People's Democracy

Resolution Adopted at the 19th congress on April 2, 2008

THIS 19th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) condemns Israel�s continued occupation of Palestinian territories in complete violation of international law and several United Nations resolutions. The brutal siege of Gaza, denying its people even food and medicine, once again shows that Israel is a serial offender against human rights. The West Bank is now broken up into small cantons separated from each other by settler-only roads and many checkpoints. Gaza has become a massive prison, where targeted assassinations, military attacks and the denial of basic necessities make up the daily routine.

The Annapolis �peace process� has now been exposed as an attempt to legitimise Israel�s annexation of parts of Palestine and its conversion of the rest into economically and socially unviable fragments. It is unfortunate that US-Israeli policies aimed at splitting the Palestinian resistance have partially succeeded. Hamas, Fatah and all other groups need get over their differences and come together on a united platform of resistance to US-Israeli policies in the region.

The Indian people have always supported the Palestinian cause and opposed the illegal occupation of Palestine. India was among the first non-Arab nations to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974, and the first non-Arab country to recognize Palestine as an independent state in 1988. India has always opposed the continued illegal occupation of West Bank and Gaza.

While this remains the official position of the Government of India, India has also built close security and military ties with Israel, first under the BJP-led NDA Government and subsequently under the UPA Government. India is now Israel�s largest customer in the arms market, one that buys more than even the Israeli armed forces. India has launched a spy satellite for Israel to gather intelligence on Iran and Syria and also to pinpoint possible targets in Gaza. India's joint research with Israel on missiles and drones must be seen against the background of the targeted assassinations that Israel routinely carries out using such drones. This is in blatant contradiction to India�s avowed policy of support to the Palestinian cause. It also damages India�s relations with other countries in the region.

Peace in West Asia is vital to the South Asian region as well, and Palestine is the focus of the West Asian conflict. The international community has done little to address the repeated and systematic violation of international law by Israel with the blessings of its patron, the United States. There is an urgent need to build a global solidarity movement to support and help the Palestinian cause.

The 19th congress calls upon the government of India to express its support to the Palestinian cause by breaking its military and security ties with Israel as long as that country occupies Palestinian land. Security and peace in the region can only be achieved by putting an end to the Israeli occupation, evacuating all Israeli settlements, establishing an independent Palestinian state and implementing the refugees' right to return according to UN resolution 194 of 1948. Only a negotiated peace along these lines can help resolve the problem, not the continuing spiral of violence that Israel is imposing on its occupied territories.

The 19th congress demands the following:

• An end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and all other occupied territories

• Immediate lifting of the inhuman siege of Gaza

• Implementation of the Right of Return for all Palestinians

• Dismantlement of the Apartheid Wall and all illegal settlements on the West Bank

• Release of all Palestinian political prisoners

• The dismantling of the apartheid regime in Israel, which denies basic rights to its Arab population

• The immediate severing of India�s military and security ties with Israel

• The 19th congress appeals to the Indian people to join the growing international mobilisation on Palestine. The Congress pledges to build a strong anti-imperialist movement in support of the Palestinian people.