Abou Hatem, Palestine Liberation Organization

Abou Hatem

Deputy Head,

Political Department, Executive Committee,

Palestine Liberation Organization

Member, Palestine National Council

Comrades and Friends,

It gives me pleasure to express deep gratitude and high appreciation to the Socialist Unity Patty of Germany and its General Secretary, the esteemed comrade Erich Honecker, on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization, for inviting us to attend this important conference. Thank you for making such a great effort in organizing this conference, and for the hospitality and cordial reception given us since our arrival in this friendly socialist country. The German Democratic Republic and the other states of the socialist community headed by the friendly Soviet Union, have always sided with the just struggle of our Arab-Palestinian people.

Proceeding from the unshakeable principles of Marxism-Leninism which govern the policies of the socialist community, and from the principles of anti-imperialist and internationalist solidarity directed against reaction and Zionism, they have given us und our revolution every kind of material and moral help and support.

In their tireless struggle for their inalienable and legitimate national rights our Palestinian people have also received every kind of help and support =the entire international liberation movement and the progressive, democratic, anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist forces all over the world. Our battle against Zionism and US imperialism is not a local one but part of our joint struggle for eliminating colonialism and imperialism and all forms of racism and apartheid, for building a new world where an end has been put forever to enslavement and exploitation, both national and class exploitation.

Today, my dear comrades, we commemorate the centenary of the death of Karl Marx, the eminent philosopher, scholar and revolutionary who is doubtlessly one of the greatest sons of mankind and in the history of the German people. When we commemorate the anniversary of Marx’s death we are not just honouring a person. More than that, the occasion is being used by the communist and proletarian forces, the communist and workers’ parties and the parties and movements struggling for national liberation to get together and discuss the problems and questions confronting them. As you know, these are many, and they are serious. This is also an opportunity to exchange experiences between the world’s three revolutionary mainstreams—the communist movement, the working-class movement in the capitalist countries and the national liberation movements in the colonially suppressed and developing nations. These have been gained in the historic struggle for liberation from capitalism and from the international system of imperialist domination which is the basis for misery and exploitation, plunders the wealth of the peoples and is jeopardizing their current and future destinies.

This anniversary gives the forces of the international revolutionary movement cause to draw even closer together and fill the gaps which have been made in their ranks while fighting the enemies of world revolution—imperialism, Zionism and reaction. This is all the more necessary at a time when imperialism is aggravating international tension and has launched an all-out attack on the socialist countries. This major offensive can now be seen in the senseless US arms drive with the aim of upsetting the international balance of forces. Imperialism has reinforced its military presence in various regions of the developing countries and has given “Israel”, that Zionist creation, a free hand to crush the forces of the Arab national liberation movement and to politically and physically exterminate the Arab-Palestinian people inside and outside the occupied territories. It is doing everything to sow the seeds of discord in the ranks of the liberation movements and is even reaching for some socialist countries in order to reverse the historic achievements gained in building the new order. Imperialism has driven the developing nations to the brink of ruin, has used economic pressure on the largest possible scale and has employed all the mechanisms of the capitalist world market to bring the peoples and movements fighting for their liberation back to their knees. What better tribute to can we pay to the legacy of Marx than to use this commemoration to discuss the status and outlook of the world revolution, that revolution to which he devoted his life, thought and work.

Comrades,

Our epoch differs in many ways from the lifetime of Marx. At that time capitalism had not yet entered its imperialist stage of development. The national liberation movements had not yet become the international force they are today. There was not a single country then with a socialist system. Zionism had not yet taken shape as a policy and practice and assumed a form where groups of people or political factions from the capitalist metropolis set out for a dependent country, Palestine, in order to occupy and settle it and make it an outpost of the capitalist world system in the Arab region and in the whole world.

During the lifetime of Marx the European working class was the main force of the world revolution. Today, on the other hand, this revolution is carried by a variety of forces, however different in importance. Their vanguard is the socialist camp, followed by the national liberation movement which is increasingly assuming anti-capitalist dimensions with a socialist orientation, and by the working-class movement in the West.

We all know Lenin’s theoretical and practical contribution which enriched theory of scientific socialism thus expressing the new reality of the era. But in the meantime, imperialism has acquired new characteristics beyond those described by Lenin at the beginning of this century. It is no longer based primarily on the export of capital to the dependent countries but has also begun to import capital from these countries. It is sufficient to realize where petrodollars are going to become aware of the dangers involved in this new development. In addition, imperialism has developed new mechanisms of plunder and destruction. It has been trying for many years to spread capitalist market relations to all of the Third World and wants to extend them to the world at large. It seeks to foil all attempts being made to embark on a course which would bring social life into line with the interests of the poor and oppressed classes of the people. In addition, imperialism and especially US imperialism is covering various parts of the globe with a network of military bases. Official regulations and laws declare one region of the world or another vital to the security of the US and even make it part of the country’s national security.

Mention should be made in this connection of Directive 20 issued by President Carter in 1978 which made the Middle East, i.e. the Arab world, an element of the national security of the US. This was the starting point for setting up the Rapid Deployment Force, with the aim of protecting the region from an alleged communist threat and in order to crush the Palestinian revolution and curb the Arab liberation movement.

The policy of the arms race and against detente pursued by the US and its plan to wage a limited nuclear war against the Soviet Union and the socialist countries are all dangerous signs of how imperialism is operating in the international arena. They make it clear that imperialism is trying to achieve and perpetuate world domination for the capitalist system through force and aggression.

This must be cause for us to find coordinated and effective methods of dealing with this phase in the crisis of imperialism which is characterized by the attempt to reverse the course of history to a stage where it still dominated the entire world.

Peace under conditions of justice for all small and large peoples the world over is an integral part of world peace which must be defended with all our might. It can be achieved only by smashing the positions and forces of imperialism on the international scale. This, in turn, can be achieved only by increasing the capacity of socialism to defend itself from imperialist aggressiveness and by an acceleration of the revolution in the Third World, a revolution which must be given constant support.

In conclusion, comrades and friends, let me touch on a problem which to us is crucial: the Palestine problem and Zionism.

You know that Zionism arose at the end of the last century as a movement which, from the very outset, was in the service of imperialism. Its leaders had close links with various leaders of imperialist countries who were seeking a colonial base which would ensure their further presence and the exploitation and plundering of the wealth of this strategically important world region.

Herzl, the founder of Zionism, made no secret of the aims of his movement and in his memoirs wrote that the Jewish state was to be a guardian of Western interests against Asian barbarism, a protector of the Suez Canal. He said that he would keep the young Jewish generation away from socialism and its destructive concepts. In 1917 he succeeded, through Balfour, in getting a British promise which would make it possible for the Jews to set up a national home in Palestine and since then Zionism has been allied to the British empire and acted in its service. I trust that you also know the role played by Zionism against the Bolshevik revolution, and Lenin’s assessment of the Zionist movement as expressing the interests of the Jewish bug bourgeoisie and as a reactionary movement directed against progress and socialism. This movement, which always saw itself as a part of imperialism, did not hesitate, after setting up its entity in Palestine with the aid of British imperialism, to ally itself with the new imperialist power, the United States of America, during the Second World War. After the Suez War of 1956 this alliance became ever more comprehensive and reached the stage of strategic cooperation at the end of the 1970s, of which Begin himself says that it is directed against the Soviet Union and the socialist countries. I need not, dear comrades, remind you of the violations of international law and all the laws and norms by which apply to human society and international relations perpetrated by “Israel”, the Zionist creation. Israel trampled underfoot the right of the Palestinian people to their soil and drove them from their homeland by force. The Zionist gangs including one led by Menachem Begin, killed thousands of children, women and old men and staged the massacres of Deir Yassin, Kafr Qasem, Sabra and Chatila. The Zionists devastated the historic sites of Palestine, levelled hundreds of villages and towns to the ground and destroyed everything which reminded the Palestinian people of their national identity and legacy. The destructive activities of Zionism and imperialism even went beyond the borders of Palestine. Israel engineered assaults on Arab countries beginning in 1956 and ending with the invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Today it is preparing a new attack against Syria and the Palestinian resistance movement with the all-out support of US imperialism.

This racist and reactionary movement which established a racist and reactionary state, seeks to dominate the Arab nation, to occupy its territories and to crush its liberation movement. In addition, it is not only a constant threat to peace and international security but, with the aid of the US is seeking to establish the closest possible ties with the like-minded racist regime in South Africa and the fascist regimes in Latin America in order to deal a blow to the liberation movement all over the world. A state with such a history is reminiscent of what Marx said about the outposts which play a reactionary role in world history because they are only tools in the hands of more powerful reactionary forces and are used by the latter in order to strangle the revolution. “Israel” is such a state, outpost of a stronger power, of world imperialism in general and of US imperialism in particular. It gets annual financial support to the tune of 2,500 million dollars from US imperialism, the most sophisticated weapons and equipment from its arsenals and is looked upon, in the words of President Eisenhower, as the “world’s cheapest aircraft carrier."

This fascist state is now poisoning thousands of Palestinian boys and girls. It is making plans to drive out those who have stayed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It openly declares its affiliation to the West and to imperialism and regards itself as a strategic tool in the service of imperialist interests.

We demand that this Zionist creation be met with an attitude which is in line with Marx’s words concerning outposts. We appeal for increased aid to our Palestinian people and our Arab nation so that the danger looming over them can be averted.

Let me emphasize here our full agreement with the analysis of the current situation in Lebanon and the Arab region given by comrade Georges Haoui, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lebanese Communist Party.¹ This region is experiencing a perfidious attack on the part of US imperialism, Israeli Zionism and reaction, from the aggression in Lebanon to such projects of liquidation as the Reagan plan which has been opposed by our Palestinian people and our National Council, and all other designs which aim to get rid of the Palestinian question with political means after massacres and action have failed to do so.

Comrades,

On the occasion of the centenary of Marx’s death we call on all detachments the world revolution to adopt an even more resolute attitude toward Israel, Zionism and the plans of US imperialism and its puppets in our region. We are convinced that Marx himself, were he alive today, would have taken a very clear stance. We also call for the greatest possible unity of all contingents of the revolutionary world movement, both in the struggle against imperialism the fight to advance on the road to social liberation. We consider the work and writings of Marx an essential source of enrichment for human thought and an efficient element in liberating people from national suppression and class exploitation.

We are convinced that our Palestinian people, guided by the Palestine Liberation Organization, its sole legitimate representative, has its place in the world revolutionary process where it is playing an exceptionally active role, guided, as many other peoples, by the legacy, thought and view of Marx. That legacy has become the common property of mankind in the struggle for a world of equal rights, justice, freedom, progress and national independence. Marx outlined the essence and features of such a world which is benefitting daily from the courageous action and self-sacrificing struggles of the peoples and revolutionary classes who are imbued with the great principles inseparably linked with Karl Marx, the eminent revolutionary teacher of all mankind.

Thank you.