Socialist Worker

What solution in Palestine?

Issue No. 1795

THERE WERE 15 people at the Marxist forum in Canterbury on Thursday of last week on 'Israeli terror and the new intifada: can Jews and Arabs live in peace?' One of those there writes:

'After a detailed explanation of the history of the area there were questions. A person from Argentina said that whenever she had tried to criticise Israel at home she was accused of anti-Semitism. We also discussed whether Israel and a proper Palestinian state could exist at the same time, as this seems to have been posed as a solution by some world leaders. One person said, 'It's good for us to discuss this, but what can we do?' We talked about the demonstrations outside Downing Street and the Israeli embassy, and the campaign to boycott Israeli goods. This led to us planning a supermarket picket. It was so useful to be able to discuss these ideas.'

In Manchester a forum on the same subject attracted 85 people. Two speakers talked about the history of Palestine, the link with an imperialist oil-thirsty US state, the failure of the Oslo treaty, and the current situation. One main issue of debate was around a possible solution to the crisis-should there be one state or two?

The forum also discussed why the US supports Israel, and the need to take on Blair over his support for Israel.


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Sat 13 Apr 2002, 00:00 BST
Issue No. 1795
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