« Class Against Class was co-organiser of the « March for the Return and Liberation of Palestine » of the Palestinian revolutionary movement Masar Badil (Alternative Way). The demonstration was a great success despite the boycott of almost all the left and all the « official » Palestine support organisations, supporting the Oslo Accord and the scourge it has created for the Palestinians: a corrupt and collaborationist Palestinian Authority.
« Shame on the absentees! »
Speech by the representative of « Class Against Class »
Dear friends, dear comrades,
When Masar Badil asked Red Help and « Class Against Class » to contribute to this demonstration, we accepted the responsibility with pleasure and pride.
The Palestinian question is central to all those who reject imperialism, colonialism and racism. Every day, literally every day, brings new evidence, often bloody, that Palestinians are treated as second-class human beings in their own land.
The Palestinian issue is also valuable because it exposes the hypocrisy not only of the European Union, but also of much of the European left. They claim to want a « just solution » based on the creation of two separate states, but as soon as it comes to liberating the whole of Palestine, and not a few concentration enclaves, they are no longer seen or heard. They also claim to honour the great episodes of anti-fascist, anti-imperialist and anti-colonial armed resistance, but as soon as there is a question of armed resistance today, they are no longer seen or heard.
Shame on those absent from this demonstration!
We came to this march with three portraits.
First of all, you have the portrait of Georges Habash, because this pioneer of the resistance, founder of the PFLP, has always put forward this essential principle: there is no real national liberation without social liberation. Georges Habash knew that giving a land to a people only makes sense by giving the land to those who work it. He knew that the liberation of a people requires the liberation of the workers from economic servitude.
We also came with the portrait of Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, because this Palestinian woman organised the first group of women to practice armed resistance in 1967. Shadia Abu Ghazaleh reminds us of the place of women in the struggle for liberation, and of their contribution and sacrifice. She also reminds us of the need to link women’s liberation with national liberation. Fighting the patriarchal system and all its forms of domination is a necessary dimension in this struggle for liberation.
And finally we came with the portrait of El Houssine Benyahia. This young Moroccan communist fell fighting in the ranks of the PFLP. El Houssine Benyahia reminds us that the liberation of Palestine is linked to the liberation of the whole Arab nation. The reactionary Arab regimes, from the Kingdom of Morocco to the Sultanate of Oman, are the worst enemies of Palestine. They sell Palestinians to imperialism and colonialism as they sell their own people and their own country to the same torturers. El Houssine Benyahia shows us that, unlike the various regimes, the Arab peoples have always had the Palestinian cause at heart.
El Houssine Benyahia fulfilled his duty as an internationalist to the end. He is an example of the necessary solidarity between all oppressed peoples against all oppressive regimes. A people that is complicit in the oppression of another people cannot claim to be free itself. Either there will be freedom for all, or there will be freedom for none!
Dear friends, dear Palestinian comrades:
Victories for your fighters
Honour to your martyrs
Health to your wounded
Freedom for your prisoners!
Long live international solidarity!
Hoch die Internationale Solidarität!
