October 26, 2023

The World Federation of Trade Unions issued the statement below on Oct. 12.

The bloodshed in the Middle East has been going on and rising for days and has already resulted in thousands of people losing their lives and many more injured, while Palestinians in Gaza live without food, water and electricity, while an unprecedented murderous attack is being carried out to flatten the Gaza Strip.

The root cause of these tragic events that the whole world is watching, shocked, is the ongoing occupation and illegal settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel and the continuous, daily crimes and the blockades of Gaza that have been committed against the Palestinian people for years. Crimes which are committed with the provocative tolerance and support that Israel receives from the big imperialist powers, that is, the USA, the European Union and the rest of their allies, and which in recent years have become even more brutal and unacceptable.

For the WFTU it is clear that the only way to secure and consolidate peace and security for the people in Palestine and Israel, but also in the wider Middle East, is to immediately end the Israeli occupation and settlement in the occupied Arab territories, as provided for in the United Nations resolutions, and to establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and guarantee the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

It is obvious that Israel and its allies continue and intensify the imperialist crime and under the well-known pretext of counter-terrorism, they continue in the same direction, believing that now is the opportunity to annihilate the Palestinian people, creating a devastating new cycle of blood and instability in the region.

Next to Israel are still those who supported them and [look the other way to] the crimes and massacres against the Palestinian people and contribute to the maintenance of the occupation and colonization and present Israel today as a victim of Palestinian aggression. This is hypocritical and untruthful, to say the least.

The WFTU continues to stand consistently and principled beside the suffering and struggling people of Palestine and condemns the new barbaric offensive that has been launched, which aims to impose by brute force of arms, the perpetuation of the occupation of the Palestinian land, the colonization of Palestinian territories and the denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in peace and security.

As a first global reaction and action in solidarity with the Palestinian people, the WFTU calls on its affiliates and friends, class-oriented and militant trade unions around the world, to organize in the coming days actions, protests and demonstrations around the world under the slogans:

• Solidarity with the Palestinian people
• No to imperialist hypocrisy
• A just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause

The Secretariat