The joint statement, initiated by the Tudeh Party of Iran, on the dangerously escalating situation in the region.
Coinciding with the dark first anniversary of the beginning of the current bloody campaign of genocide by Israeli forces against the people of Gaza, that followed the terrible events of 7 October 2023, and against the backdrop of a dangerously escalating situation in the Middle East with the bombardment and invasion of Lebanon and a region now teetering on the precipice of what would be a catastrophic generalised war, the Tudeh Party of Iran initiated the following joint statement on SolidNet, the online platform of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP).
The statement was carefully devised in close consultation with five other regional parties; AKEL of Cyprus, the Communist Party of Iraq, the Communist Party of Israel, the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP), and the Sudanese Communist Party. Following their endorsement and co-sponsorship of the initiative, the statement was launched on SolidNet and opened for further signatures by supporting organisations. The statement has been very well received in the week since its launch and has attracted support from a growing list of influential member organisations of the IMCWP from around the world.
Liberation hereby endorses and reproduces this important and timely statement, which accords with the positions of the United Nations (UN), the vast majority of UN General Assembly member states, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and International Criminal Court (ICC) – as well as UN resolutions pertaining to Palestine and international law…
We stand against the widening of war in the Middle East!
Monday 7 October 2024
We, the undersigned communist and workers parties campaigning for peace and progress in the Middle East, hereby express our most profound concerns over the unprecedented escalation of the situation in the region with the Israeli multi-dimensional attacks on Lebanon and full-scale invasion of the country. This has predictably resulted in the retaliatory missile strikes by Iran on Israeli targets, following on from Israeli attacks on Lebanon and other provocative infringements on Iranian sovereignty.
We believe that if the current trend of developments continues, the region will be plunged into a cycle of conflict that could very easily lead to a globalised war. This would endanger the security of all states and peoples in our region.
In Israel, the Netanyahu government, which has flagrantly violated international law in its perpetration of a genocidal war in Gaza for the past 12 months, assassination of political leaders in Tehran and Beirut, and now in its invasion of Lebanon and blatant recourse to terror tactics to eliminate its foes there, is seeking a direct military conflict with Iran in order to expand the war across the Middle East, in collusion with the US and UK governments, to aggressively implement schemes fundamentally aimed at the re-drawing of the political map of the Middle East and imposition of their imperialist hegemony.
The state of Israel conducts itself as the wild arsonist in the Middle East, while Western powers continue to cover, support, and arm it to the teeth, since it constitutes their long and steely arm in the region. This despite Israel’s repeated brazen thumbing its nose to the international community, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), as well as the rule of international law.
We recognise the definitive peaceful and political resolution of the Palestinian issue as being central to the current situation in the Middle East. We therefore call for an immediate full ceasefire and end to the genocidal war in Gaza and the West Bank and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from those territories; the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli gaols and detention centres; the release of all remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza; as well immediate concrete and legally enshrined steps towards the recognition and implementation of a fully sovereign Palestinian state within the borders as they stood on 4 June 1967 as per the relevant UN resolutions. In accordance with international law, the illegal occupation of Palestine must be brought to an end.
We furthermore call for the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli military forces from the sovereign territory of Lebanon and reaffirm our solidarity with the struggle of the Lebanese and Palestinian people and support for their fundamental and inalienable right under international law to resist foreign invasion and occupation. We also call for an end to the bombardment and military targeting of sites in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and further afield.
Pursuant to this, we call for an end to all exports of military armaments, ammunition, as well as technical assistance to Israel in order to force a reversal from its dangerous military adventure in Palestine, Lebanon, and other countries in the Middle East.
We call for the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza to be upheld and implemented without delay or obstruction.
We call for the UN’s appeals to all sides to be heeded in order so as to earnestly row back from and avert the nightmarish scenario of a generalised war, which edges ever closer and would spell disaster for all peoples of the region.
SolidNet Parties signing the Joint Statement (as of p.m. Tuesday 15 October 2024)
- Communist Party of Armenia
- Communist Party of Australia
- Communist Party of Austria
- Party of Labour Austria
- Communist Party of Bangladesh
- Communist Party of Brazil
- Communist Party of Britain
- New Communist Party of Britain
- Communist Party of Canada
- AKEL of Cyprus
- Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
- Communist Party of Denmark
- Communist Party of Finland
- French Communist Party
- German Communist Party
- Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
- Hungarian Workers Party
- Communist Party of India
- Communist Party of India [Marxist]
- Tudeh Party of Iran
- Communist Party of Iraq
- Kurdistan Communist Party -Iraq
- Workers Party of Ireland
- Communist Party of Israel
- Italian Communist Party
- Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan
- Communist Party of Luxembourg
- Communist Party of Malta
- Communist Party of Mexico
- New Communist Party of the Netherlands
- Communist Party of Norway
- Communist Party of Pakistan
- Palestinian Peoples Party
- Portuguese Communist Party
- Communist Party of the Russian Federation
- Russian Communists Workers Party
- Communists of Serbia
- Communist Party of Spain
- Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
- Communists of Catalonia
- Communist Party of Sri Lanka
- Sudanese Communist Party
- Communist Party of Sweden
- Syrian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Türkiye
- Communist Party of Ukraine
- Communist Party of Uruguay
- Communist Party USA
- Communist Party of Venezuela
Other Parties
- Communist Front of Italy
- Communist Workers’ Platform USA
- Party of Communists USA
The joint statement remains open for further signatures on SolidNet.