October 7th marked one year since the Hamas attack which sparked the unprecedented brutal war in Gaza—a year of suffering, death, and destruction on a mass scale—bankrolled by US imperialism under a Democratic presidency. Despite the immense amount of misery as well as mass opposition to the Israeli state’s brutal offensive, there is no immediate prospect of an end to this war. Instead, the Middle East is descending into regional war. As millions around the world look on in horror at what’s unfolding, we need to reflect on the lessons from a year of struggle against the war in Gaza and escalate the movement for a ceasefire and to end the occupation.
A Year Of Devastation
The October 7th Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, saw over 200 taken as hostages in Israel and unleashed the most destructive war in the decades of national oppression inflicted on the Palestinians since 1948 when the Israeli state was established. The official death toll in Gaza has passed 41,000 and nearly 100,000 have been injured.
Schools, hospitals, roads, water, and sanitation systems have been decimated, leaving behind 42 million metric tons of rubble. On top of the ongoing barbaric attacks that rain down bombs weighing thousands of pounds, malnutrition, thirst, and disease will result in a sharp increase in the number of casualties. The recent outbreak of polio is a harrowing sign of what’s to come. This is alongside escalating settler violence and a deadly offensive by the Israeli regime in the West Bank.
This genocidal war has been carried out by the Israeli state under the guise of eliminating Hamas and bringing back the Israeli hostages. After a year of devastation, the Netanyahu regime has completely failed in achieving either of these outcomes. What has actually been accomplished has been a campaign of mass killing and punishment of the population in Gaza and the West Bank, draconian repression of Palestinians within the Green Line, and increased instability in Israeli society.
The actions of Hamas, a right-wing force that does not represent the interests of the Palestinian masses, have not brought the Palestinian people closer to liberation. But Hamas has gained some increased support particularly in the West Bank, in large part due to opposition to the ruling Palestinian Authority, which is correctly viewed by many as collaborators in the occupation.
While Netanyahu pays lip service to the aim of freeing the Israeli hostages, he has actively sabotaged ceasefire negotiations including with the demand to maintain an ongoing military presence in Gaza, an insistence that has already caused hostages deaths. The cynicism of the Netanyahu regime has not been lost on a significant layer of working class people in Israel. In early September, anger around the discovery of the bodies of six Israeli hostages sparked a general strike and a historic protest of 300,000 in Tel Aviv. This strike shows cracks in the armor of the Israeli state’s war machine which must be widened.
Imperialism & The US-China Conflict
The wider backdrop is the ramping up of militarism and increase in wars internationally. The war in Gaza has accelerated the consolidation of blocs around the US and China, two imperialist rivals competing for economic influence and military domination. Similar processes are taking place worldwide with wars in Ukraine and Yemen, tensions in the South China Sea, and military coups in the Sahel.
Iran and its proxies, aligned with Russian and Chinese imperialism, are being pulled more directly into the conflict in Gaza with direct fire exchanges between Iran, Hezbollah, and Israel. On the other side, Western imperialism defends the criminal Israeli regime in order to maintain their most reliable ally in the region to counter the influence of the China-aligned bloc.
The mass popular anger throughout the Middle East and North Africa complicates “their” regimes’ alliance with Western imperialism, as these regimes fear a repetition of the 2011 revolutions.
Though neither US nor Chinese imperialism wants an escalation into a full scale regional war, under capitalism, war is not an anomaly. The drive to war is guaranteed within a system based on constant growth and expansion of markets. In this era of inter-imperialist conflict nationalism, militarism, and wars will continue to bring death, misery, and climate devastation. That is, unless the working class is prepared to stop them.
Escalate The Anti-War Movement!
Millions around the world participated in protests opposing the war this year. While largely extracting symbolic concessions, the movement has scared governments who are worried these protests turn against them.
The vibrant student encampments on college campuses in the Spring across the US were widely inspiring and should be re-launched with the new school year. But we can’t stop there. Expanding the movement will be necessary to guard against repression by administration and police. Together with unions who called for a ceasefire, the movement should organize meetings to democratically agree on clear broad demands, organize coordinated mass days of action, and appeal to workers globally to join the struggle against militarism and nationalism.
The anti-war movement also needs to clearly reject the Democratic and the Republican parties, both of which are staunchly committed to defending the interests of US imperialism in the Middle East. All those who oppose the genocidal war should cast a protest vote for Jill Stein and commit to getting organized beyond the election against the war, for a new anti-war party for working people, and against the capitalist system that breeds endless war and oppression.
Socialist Struggle Against War & Imperialism
While a ceasefire is an important demand for the movement in the immediate term, it won’t bring lasting peace or stability. Ultimately, the struggle against war and imperialism must be a struggle against capitalism. Socialist Alternative calls for international struggle against all capitalist regimes of war, poverty, and corruption.