IWW's International Solidarity Commission Statement on the Isreali Attack on the Mavi Marmaris
Submitted on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 8:38pm
The International Solidarity Commission (ISC) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a global union dedicated to revolutionary social change and workers self-management, is shocked and appalled by Israeli forces’ attack this morning on the lead ship of a humanitarian aid convoy, the Turkish vessel “Mavi Marmaris”, killing at least ten people.
The ISC holds the Israeli authorities entirely responsible for the provocative storming of the ship, and condemns the harm caused to the civilians on board, who included peace activists and parliamentarians from many different countries.
The ISC supports any efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, who have been suffering the effects of the Israeli blockade since 2007, a suffering greatly intensified by the massacre of Dec 2008-Jan 2009. We salute the brave human rights activists attempting to deliver aid to the people of Gaza, including the crew and passengers on the MV Rachel Corrie, en route to Gaza.
The blockade is a clear assault on the working class of Gaza, and the ISC supports any efforts by the nonviolent International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza to break the blockade and deliver much-needed supplies to the people of Gaza.
The IWW has a long history of opposing imperialist wars. We as workers have often been used as cannon fodder for our imperialist masters, and these imperialist wars have been used to justify state repression of the IWW specifically and the working class in general. But, we also recognize that there can be no true and just peace as long as exploitation continues and people are victimized by systems of oppression such as capitalism, colonialism and apartheid.
The only way to achieve a true peace in Palestine/Israel is for these systems of oppression to be dismantled.
To help achieve those ends, the ISC reiterates our support the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions campaign called by various Palestinian labor unions and civil society organizations. The ISC urges all unionists and IWW members to educate themselves and become active in the campaign.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
The International Solidarity Commission of the IWW