people, in general, are extremely enraged by and displeased with this latest and most repulsive naked betrayal of the Arab reactionary bourgeois regimes of their countries once again.
Most of the imperialist and capitalist states are doing nothing of consequence and are watching an unprecedented genocide being carried out by the Israeli settler colonial state, though they have been making shameful and meek appeals to Israel to stop “war”, while at the same time supplying Israel with weapons and funding to continue this genocide. Only a few capitalist states are exception to this, though their number is slowly increasing. The reason behind this state of affairs is the unwavering support that the US imperialists have given to Israel. It is necessary to understand why the US and European imperialists continue to lend their unflinching support to the genocidal Israeli settler colonialism.
The US-led Anglo-Saxon imperialist axis as well as the European imperialists understand that their imperialist loot and plunder of the resources and labour of the West Asia depends on the survival of Israel as a proxy and military check-post in the region. The existence of a lumpen fascist and racist settler state in the region is also necessary for the protection of their imperialist interests in the North Africa, where the overall situation of Western imperialism has become extremely fragile of late. The national liberation of Palestine means the end of the Zionist settler colonial project and therefore also the collapse of the power of Western imperialism in the West Asia as well as weakening of its influence in the North Africa. That is why, despite the overwhelming majority of the masses vehemently opposing Israel in all the Western imperialist countries, despite the imperialist regimes becoming extremely exposed and unpopular in these countries and despite the mask of democracy falling off their faces, these regimes have continued their support to the genocidal Israeli settler colonialism. In short, the question of the national liberation of Palestine is proving once again to be an important and consequential knot of imperialism and sharpening its contradictions along with other ongoing events of inter-imperialist rivalry. The Western imperialism simply cannot tolerate a free Palestine as it means the decisive end of the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel.
Notwithstanding all the attempts to finish the very existence of the Palestinian people and nation, the Zionist entity is nearing its final collapse in an even swifter manner. Whether it will happen in two, five, ten or twenty years does not matter here. There is no doubt whatsoever that the last two years have created a new political situation in the world in general as well as within the Western imperialist countries. The Zionists have failed to suppress the Palestinian fight for national liberation in Gaza despite the worst kind of massacres inflicted upon them on a daily basis. The idea was to force the Gazan population to move out of Gaza “voluntarily” by inflicting unfathomable pain and suffering on them through genocidal actions. However, the valiant and brave people of Gaza have refused to leave repeatedly in spite of the declared plans of Trump to convince certain Arab and African countries to take in refugees from Gaza. Moreover, these countries, too, have refused to accept refugees from Gaza, as it would be highly inflammable material for the internal national politics of these countries, as most of their populations empathize deeply with the Palestinians. Resultantly, the genocidal Netanyahu regime has no other option but to continue the genocide of the people of Gaza and also simultaneously lead the entire Zionist project to its final reckoning. This is also because Netanyahu knows that the moment a ceasefire happens, the Zionist army is forced to vacate Gaza, and the remaining Israeli settler captives are released, his extreme-right wing and corrupt regime will fall which has the potential to lead the entire Zionist project to an uncertain political abyss. As a consequence, the Israeli settler colonial state is bound to continue to dig its own grave. At the same time, the contradictions within the Israeli settler society are becoming acute. We cannot sympathize with a single settler there. However, many settlers who are able to see where this genocide leads to, are hitting the streets to demand Netanyahu government to end the “war” because they know that the very existence of their settler colonial paradise is in jeopardy. Another section of Israelis oppose the Netanyahu-led genocide of Gazans because they do not want to serve in the occupation forces. We must not forget that IOF is the most coward, most immoral, most inhuman and most barbaric army in the world which is scared to death of fighting with Palestinian liberation fighters, despite being armed to teeth by the Western imperialism. The cowardly and immoral nature of the Israeli society is also apparent from the fact that since the beginning of the genocide and attacks by the resistance fighters, thousands of Israeli settlers have left for their countries of origin. Now compare this with the fortitude of the Gazans who despite losing tens of thousands of people, are refusing to leave and are ready to be buried in their homeland, that is, Palestine. That is the difference between a nation fighting heroically for liberation and gutless chickenhearted settler colonialists.
The practical inaction and silence of the capitalist states all around the world is matched by the unprecedented mass movements against the Israeli genocide around the world, from the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain to Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia and Latin American countries. The mass movements, especially in the Western capitalist countries have been met with brutal repression, arrests, detentions, violence and illegalizing of perfectly legal actions and organizations. This has led to a new sense of realization among the citizenry of these countries, especially the young people. The levels of politicization due to the latest Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, among the people of these countries, and especially the youth, is astounding. As a consequence, in a rare and real novelty, now more than 64 percent of American youth support Hamas against Israel. It is noteworthy that they do not simply support the Palestinian struggle, but Hamas itself.
The same is true regarding Britain, France and Germany which have systematically banned peaceful organizations supporting the Palestinian cause, running boycotts of the Israeli companies, products, academics, etc. and organizing solidarity actions to compel their governments to sanction Israel. Such bans are completely unconstitutional even from the bourgeois-democratic standpoint. As a consequence, the masses in these countries have been awakened to the essential reality of authoritarianism, which has suddenly burst asunder the surficial reality of liberalism funded by imperialist loot and plunder of the world. This is one of the many ways in which the Palestinian struggle is sharpening the contradictions of imperialism globally as well as domestically. The masses in these imperialist countries have come to realize not only the unjustifiable support of their governments to the genocidal Zionist state, but also why their governments have continued to support the Israeli massacres and extermination of the Palestinian people, namely, to protect the imperialist interests of the ruling bourgeoisie of their respective countries.
This time around, all the clamour about anti-Semitism and using Nazi holocaust of the Jews to justify the ongoing Zionist holocaust of the Palestinian people, all forms of ‘Hasbara’ and Zionist ‘whataboutery’ is not working at all. The common masses are simply not ready to even listen to such lame excuses. The democratic and progressive Jews all around the western world have come out and vociferously opposed the Zionist settler colonialism of Israel and proclaimed it once again in the clearest terms that Zionist settler colonial state of Israel has nothing whatsoever to do with Judaism and the Jews in general. It is a fascist settler colonial project funded and armed by the Western imperialism which has no interest whatsoever in fighting against anti-Semitism. The Jews also understand that the very existence of Israeli settler colonial state is one of the reasons which propels anti-Semitism around the world, as the popular hatred against Israeli settler state is often misarticulated as hatred against the Jews itself.
In fact, what had already been historically-proven is being proved once again. Some of the most well-known rabid anti-Semites, right-wingers and even fascists like Lord Balfour himself had supported the Zionist colonial projects and had open links with Zionist ideologues and politicians. Even today the most rabid anti-Semites are collaborating with Israel, supporting and funding it, arming it in order to safeguard their imperialist interests in the West Asia. All of this has become clearly apparent especially to the new young generation in all these Western imperialist countries. The issue of the liberation of Palestine has led to such levels of radicalization among young people which are comparable to and may be even greater than that in the period of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement in the US and the May, 1968 mass upsurge in Europe. However, this time the realization is much deeper, the world imperialism is much weaker in essence, despite its apparent military might due to the long depression and resultant sharpening of the inter-imperialist rivalry. At the same time, it is also true that unlike the 1960s, there is an ebb in the revolutionary communist and revolutionary working class movements whereas the stream of national liberation movements has become a minor trend in world politics as the process of de-colonization had become almost complete by the 1990s, barring a few notable exceptions. Still, the present situation has the potential to spark something evental, something which might eventually lead to emergence of revolutionary mass movements in various countries. In short, the present situation is pregnant with many positive possibilities.
In this way, while the capitalist states of the world have failed to liberate Gaza, the struggle of Gaza has certainly liberated the masses around the world. It has awakened them from their slumber. Students, youth, progressive and democratic citizens are on the streets. They are realizing the real character of their imperialist governments and their complicity in the Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people. In their own terminology, they are realizing the exploitative and oppressive character of imperialism and capitalism, in general. An anti-capitalist anti-imperialist consciousness among masses is certainly developing and the ideologues and think-tanks of Western imperialism are visibly worried and distressed by it. The masses are no longer misled by any imperialist and Zionist propaganda. Owing to its own contradictory consciousness and especially owing to the pressure created by the mass upsurge on the question of Palestine, even a section of ruling elite has begun to speak out against the Israeli settler colonialism and its murderous nature. This shows the cracks within the ruling elites around the world. The ‘Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions’ movement has gathered momentum like never before and it is making the complicit companies and corporations pay. It has become virtually impossible or extremely difficult for the Israeli settler sportspersons, artists, academics, scientists, social scientists, engineers, and other professionals to travel anywhere in the world without being shamed by the masses. Israeli tourists are being expelled by restaurants and hotels in Europe and even in parts of the US. Israeli settlers and their state has certainly become pariah for the masses of the world.
In our country, the awareness about the issue of Palestine, its national liberation and the genocidal Zionist settler colony of Israel has been historically low. However, the last 23 months of genocide carried out by Israel and the tireless efforts of the Indian supporters of the national liberation of Palestine has led to increase in the mass awareness about the issue. A sizeable number of youngsters including youth from among the Hindu population have supported the BDS movement in India, have joined anti-Israel demonstrations and faced repression. Our ruling class is particularly shameless and obscene, so it is no surprise that barring a few exceptions none of the bourgeois politicians spoke on Palestine. However, a certain section of Indian masses, too, is waking up to the brutal reality of the Israeli racist settler colonial state. At present, this consciousness is not directed against the very existence of Israel but only against the genocidal actions of the Zionist entity. However, as everywhere else in the world, this is only the first stage of understanding the very nature of the Zionist settler colonial state of Israel, the first stage of understanding that Israel is not a nation or a country. It is a settler colonial state. There is no doubt the progressive, democratic and secular citizens of India who are spearheading the campaign against Zionist entity will have to double, may be triple their efforts. However, this much is true that this time progressive intelligentsia, students, youth and workers are playing a much more proactive role in this movement.
In short, the struggle for Palestinian liberation is awakening and liberating the masses around the world, even before the states could act to liberate Palestine. It is contributing to the intensification of the internal contradictions of the imperialist system. Coupled with the inter-imperialist rivalry from Ukraine to Sahel region of Africa, and from Taiwan and South China Sea to Latin America, the national liberation struggle of Palestine is contributing to the decline of the US hegemony, the sharpening of inter-imperialist rivalry and making the contradictions of the world capitalist system acute. We, in India, should do everything in our capacity to help the Palestinian national liberation struggle, organize as many solidarity actions around the country, to raise the awareness of the Indian people about Palestine, demand complete end to all diplomatic and economic ties of Indian state with the Zionist entity, and boycott Israel in every possible way.
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Electoral Fraud and Vote-Theft: Part of the Modus Operandi of Contemporary Fascism
We have written several times in the previous issues of The Anvil how the present fascism is different from the historical fascism of Germany and Italy. We have pointed out time and again that due to various changes in the modus operandi of capital, changes in the bourgeois state and bourgeoisie as a political class and changes in the nature of occurrence of economic crisis of capitalism, the contemporary fascism does not need to give up the shell of the bourgeois democracy. In the present issue, too, we are publishing the key paper presented in the Seventh International Arvind Memorial Seminar held in Hyderabad in December 2024-January 2025, which stresses the same point. The developments in the last 11 years have proven this thesis of ours with astonishing accuracy. We presented our understanding of changes in the nature of fascism since the late-Twentieth century for the first time in 2009. We have continued to fine-tune this understanding till the present times. And the reign of Modi and Shah have proven correct almost every single point of our understanding.
The present case of vote-theft and electoral fraud along with the continuing issue of EVMs has demonstrated our arguments with evidence. The leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi, demonstrated with the example of one particular seat in Bengaluru Central that how the BJP government steals the elections. He has challenged the Election Commission of India to provide him with the data of other seats and claimed that he will prove the same for many other seats too. There is no doubt that his claims hold water. It was something that everyone felt and knew at some level for a long time. However, Rahul Gandhi’s exposé has proven it beyond any doubt.
Our position is fairly well-known to almost every person in the political community. We have argued time and again that due to the change in the nature of economic crisis (that is, the prolongation of the period of crisis and long recession since the 1970s) in the neoliberal phase of imperialist globalization, due to the withering away of the very bourgeois democratic content of the bourgeois state and the bourgeoisie as a political class, the rise of authoritarian statism, the fascism in the Twenty-first century does not need to abolish the bourgeois elections, parliament, legislative assemblies, various bourgeois democratic institutions formally. The form/shell of the bourgeois democracy will remain but its content will be in perpetual decay. What we are witnessing at present is part of precisely this very process. Fascist forces have effected a molecular permeation in the pores of the society and systematic infiltration into the state apparatus. As a result, the armed forces, police, bureaucracy, judiciary have been internally taken over by the fascists. Moreover, within society they have dug their trenches through a protracted process of institutional work. Besides, there is an active reactionary social movement of the petty-bourgeoisie standing behind the fascists. The combination of these three elements allow them to do everything that the fascists are supposed to do: relieve the bourgeoisie in the period of economic crisis by depressing average wages, constructing a false enemy in the figure of the other, in our case the Muslim population in the main, blame them for the sins of capitalism and in this way absolve the capitalist system and the capitalist class by misarticulating the real class contradictions in the fantastic communal/racist/xenophobic form.
Today the fascists have been pushed to a corner by rising mass discontent against economic plight, shrinking of whatever remains of the democratic rights and the neutralizing of all already-feeble democratic processes and institutions. On top of that, the exposé by Rahul Gandhi and the opposition and increasing anger against the government has pushed the BJP-led coalition government into a tactical defensive for now. Does that mean that the BJP might lose the Bihar elections? Yes, that is possible. Does that also mean that the continuation of the same processes might lead to its electoral defeat in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections? Yes, that is possible, too. However, that would mean only the temporary exist of the BJP from governmental power. The RSS understands very well that they must allow for this possibility as in conditions of extreme unpopularity of the government, clinging to governmental power by openly discarding the bourgeois democratic form will lead to the same fate that the Nazis in Germany and fascists in Italy had met: complete destruction and expulsion from the stage of a history for a long time to come. That is why it would not support any attempt by the Modi-Shah duo to dismantle the form of bourgeois democracy which is already in tatters. However, in such case, if the BJP goes out of governmental power, it will continue to maintain its consolidated positions in the society and the state, will continue to strengthen them further, will continue to fuel the reactionary social movement of the petty-bourgeoisie and in the conditions of long crisis, will capture the governmental power once again. In the conditions of protracted economic crisis, the possibilities of fascists seizing the governmental power again and again will continue to exist in this entire phase. Moreover, any interregnum of any centrist, right-centrist, liberal bourgeois government will only exacerbate the crisis of the system as it is inherently incapable of providing any sustainable solution to the pressing problems faced by the masses. All such interregnums will prove to be so many ‘Weimer moments’ for India leading to increasingly rabid and aggressive fascist rise to governmental power.
Therefore, the final defeat of fascism today will come only with the socialist revolution. There will be no intermediate bourgeois-democratic stage and therefore the strategic slogan of restoration of bourgeois democracy is meaningless. Tactically, giving impetus to the electoral defeat of the BJP while maintaining the political independence of the proletariat definitely holds relevance as it would give a breathing space to the communist revolutionaries to accumulate their forces in order to prepare for a strategic offensive eventually. It stems from this that the policy of the ‘popular front’, which was proven ineffective in the 1930s, too, will be disastrous today. While, the revolutionary communist forces must form issue-based particular united fronts will all non-fascist parties including the social-democratic parties on such issues on which they are ready to fight; however, they cannot form general anti-fascist united front with the social-democrats and other non-fascist bourgeois parties, as they would strive to keep the anti-fascist revolutionary mass movement within the limits of bourgeois legality, as the historical as well as contemporary experience has proven beyond doubt. The revolutionary communist organizations and groups must come together to form such general anti-fascist united front of the working class from below, while keeping the option of forming issue-based anti-fascist united front from above with non-fascist bourgeois parties open.
At present, one such issue on which a particular united front can be formed with all non-fascist organizations and parties who are willing to fight, is the issue of electoral fraud and vote-theft. This issue has aroused a considerable section of masses. This front should take up the issue of electoral fraud and vote-theft in all its forms from SIR, EVM, misuse of government machinery in the very process of counting of votes to the preventing anti-BJP masses from voting and the collusion of the Election Commission of India with the BJP, etc. On all these issues, the proletarian forces should erect a mass movement as well as participate in the ongoing stir while maintaining their political independence and make the best use of the contradictions of present fascism which come with the obligation of maintaining the form/shell of the bourgeois democracy. This might contribute to drive out the fascists from the governmental power and give a breather and space to the revolutionary forces. To attack the consolidated positions of the fascists in the society and the state will take much more from the revolutionary forces. The revolutionary communists will have to develop their own organic social support base in the society through their own molecular permeation through institutional work. However, in order to perform this task in a comparatively better context, it is certainly important to drive the fascist forces out of governmental power for now. It would certainly not mean the destruction of fascism or their final defeat. However, it would allow the revolutionary communists to accumulate and align their forces for future decisive battles.
