Tony Blair in Step with George W Bush, Out of Step with the Demands of Humanity

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Tony Blair in Step with George W Bush, Out of Step with the Demands of Humanity

End Israel's Criminal Occupation of Palestine Now!

Women Demonstrate at Israeli Embassy in London

After meeting with Tony Blair, US President Bush said on Saturday that Israel had to withdraw its troops from the West Bank "without delay". Speaking at a press conference in Texas alongside Tony Blair, Bush reaffirmed the US and British commitment "to a just settlement" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The president also insisted that the Palestinian leadership order an immediate cease-fire and crack down on "terrorist activity".

George W Bush said that he and Tony Blair agreed what each side must do, while Tony Blair emphasised that the people of Israel do not have two greater friends in the world than the United States of America and Britain. "We both understand, as well, the appalling nature of the acts of terrorism that they have been subject to," he said. Despite Bush’s demand that Israel withdraw from Palestinian areas as a precursor to a truce, the Israeli attacks have been stepped up, fighting has spread and the number deaths in both the West Bank and Gaza has continued to increase. Thus, the world can see the hollowness of the Anglo-US demands that Israel withdraw, and can see just what these leaders mean by a "just settlement".

What neither Bush nor Blair understand, or will acknowledge, is that the Palestinian people are fighting for their very existence. Nor do they understand, or acknowledge, that they stand condemned in the eyes of humanity for standing behind and attempting to justify the politics of collective punishment, assassination, state terror, and provocation of Israeli Zionism. They have meddled and intervened for so long to prevent a solution in the Middle East by the expedient of acting as the "peace-brokers" that they are incapable of acknowledging that the violence and terror in the region has a cause, and that justice lies with the long-suffering Palestinian people who are fighting for their national rights and against inhuman treatment.

It is criminal in the extreme to label the just struggle of the Palestinian people as "terrorism" and the repression from the Israel state and the butcher Sharon as being in "self-defence". This criminality has stemmed from the declaration of Blair and Bush on September 11 that "mass terrorism" had to be exterminated, while stepping up the Anglo-US policy of state terrorism, aggression and war as the means. So far from acting as friends of any people, Tony Blair in not only refusing to take steps to stop the warmongering of Ariel Sharon has shown himself to be the enemy of justice and the people in slyly focusing on the "acts of terrorism" to condemn the Palestinian Intifada.

Regarding Iraq, President Bush said that he explained to Tony Blair that the "policy of my government is the removal" of leader Saddam Hussein and that all options are on the table. Tony Blair without shame then told reporters, "It has always been our policy that Iraq would be better without Saddam Hussein. How we now proceed in this situation ... that is a matter that is open for discussions." George Bush added: "We support regime change." Tony Blair, asked if he had been convinced by the president that military action should be taken against Saddam, said: "This is a matter for international discussion. This is a matter for considering all the options."

So this is the outcome of all the demands that Tony Blair make it clear to Bush that a military attack against Iraq is not acceptable. Tony Blair has confirmed himself as the chief ideologue and diplomat of US imperialism, the lapdog of George W. Bush and the betrayer of the working class and people of Britain, who are demanding an end to the so-called "war on terrorism" and a just and peaceful solution to the critical problems that the world faces.

It is hardly for nothing that Bush also took time out on Saturday to thank Tony Blair for his staunch support of the United States in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the subsequent contribution of British troops to combat in Afghanistan. "No nation has been stronger in fighting global terrorism than Great Britain," Bush told reporters.

Indeed, in the wake of his talks with Bush, Tony Blair more than ever became his mouthpiece, and openly threatened military action to topple Saddam Hussein, calling his a "brutal" regime. Who can now believe Tony Blair’s justifications when he proclaims: "We must be prepared to act where terrorism or weapons of mass destruction threaten us. The fight against international terrorism is right. We should pursue it vigorously, not just in Afghanistan but elsewhere... Since September 11 the action has been considerable, in many countries, but there should be no let up. If necessary the action should be military and again, if necessary and justified, it should involve regime change."

Tony Blair said the international community could not intervene in all cases "but where countries are engaged in the terror or weapons of mass destruction business, we should not shirk from confronting them". Like the British government has not shrunk from confronting Israeli terror or their weapons of mass destruction, one would presume.

Not only has no good come from the Bush-Blair summit, but Tony Blair has emerged from it more firmly wedded than ever, it appears, to following George Bush down the road of the "New World Order" which has caused and is set to cause even more suffering to the world’s people and the trampling of their just causes. The time for the working class and people to seize the initiative is now, to take a decisive stand against the course that Tony Blair is set on, and affirm that it is the cause of the working class and people which is the cause of justice and that is the future of humanity.

Workers’ Weekly on Saturday, April 6, carried a lead article with the above headline. The article pointed out that the Palestinian people are heroically resisting the Israeli Zionist occupation of their homeland and the genocidal aggression being committed by the US-backed Israeli state. The Palestinians are fighting for their national liberation, their very existence as a people.

"International reaction led by the US, and with the backing of the British government, is attempting to sanction Israel's occupation of Palestine and its state terrorism by appealing to ‘both sides’ to end the violence," the lead article pointed out. The article later stated, "The Palestinian leadership has systematically pursued the goal of the Palestinian people for their own state and restoration of their rights and the Palestinian people have persisted in their Intifada. Yes, the Palestinian people want an end to all violence, but the peace which will be achieved is, as Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority insist, is the peace of the brave."

The lead article condemned the stand of the Foreign Secretary and the British government that the issue is "to take the initiative away from extremists", which is to take the onus off the Israeli state for its criminal aggression, and instead to call for "restraint to be shown on both sides". The British working class and people can have no truck with this whitewashing of Israeli aggression and occupation, with its sly implication that the problem is in fact the Palestinian Authority, and that the resistance of the Palestinian people is a "terrorist act".

The article concluded that "It is becoming ever more urgent that the British working class and all justice-loving people in this country make every effort to raise their voice in support of the just cause of the Palestinian people. The Middle East is in flames, but the victims are the Palestinian people and with them all peoples struggling for their national and social liberation. This situation must be turned around and this will be done by together the peoples upholding the right of liberation, and in particular the just cause of the Palestinian people."

Women activists from over 60 countries gathered on Friday, April 5, outside the Israeli Embassy to show solidarity with women facing human rights violations in Israel, Palestine and the Occupied Territories.

They carried black flags to symbolise the responsibility of each person to stand up against actions which breach international humanitarian and human rights law.

A delegation handed over a petition demanding that any political solution include measures to protect human rights. They condemned the Israeli occupation which has deprived the Palestinian population of electricity, water and medical care for days, and has led to diminishing stocks of food. In addition the demonstrators called for international observers to be sent to the Occupied Territories urgently.

At a protest numbering 600 outside the US Embassy in Israel on Thursday, April 4, six Palestinian citizens of Israel were severely beaten by Israeli police and Special Forces. Two of the injured were arrested, along with four others. The arrested injured protesters were denied medical treatment. Around 20 more were moderately injured. They did not request medical treatment, fearing their names would be handed over to the police.

The events appear to be a clear repeat of those of October 2000, when 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli security forces and other Israeli-Jewish citizens.

The US Embassy further provoked the situation by attempting to search the Palestinian Knesset members and local Palestinian leaders who formed a delegation to meet the US Ambassador and express their outrage at the US’s open support for Israel’s illegal occupation of the 1967 Palestinian territories, and their silence regarding Israel’s open assault on civilians and international volunteers.

Towards the end of the protest, police were seen laughing and recounting how they beat up demonstrators. At around 3:30, a group of pro-Sharon supporters gathered on the other side of the road facing the demonstrators, inciting them. Police re-aligned themselves facing the demonstrators, defending the pro-Sharon supporters.