A ceasefire has been reached in Gaza. As Trump and Biden fight over credit for this moment, our view is clear: this ceasefire is an accomplishment of the Resistance alone. It is nothing less than a victory for them and a huge failure for the Zionist state and its common allies in the US, regardless of who heads it.
The Zionist occupation has utterly failed in the goals it set out to accomplish, and as a result the zionist state has fallen into an internal crisis: soldiers are defecting, its economy is collapsing, and international relations are crumbling. The last 15 months of genocide in Gaza and the persistance of resistance has given new life to people’s movements all around the globe, signaling a decline of imperial powers and a broadening of political consciousness.
We celebrate and congratulate the Palestinian people for this historic victory. We have no illusions, however, about the completeness of this victory and what role we must play. While Trump is hoping that this ceasefire will encourage people of conscience to end their campaigns in support of Palestine, we know that just as this genocide did not start on October 7th, it does not end on January 19th. Our movement has only entered into a new phase of the struggle; we must continue the fight until complete liberation from the river to the sea.
What will the oppression of the Palestinian people look like in the face of this ceasefire? For 15 months, Palestinians were subjected to endless bombings, mass displacement, man-made starvation, and a severe lack of essential aid such as fuel, medical supplies, and water. All infrastructure has been destroyed. In fact, Israel escalated their attacks on the Gaza strip in the days leading up to the ceasefire and even now after its enactment, we have watched the bombardment continue into the ceasefire’s early hours with at least 14 Palestinians martyred. This ceasefire does not mean that the siege on Gaza has been lifted permanently, and its effects will only be compounded: resources are needed more than ever to rebuild, making their restriction by the occupation all the more dire and despicable. We cannot return to “business as usual:” before October 2023, where the UN stated in 2012 that Gaza would be “unlivable” by 2020 due to the siege. We must broaden our struggle for a free Palestine with a laser focus, recognizing that the Zionist entity’s escalation is not limited to the Palestinian people in Gaza, but that it extends all throughout historic Palestine.
Our fight is not over. As we keep our eyes on Gaza for the duration of the first phase of the ceasefire, we recommit to struggle for a free Palestine. We know a second Trump term will bring as many or even more attacks as the first did on our united mass movements. Far from an “anti-war” administration, Trump’s defense secretary pick has said he “supports Israel killing every last member of Hamas.” Domestically, they have promised a mass deportation campaign on day one with attacks on workers, racial justice movements, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, and more. We must use this moment not to relax our fight for Palestinian liberation, but to escalate it. It is clear that the system of monopoly capitalism that is built upon the exploitation of working class people, regardless of where they are across the globe, is a dying one. We must continue to build a united mass movement that is able to deliver decisive blows to the ruling class that has deemed this as normal. Ceasefire now, arms embargo next, until total liberation and return!