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The world is fucked up. Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues to rage on unchallenged by western leaders, ICE agents are operating as a virtual Gestapo in America as they abduct and deport anyone who dares to criticise the Trump regime, and far right rhetoric is seemingly on the rise everywhere we turn. If ever we needed to see mass resistance by working class people to fight back, then now would be the time. Thankfully, we’ve begun to see glimpses of just that.
Last month, every day seemed to bring a new story of both depravity and resistance. Greta Thunberg and the crew of the Madleen Freedom Flotilla bravely faced off against the Israeli Defense Forces to break the siege on Gaza. That’s a siege that’s causing millions of Palestinians to face the daily choice of either slowly starving to death or risking Israeli attacks while lining up for what meagre aid gets let in. Just a few days later, thousands of activists marched on the Rafah border crossing in Egypt an attempt to lift the siege themselves. Their courageous efforts were rewarded with brutality as Egyptian leaders continued to side with Israel while aiding and abetting the genocide.
Then there’s the American front. Trump’s birthday was met by millions of people protesting against him all over the country in the enormous ‘No Kings’ demonstrations. The military parade he organised to celebrate himself and American military might was nothing short of an embarrassing failure as a handful of squeaky tanks rolled past empty spectator stands.
Perhaps most inspiring of all was the week-long riot in Los Angeles as protesters put their bodies on the line and fought back against the terrorising of migrant communities. For a few short but important days, ICE agents were prevented from harassing and deporting people in the streets and at their workplaces. Despite Trump’s attempts to scare the protesters by deploying thousands of national guard members and hundreds of active-duty marines, this only inspired people to come out in even greater numbers to take back their streets.
Throughout all of these stories there runs one important and essential lesson: it’s right to resist. When the world is being run by a bunch of rich parasites who couldn’t care less about the lives of any one of us, it’s right to resist. When the genocide in Gaza is allowed to go on with no consequences for the Israeli war machine, it’s right to resist. And when people like Donald Trump are wreaking havoc on the lives of millions of migrants, it’s right to resist.
If there’s anything we need more of in this world, it’s just that kind of resistance. Imagine for a moment how different things could be if it was millions of people marching on Rafah instead of thousands. Or if every city in America had mass protests against ICE. Imagine how much we could achieve if working class people all over the world were standing together to fight back against all of this.
It’s the working class that makes the world run, and when we refuse to be used, nothing can be done without us. French and Italian wharfies are demonstrating this power right now as they refuse to load or unload any ships linked to the Israeli war machine. In just a few short weeks those workers have done more to oppose the genocide than virtually any government in the western world.
We need a movement that can organise this kind of resistance on an even greater scale. A movement that sees the power of the working class and seeks to harness it to actually make the world a better place. Socialist politics are about trying to create just that kind of movement. We believe that the world should be run based on what’s good for regular people, not what makes a quick buck for the rich and powerful.
Written by Kaine Kennedy
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