Amidst the horrors of Gaza, who can we vote for?’
The horrors inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza by Israeli state forces are indescribable. Firing on queues of hungry people waiting for food, launching brutal raids on hospitals, a ‘case to answer’ on genocide. Tens of thousands dead, many more injured, and more than a million driven from their homes.
Anger and revulsion continues to drive hundreds of thousands on to the streets to protest, week after week.
Through the months of slaughter, capitalist politicians have either wholeheartedly backed the actions of the Israeli state, or mouthed mealy words of faint opposition, with conditions attached.
Most people expect the Tories to give backing to cruel violence. After all, they have taken the axe to our services and living standards through 14 years of rule. But Labour leader Keir Starmer has almost exactly echoed the Tories. Both Rishi Sunak and Starmer have been branded “wasteman” by thousands of protesters.
When the Scottish National Party (SNP) brought forward a motion for a ceasefire in November, working-class pressure forced a quarter of Labour MPs to back it. Ten lost their frontbench position as a consequence.
“We’re not going to be pushed around by protesters”, Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting has said. But it is clear that Labour has come under big pressure from the huge and determined protests. How many Labour MPs have had their offices picketed by angry constituents?
Mass, organised working-class opposition to Israeli state terror increases the pressure on the Israeli regime which looks to US and British capitalism for support. The protest movement can be strengthened further by the trade unions adding their considerable weight fully behind it. And further still if steps towards working-class political representation are taken.
‘I’m not voting Labour, but who can I vote for?’, protesters ask.
A workers’ list of candidates to take on the Tories, Labour, and the pro-capitalist SNP, at the general election would add to the pressure. That is what the Socialist Party and Socialist Party Scotland is fighting for. Would you consider standing with us?
The bosses’ politicians offer no alternative to war and crisis. A working-class-based mass party, fighting in our interests against the super-rich bosses, would be a big step forward.
To point the way towards what is needed to bring an end to endless wars, and to meet the national aspirations of the Palestinians and other oppressed people, it would need to be armed with a fighting socialist programme. One based on taking the levers of power out of the hands of the super-rich elite by bringing the big corporations and the banks into democratic public ownership. If you agree, join Socialist Party Scotland.
