Statement of the Tudeh Party of Iran

Marking the "Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People”, 29^th Nov. 2023!

In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution declaring 29 November to be the "Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People". This coincides with the date in 1947 when the UN GA passed its famous Resolution 181(ii) regarding the partition of Palestine and the formation of two independent and fully sovereign "Palestinian" and "Jewish" states alongside one another, a decision that has not been implemented for 76 years due to the disastrous interferences of Western-led imperialism and its unwavering defence of the racist and inhumane policies implemented by successive government administrations ruling Israel. 

This year, as the "Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinian People" approaches, the Israeli war machine of the apartheid government of Netanyahu has, for the past eight weeks, razed a large part of Gaza to the ground, following the attack by Hamas on Israel and the killing of 1,200 Israelis [on Saturday 7 October]. According to UN reports, more than 14,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of themwomen and children, have lost their lives in this criminal massacre. 

The World Peace Council has issued a statement on this [stillunfolding] development. It points out that more than 5,000 Palestinian children have lost their lives during the bombings carried out by the Israeli government, adding that: "The crimes of the Israeli army are unprecedented. People who survive the air attacks or the onslaught of the Israeli aggressors, are exposed to inhumane conditions of lack of water, electricity and medicine. Hundreds of thousands of people are forcibly displaced and made homeless in the Gaza Strip, in a situation similar to prisoners in a large open-air prison." 

In recent weeks, while condemning the atrocities of the Israeli government in the Gaza Strip, the Tudeh Party of Iran has highlighted that these unprecedented crimes are able to take place and continue to be committed in a situation whereby the imperialist countries in North America, Britain, and the European Union shamelessly justify their strategic policy of all-round [unequivocal] political, financial, and military support for Netanyahu's Zionist regime. In parallel with these attempts to justify these flagrant violations [of international and humanitarian law], the UN Security Council has been completely unable to resolve to force the Israeli government into accepting a ceasefire for weeks owing to the imperialist bloc's unconditional support for the continuation of Israel's criminal attacks. 

While expressing renewed solidarity with the deprived and oppressed people of Palestine as well as all the progressive and democratic forces of this defiant people, the Tudeh Party of Iran emphasises that the announcement of a comprehensive ceasefire, the release of the Israeli hostages, along with the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners - who are mostly political prisoners - would be the first step in bringing about an end to the crimes of the Netanyahu government in the Gaza Strip.It has become more and more clear to world public opinion that without an end to the occupation of the Palestinian people's land; without accepting the formation and recognition of an independent Palestinian state, within the borders as they stood on 4 June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital; without an end to the construction of illegal Jewish settlements and their removal from Palestinian territory; without the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli gaols; and without the return of Palestinian refugees (in accordancewith UN Resolution 194), we cannot hope to achieve lasting peace in the region. 

The mobilisation of world public opinion and the joint effort of all progressive and freedom-loving forces in the region in solidarity with the struggle for the legitimate rights of the people and progressive forces of Palestine,in order to realise their historical and inalienable right to have an independent Palestinian state, is an internationalist and humanitarian duty that we must endeavour to have implemented. 

The massacre of the people of Gaza and the destruction of that territory over the past eight weeks [as well as the unprecedented level of armed raids within the occupied West Bank] committed by the Israeli apartheid regime, together with the defence,indeed approval, of these crimes and destruction by the imperialist countries under the cover of the slogan, "Israel has the right to defend itself", once again clearly illustrates the discredited claims of the imperialist countries to be the upholders of human rights and international law. The Tudeh Party of Iran, along with all progressive forces around the world, demand [an immediate and complete ceasefire] as well as the holding to account and bringing to justice of the Israeli apartheid regime in the International Criminal Court for their perpetrating of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Tudeh Party of Iran

29 November 2023

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