The fight against Jew-hatred is a key question everywhere. It will be decisive to all working-class battles today against the brutal consequences for humanity of imperialism in decline.
That’s why working people everywhere should join actions marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ deadly anti-Jewish pogrom Oct. 7. This is an opportunity to join in solidarity with those facing growing Jew-hatred today. Invite your co-workers, fellow union members, neighbors, friends and relatives to participate too. Bring your own signs.
These should not be seen as “Jewish” actions, or as support to the capitalist government in Israel, but as broad meetings against Jew-hatred, in defense of Israel’s right to defend itself as a refuge for Jews, and to demand Hamas unconditionally and immediately release all the hostages it still holds in Gaza.
The murder of 1,200 people just because they are Jewish or because they work with Jews, the taking of hostages, and the rape and mutilation of women — and men — has nothing to do with the rights of Palestinians. Hamas, Hezbollah and the entire Tehran-led “axis of resistance” are among the biggest obstacles Jewish, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim workers and farmers face in coming together to advance their own class interests.
Opponents of Jew-hatred have often carried signs saying “Rape is not resistance.” And they are right. Most working people feel revulsion for what Hamas carried out Oct. 7 — financed, armed and facilitated by the reactionary capitalist regime in Iran.
Those who call themselves “socialists” who champion Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Tehran will easily find themselves in the ranks of fascist thugs in the future. Many of them are already acting like Nazis. Just look at the video of Hamas apologists blocking the entrance of a New York Kosher restaurant and threatening Jewish students from Baruch College trying to meet for a back-to-school brunch.
As the crisis of capitalism deepens, the bosses will turn to reactionary forces who scapegoat Jews for all the problems facing humanity. They will win a hearing among middle-class layers being pushed into the ranks of the working class. They will target the unions, as Hitler did on the road to power. They will use Jew-hatred to try to divert working people from the real source of their problems — dog-eat-dog capitalism.
Jews are just 0.2% of the world’s population. The words of revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky in 1938 still ring true today: “Now more than ever, the fate of the Jewish people — not only their political but also their physical fate — is indissolubly linked with the emancipating struggle of the international proletariat.”
The reverse is also true. Combating Jew-hatred is essential for the future of the labor movement.
See you Oct. 7!