Israeli Warplane Shot Down over Syria
Stop the Israeli aggression! In any conflict between imperialist Israel and Syria, Iran or Hezbollah: Defeat Israel! Continue to support the Syrian Revolution! Victory for the Palestinian Liberation Struggle!
Joint Statement of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) and the Internationalist Socialist League (Israel / Occupied Palestine), 11.02.2018, www.thecommunists.net and http://the-isleague.com/
1. Yesterday an Israeli warplane was shot down during an Israeli attack on Syria. The Israeli army claims that it launched "large-scale" attacks inside Syria after intercepting what it said was an Iranian drone and the subsequent downing of an Israeli fighter jet, which crashed after it came under fire from Syrian air defense forces. The Iranian government denies that it had launched a drone. Unsurprisingly U.S. imperialism declares its full support for Israel. At the same time Russia's foreign ministry "urges all parties involved to exercise restraint and to avoid any actions that could lead to an even greater complication of the situation".
2. For us it is not relevant if Iranian forces launched a drone or not and who fired the first shot. The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) and its section in Occupied Palestine / Israel call all socialists and supporters of the liberation struggle to take a clear and consistent position in such a conflict: In any confrontation between imperialist Israel and forces representing semi-colonial countries (like Iran, Syria or Lebanon), we stand for the military defeat of Israel and the military victory of the latter.
3. Such a position does not imply any political support for the Assad regime, the Iranian regime or Hezbollah’s leadership. Quite the opposite, the RCIT supports the popular uprising against the Assad tyranny since the very first day and is continuing to do so. Likewise we supported the mass protests of the Iranian people against the Rouhani/Khamenei regime which took place a few weeks ago.
4. However, we take into account that any confrontation between Israel and Iran, Syria or Lebanon is not about the fate of the Syrian Revolution. In fact, the past years have demonstrated that Israel’s ruling class prefers to deal with the Assad regime than to face a victorious uprising of the Syrian people. A confrontation between the Israeli army and Iran, Syria or Lebanon is about the status of Israel – an arch-reactionary imperialist and racist settler state built on the expulsion of the Palestinian people – in the Middle East. In such a confrontation we support those forces which could help to weaken Israel.
5. The only theoretical exception would be a situation where Iran, Syria or Lebanon acts as proxies for Russian imperialism. In such a situation we would take a defeatist position on both sides. However, while Iran and Assad are allies of Moscow there are currently no indications that in this conflict they are acting as Russia’s proxies.
6. The RCIT repeats its call to all socialists and supporters of the liberation struggle to continue supporting the Syrian Revolution which is currently facing incredible awful conditions. Assad killer gangs and their Iranian and Russian masters are continuously bombing and massacring the Syrian people in Idlib and East Ghouta.
7. Likewise we call all socialists to redouble their solidarity with the just liberation struggle of the Palestinian people. We support the calls for a Third Intifada. In case of another Israeli attack against Gaza we will take the same position as we did in 2009, 2102 and 2014: Defend Gaza – Defeat Israel!
8. These tactics in possible conflicts in the coming weeks are an integral component of our program of permanent revolution in the Middle East and North Africa. We stand for the abolition of the Apartheid state Israel and for a free and red Palestine, for workers and peasant governments in the whole region and a socialist federation.