Sam Williams: Palestine

Sam Williams discusses Palestine

This brings us to another reason: imperialism needs to keep anti-Semitism alive after the Holocaust. Israel claims to be the state of the entire Jewish people whether they live in Israel or not, enabling U.S. imperialism to direct the hatred Israel inevitably creates among the Palestinians, other Arabs, as well as peoples throughout the world toward Jews as a whole. This directs that hate away from U.S. imperialism, keeping anti-Semitism alive after the Holocaust. It is, therefore, impossible to fight against anti-Semitism without at the same time fighting against Zionism.

Israel claims to represent the entire Jewish people. If it’s allowed by Genocide Joe to carry out a full-scale genocide against the Palestinian people, all Jewish people will be blamed for it. This makes possible a full-scale revival of Nazi-style anti-Semitism that argues that Hitler was correct about the need to exterminate all Jews. Whether or not they realize it, every Jewish person has a vital stake in the fight to halt the current Palestinian Holocaust being carried out in the name of all Jewish people. It’s a matter of life and death today for the Palestinians but tomorrow for the Jews.

Emphasis Mine

The Israeli government and ruling class needs anti-Semitism to justify the existence of the State of Israel. If anti-Semitism were to be eliminated, then there is no justification for the State of Israel. However, the need for the State of Israel will still remain as an outpost of US imperialism to forestall Arab unity.

This is why the supporters of Israel are eagar to find anti-Semitism everywhere. They need that justification for the existence of Israel. Without that justification, the real aims of US imperialism would be exposed.

The State of Israel needs to subsumed into a free and secular State of Palestine. This state should be able to wlecome back all Palestinian refugees and their descendents.

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Sam Williams: The Crisis (Pt 10)

Sam Williams writes about the demands to abolish or defund the police in The Crisis (Pt 10).

But the real significance of the demand to abolish the police is that, even at this early stage, the incipient U.S. revolution cannot but begin to realize that the state consists of a body of armed men, and now some women, plus material extensions such as prisons. The state exists to defend capitalist private property in the means of production. It cannot be reformed. It must be smashed and replaced by an entirely new system of “public safety.” All this is in line with the writings of Marx, Engels and Lenin on the state.

The demand to abolish or “de-fund” the police is being raised not because the demonstrators have read the Marxist classics — very few have — but because their practical experience in what is, in essence, a class struggle points in the direction of getting rid of — not reforming — the police. Since the May 25 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, which was duly recorded on cell phone video, anti-racist demonstrators have put the demand to abolish the police into the mainstream of political discussion in the U.S. for the first time.

Emphasis Mine

The interesting thing is that a class demand ("Abolish the police") arose naturally without being consciously informed by Marxist-Leninist theory. However, this demand cannot be developed beyond this stage without being informed by theory.

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Sam Williams: The Crisis (Pt 9)

Sam Williams describes The Crisis (Pt 9).

But the dangers of what Roubini calls “populism,” by which he essentially means fascism, are very real. The danger of fascism will grow if the current demonstrations and rebellions don’t lead to a rapid revival of the workers’ movement, not only in the trade union sense but above all in the political sense. If the workers’ movement revives, it will open the door to the resolution of the current ecological-biological, economic, and political crises in the form of the U.S. and global socialist revolution. This is not, however, an outcome that Mr. Roubini particularly relishes. Instead, he hopes for a solution that will somehow revive capitalism without fascism and war.

Emphasis Mine

The danger in the USA is that Trump loses control of his base of lumpen-proletariat and petite-bourgeoisie classes. This would open the door to a more Fascist leader. Trump is an opportunist. Some say he is a Bonapartist except that he does not unify the nation.

Already, I am seeing videos on Youtube decrying the surrender of the state to the BLM protestors with the modest reforms being proposed. These reactionaries are most affronted by footage of police kneeling with protestors. The reactionaries call this act kow-towing. They are outraged. They do not see the inherent meaninglessness of the act.

And, most dangerously of all, there are fantasists putting out videos of them saying that they have turned back busloads of Antifia activists from pillaging and burning their communities. No actual footage of this is provided. These fantasists are fuelling the propaganda on the Right.

However, no-one is blaming Trump for the failure to reign in the current insurrection. Whereas in the UK, people are blaming the Conservatives for the failure to do so. This may account for the renewed urgency on Brexit negotiations.

Will opines further:

This is why the current rebellion sweeping the United States of America, still by far the most powerful imperialist country in the world, is so important. Will this rebellion be a herald of a movement towards the socialist transformation of the United States and the world, or will it end in a new, if brief, stabilization of American and world capitalism such as Roubini is hoping for in the 2030s? If something like this were to occur, it would very likely be but a prelude to the final collapse of our civilization. And this as far as capitalism is concerned is the very best case.

Emphasis Mine

Yes, there is economic and ecological instability within Capitalism, but there is no political instability as the overwhelming majority is still in favour of Capitalism. At this stage, some minor political realignment may occur.

My main fear is with the possible rise of right-wing paramilitaries who see themselves as replacing the police in quelling the insurrection as in the case of the Freikorps.

By unknown photograther - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/3053216221_576264dcf2.jpg, Public Domain, Link

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