Saturday, November 4, 2023

Ceasefire now and humanitarian aid to Gaza towards an end to Israeli occupation

 

We join the majority of the United Nations and the peoples of the world in campaigning for peace and in calling for an immediate ceasefire to the armed conflict in Gaza to pave the way for a negotiated, internationally brokered political solution to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

 

By means of war, Israel has dispossessed the Palestinians of their right to existence as a free nation, with their territories effectively occupied and ghettoized by Israeli forces since the Nakba of 1948. This horrific condition suffered continuously by the Palestinian people was made possible with the imposition of unimaginable forms of repression, including killings and an unjust economic embargo, while the Israeli government continues to enjoy massive military and economic assistance from the US and other Western powers.

 

The retaliatory campaign by Israel to completely siege Gaza by cutting off food, water, and electricity supplies to annihilate “subhuman” Palestinians is not simply out of bounds but is downright genocide that needs to be opposed to avert a colossal humanitarian crisis.

 

We continue to emphasize that the only solution we see for peace to finally reign in this region is for the peoples of the world, along with institutions such as the United Nations, to campaign for an end to Israel’s occupation and continued land grabbing in Palestinian territories, and to guarantee the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.

 

The Philippines maintains diplomatic relations with Palestine since 1989, thus working for freedom and peace and preserving mutual respect with each other as independent nations will work better than being torn apart by geo-political alignments and other relations dictated by big powers.

 

However, we find the vote of abstention to the UN ceasefire resolution by the Philippine government politically reprehensible since a “no position” stand in the face of a glaring state of genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza works in favor of imperialist powers who seek for the total extermination of any Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

 

We therefore demand that the Philippine government reverse its stand in favor of the UN ceasefire resolution as this is the most urgent need at the moment to stop further loss of lives and destruction, facilitate global humanitarian aid to Gaza, and formulate a workable and just solution to end the war.

 

We likewise call on the Philippine government to exert all efforts to determine the actual condition and secure the safe release and repatriation of Filipinos who reportedly went missing or have been killed in the October 7 attack by Hamas. At least 30,000 Filipinos live in Israel, and 100 live in Gaza Strip, according to reports.

 

STOP THE WAR ON GAZA!

CEASEFIRE AND HUMANITARIAN AID TO GAZA!

END ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF GAZA AND WESTBANK!

FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE!


November 4, 2023

Partido Manggagawa 

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