By Siamak Raji
Dear friends and dear comrades,
The wars in Ukraine and Palestine reflect a rising global conflict—possibly the onset of World War III. Politically conscious workers must analyze their root causes through the proletarian, Marxist-Leninist mode of thinking. Understanding these deeper dynamics is crucial also for activists, democrats, and anti-fascists to build effective local strategies in an imperialist world system.
In Ukraine, the conflict is clear: NATO, driven by Western monopolies, has sought eastward expansion since the Soviet collapse—seen in the breakup of states like Yugoslavia, with Ukraine next in line. In response, a resurging imperialist Russia invaded to defend its interests before NATO advanced further. This is a clash between rival imperialist powers, East and West—while ordinary people bear the cost in lives, destruction, and war-funded taxes.
The war in Palestine is more complex. To understand it, we need to look at two phases: the original grassroots struggle of the Palestinian masses, which must be revived, and the later rise of Hamas and Islamic Jihad—backed by new imperialist powers—which must be opposed.
Given time limits, we’ll outline five key Marxist-Leninist points on the conflict. Each title points to deeper analysis, to be explored further. Together, they form a crucial framework for understanding the war.
1. In Defense of the Palestinian Liberation Struggle and Condemnation of Israel’s Imperialist Aggression in Gaza
The October 7, 2023 attack did not represent the ideals of the Palestinian liberation struggle— it was orchestrated by new imperialist powers like Iran to use Gaza as a front against Israel. The people of Gaza bore the full cost. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, backed by Iran, Turkey, and Qatar, serve foreign agendas rather than the Palestinian cause. Unlike true people’s struggles—like in Stalingrad or Kobane—the Gaza masses were left unarmed and exposed, while Islamic fighters stayed hidden, revealing a deep disconnect between these groups and the people.
On the other side, the Israeli fascist army claims it is only fighting Hamas. A clear lie! For them, the October 7 attack was a useful excuse to push forward their long-term plan of genocide expanding settlements to the east—something they were already doing even during so-called peace times.
The fact that Israeli forces are destroying homes, mosques, hospitals, and schools shows the true nature of their actions. These are not just military strikes—they are acts of fascist violence and genocide against the masses of Gaza. Let the entire bourgeois media cheer for the most brutal, fascist state ever—Marxist-Leninists have zero tolerance for fascism and refuse to side with any fascist power, no matter the banner it flies.
2. The True Background of the Gaza War – A War Against the Masses on Both Sides
The war in Gaza is not a religious conflict but a product of Israel’s Zionist-fascist agenda as an imperialist power backed by the US. and Europe, aiming to reshape the Middle East. Meanwhile, new imperialist powers like Iran, Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia seek their own influence, with Israel as their main regional rival. Hamas, backed by some of these powers, does not represent the Palestinian masses. As Marxist-Leninists, we see the October 7 attack not as true liberation, but as serving eastern imperialist ambitions. However, many have challenged the Marxist-Leninist view of Hamas or Islamic Jihad as fascist, arguing that tactical cooperation is possible despite differing strategic goals, among them all revisionist “communist parties” unanimously. Once again, Marxism-Leninism loudly declares: “there must be no cooperation with fascists, the mortal enemies of the working-class movement, neither tactically nor strategically.”
All fascist forces, including Hamas and the Israeli state, must be opposed. For those who remain optimistic, Hamas’s 1987 charter clearly states: “the last hour would not come until the Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them, and until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree…”. Specifically, for those petty-bourgeois leftists, the charter goes on to declare: “the communist East… they (the Jews) are behind the French revolution, the communist revolution, and most of the revolutions here and there which we have heard of”. That corresponds almost word by word to the fascist, antisemitic propaganda of the “Jewish-Bolshevik world conspiracy”.
There’s no need to reiterate that Hamas was originally supported by the Israeli state and the US. as a reactionary force against the PLO—this fact is well-documented and speaks for itself.
3. The Hypocrisy of the Bourgeois Mainstream in Dealing with the War on Palestine
The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid explicitly says: “the crime of apartheid…shall apply to the following…inhuman acts of committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them…”
The Israeli fascist state and army are clearly guilty of domination, systemic oppression, and inhumane acts. Save the Children reports more children were killed in Gaza in three weeks than in all other global conflicts over a year. Yet bourgeois media frame Israel’s brutality as self-defense, granting it false legitimacy. While Putin is condemned as a war criminal, Netanyahu is shielded by European imperialist states, revealing their double standards. Israel’s ruling elite uses Zionism to justify its imperialist agenda. It is worth mentioning that Zionism was rightly condemned by the UN in 1975 in Resolution 3379 as a form of racism and racial discrimination.
4. Israel’s Right of Existence
Marxism-Leninism supports the Jewish people’s unconditional right to a state, grounded in national self-determination. After the Holocaust, only the Soviet Union under Stalin pursued a genuinely socialist, solidarity-based foreign policy. At the UN, Foreign Minister Gromyko expressed this commitment to international friendship: “It would be unjustifiable to deny this right… to the Jewish people, particularly in view of all it has undergone during the second world war…neither the historic past nor the conditions prevailing in Palestine can justify any unilateral solution of the Palestine problem, either in favor of establishing an independent Arab state, without consideration for the legitimate rights of Jewish people, or in favor of the establishment of an independent Jewish state, while ignoring the legitimate rights of the Arab population.”
Despite the influence of revisionist and petty-bourgeois forces in the Palestine solidarity movement, the revolutionary Soviet Union was the first to recognize Israel. But as Israel came under Zionist control backed by the UK and USA, the USSR cut ties in 1953 in protest. Recognizing Israel’s existence does not mean endorsing Zionism, its imperialist policies, or its occupation.
5. Proletarian Internationalism: The Only Source of Solution!
“Workers of all countries, unite!” and “workers of all countries and all oppressed, Unite!” are the basic Marxist-Leninist guidelines also for the solution of the Palestine question. Class divisions, struggles, and trade union movements also exist within Israel. Despite the reactionary, fascist slogans of Hamas and Islamic Jihad—backed by Iran’s Islamic regime—we Marxist-Leninists support the class struggle inside Israel, viewing the Israeli proletariat as a vital component in resolving the Palestinian question.
Decades of Zionist influence have deeply affected the Israeli working class, but through patient persuasion and alliance-building, the guiding principle since Marx and Engels still applies: “A people that oppresses another cannot itself be free.” The liberation struggle in Israel must stand in solidarity with the oppressed in Palestine, just as the Palestinian movement must connect with the Israeli masses capable of toppling their own fascist rulers.
Global protests against Israel’s imperialist aggression are growing, with mass demonstrations worldwide—even within Israel. In anti-Netanyahu rallies there, Palestinian flags have been waved without hostility.
A socialist Palestine in which Israelis and Palestinians live together as equal is the strategic goal of the liberation struggle there. A democratic two-state solution based on the UN partition plan of 1947, with the evacuation of the occupied territories by Israel and withdrawal of the settler-occupiers, can be an intermediate stage if it is fought for with a socialist perspective. The forging of working-class unity between Israeli and Palestinian workers has a key role to play here.
As history shows, only through self-reliance and international solidarity—rooted in proletarian internationalism—can we overcome exploitation and war, and pave the way for a truly socialist future.
May, 2025
*The current pamphlet is partly based on the brochure “Fight against the threatening conflagration in the Middle East – What Is the Perspective of the Palestinian Liberation Struggle?”, written by Monika Gärtner-Engel, Gabi Fechtner, Reinhard Funk, Published by Verlag Neuer Weg, February 2024.