Private Outrage over Gaza Is Not Enough.
Join the July 24 Rally: Demand a Ceasefire!
World Socialist Web Site
(July 10, 2024) — Today, WSWS issued a statement appealing to workers and youth to attend a demonstration and meeting in Washington DC on July 24. The event will be critical in the fight to elaborate a program and perspective to stop the genocide in Gaza.
It is now two weeks before the demonstration, which coincides with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress. Netanyahu will receive the applause of Congress as the leader of a government that is engaged in mass murder and the systematic destruction of Gazan society.
The official number of Palestinian deaths during the last nine months, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, had reached 37,396 people as of June 19. However, a more intensive analysis of the scale of destruction, published on July 5 by The Lancet — among the most respected peer-reviewed medical journals in the world — states that the official figure is a vast underestimate.
The Lancet writes:
In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2,375,259, this would translate to 7.9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.
186,000 men, women and children! Such levels of death can only be compared to the worst crimes of the 20th century.
It is time to get off the sidelines!
The World Socialist Web Site, the Socialist Equality Party, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees have called the demonstration in Washington D.C. to denounce both Netanyahu’s visit and his political accomplices and enablers in the US government.
This demonstration will give voice to the mass opposition within this country and throughout the world to the criminal alliance between US imperialism and its agents in the Israeli state. Following the demonstrations, the Socialist Equality Party will hold a meeting to advance and discuss a socialist strategy to build a mass anti-war movement.
Don’t Stand on the Sidelines!
Let’s End Wars and Change the World
David North / World Socialist Web Site
(July 10, 2024) — On July 24th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of the US Congress, invited by Democratic and Republican leaders. Netanyahu is prosecuting genocidal war resulting in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children. He is being welcomed not in spite of, but because of these crimes. As a political agent of US imperialism, his speech will serve as a progress report on how this war advances American capitalist interests globally.
On the same day, thousands will demonstrate in Washington against this war. The Socialist Equality Party, International Youth and Students for Social Equality, and International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees call for widespread participation in this protest. This demonstration aims to ignite a mass movement against the Gaza genocide and US imperialism, rejecting any illusion that Congress might change its policies. Instead, it seeks a new political orientation and strategy.
Following the demonstration, there will be a meeting to assess the events of the day and discuss and elaborate the socialist strategy to advance the fight against genocide and war.
The Gaza genocide is part of a broader global conflict instigated by US imperialism, threatening nuclear escalation. The same governments supplying Israel are also intensifying proxy wars, including the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, and escalating tensions with China. Recognizing this interconnected imperialist aggression is crucial for developing a powerful mass movement against war, genocide, and fascism.
The demonstration and meeting are based on three strategic principles:
- The struggle against war requires an unconditional break from the Democratic and Republican parties, establishing the political independence of the working class.
- The movement against genocide and war must be international, uniting workers globally based on their common class interests.
- The fight against war must be anti-capitalist and socialist, targeting the economic system that fundamentally causes war.
Join the demonstration and meeting in Washington, D.C. on July 24th! Mobilize your co-workers, friends, and communities. Distribute this message widely. Stop the genocide and declare war on war.
