The settlements are the reason f

The settlements are the reason for the diplomatic impasse

Resolutions of the 13th session of the Central Committee of the CP Israel

Central Committee of the CP Israel

November 2010

http://www.maki.org.il/en/english-mainmenu-106


The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) holds the Netanyahu-Barak-Lieberman government and the Obama Administration, which supports it in full, wholly responsible for the diplomatic impasse in the region and for the danger of another war.

The CPI once again emphasizes that any progress towards a peace accord will require a halt in settlement construction, including in East Jerusalem, and that such an accord itself requires the evacuation of all settlements built in the Territories occupied in June 1967. The brave stance of Israeli artists and intellectuals, who demand that Ariel be treated as what it is – an illegal settlement – and therefore refuse to perform there, is an important contribution to the vital campaign for the political de-legitimization of the settlements.

The Central Committee observes the difficulties faced by the Obama Administration in shoring up the forces of reaction in Lebanon. But these difficulties may lead the Americans to attempt to achieve their aims by giving the go-ahead for another war initiated by Netanyahu's government against Lebanon.

The Central Committee is also concerned by the disastrous consequences of a war started by Israel against Lebanon or Iran for the peoples of the area and the citizens of Israel.

The Central Committee is also concerned that the Israeli establishment may exploit the state of war to carry out ethnic cleansing against the Arab citizens; similarly, it is worried about the attempts to exploit the Arab population of Israel and endanger its future in its homeland in the service of forces outside Israel.

Against the escalating attacks on the democratic sphere

The thousands who turned out in Tel-Aviv on 16 Oct. 2010 to demonstrate against the fascist bill which would make a declaration of fidelity to the state a condition for citizenship, among whom were many students and youth, constituted an important show of force by Israelis in support democracy and equality and in opposition to the herd mentality which is making advances in Israeli society.

Strengthened by the success of the rally and by the extension of democratic activities in various areas, the Central Committee of the CPI calls for unity amongst all lovers of democracy, Jews and Arabs, whatever their worldview, in the struggle against the destruction of freedom of speech; against the dictation of a nationalist agenda in educational and cultural matters; against the demolition of homes in Arab localities and the dispossession of the Bedouins in the Negev; for an end to the racist campaign against Arab students in Safed; and for blocking all racist and fascist legislation in the Knesset.

 Natural resources belong to the citizens

The campaign which has been underway in Israel for the past year, for enlarging the part of the state in the profits expected from gas explorations off the Israeli shore, has produced the interim report of the committee appointed by the Minister of Finance and headed by Prof. Shishinsky. The CPI contends that this report is too considerate of gas barons; both Israeli (the billionaire Tshuva) and American (Nobel Energy), in its recommendation that they begin paying an enlarged tax only after their profits cover 150% of investment costs. But by recommending that the tax be eventually enlarged to 66% of profit, the report has enraged the gas barons and their friends in the government.

The Central Committee of the CPI calls for a complete repudiation of the gas tycoons' threats to stop drilling. The correct response to any such attempt would be to recall the ownership of the gas fields to the state and to produce gas through a state company. The Central Committee also calls for the creation of a public fund, to which the income from gas profits will be channelled, and which will serve for long-term projects in the fields of education, housing, health and the environment.

 For the extension of class-oriented, socialist education

The Central Committee, in its 13th session, discussed socialism in the 21st century and the lessons and meanings of the ongoing crisis of capitalism.

The Central Committee decided to make socialism in the 21st century a central theme of the CPI's 26th Congress, which will take place in 2011. The Central Committee and local organs will initiate and carry out discussions on this topic while developing the class point of view as a starting point for all social and political analyses and the Jewish-Arab unity of the party.