Statement from Plaid Gomiwnyddol Cymru / the Communist Party of Wales

October – 2024

Today marks 1 year since the 7th of October, the day Operation Al-Aqsa Flood began. We want to label it what it is, a popular uprising, supported by the Palestinian people, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in the refugee camps, in Zionist occupied land, and in the diaspora.

The uprising is also supported by oppressed and imperialised peoples, in all manner of forms. From Ansar Allah in Yemen enforcing a blockade on the Zionist entity, direct military confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran’s missile strikes on Zionist military infrastructure. Outside of this theatre, across the world, progressive forces support the Palestinian resistance and are working to enforce a blockade on the Zionist state, a cultural, economical and academic blockade.

The uprising was an inevitability, it was the result of 76 years of occupation and colonialism, an uprising against genocide and ethnic cleansing. No single entity is responsible for the 7th, Hamas led the operation, undoubtedly, but were not and are not the catalyst for the uprising. The catalyst was, is and continues to be the oppression of the Palestinian people by the zionist entity and their world imperialist allies.

The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) turned Gaza into a prison, they built walls around the people, spied on them daily, and murdered them with bullets, bombs and blockade. Can we fault the Palestinians for breaking down the walls?

The IOF expelled Palestinians from their familial homes and forced them into refugee camps. The camps became rampant with disease, and the IOF visited daily violence on the Palestinian people interred within them, all whilst IOF soldiers lived in the homes they stole. Can we blame the Palestinians for wanting their homes and land back?

The IOF abducted Palestinians and threw them into jails, with no trial. The zionist entity calls this “administrative detention”. Before October 7th, almost 6000 Palestinians were kept in these conditions, today, almost 10,000. Well, what should we call it when people are abducted, given no recourse to legal liberation, and thrown in jail? Hostage taking! Why is it appropriate for Israelis to take Palestinian civilians hostage, but a war crime when a Palestinian takes an Israeli soldier hostage?

All across Palestine, the people are treated this way, so all across Palestine, there is resistance, resistance which is legally and logically justifiable. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and the ongoing resistance across Palestine and in the region have forced the Palestinian question into daily political discourse, it has forced the mask of the Zionists to drop, and it has shown the true colonial nature of the entity.

Plaid Gomiwnyddol Cymru does not want to repeat the mistakes of other political parties and dictate to the Palestinian people what deals they should or should not take, nor condemn one form of resistance and praise another, in an act of removed and detached analysis. We also do not want to detach ourselves from the ongoing resistance in Palestine, we recognise that the nature of resistance is not chosen by the oppressed, but by the oppressors. The Zionists themselves are responsible for the resistance and violence they are now receiving.

We do not recognise the need to preface every sentence with a condemnation of violence, in order to legitimise our views to the liberal consensus in Wales. We say that to detach ourselves from the 7th, from the resistance, is to detach ourselves from the very thing which brought millions and millions across the world together to fight for Palestine.

Plaid Gomiwnyddol Cymru does not dictate to others their right to self-determination, but instead, we examine the conditions and we ask our Palestinian comrades, what should we fight for? We have done this, and we repeat the call of the Palestinian Communist Party – a One-State Solution, a democratic unified Palestine, from the river to the sea.

The Palestinian Communist Party, and their youth wing, the Palestinian Communist Youth Union, are not only organising for liberation, they are also delivering direct humanitarian aid in the besieged north of Gaza. They cannot do this without funds.

If today you feel that you could do more to help, you can give money directly to the Palestinian Communist Party, you can aid liberation and you can aid the people directly – here.

The Palestinian Communist Party can be found here: http://www.pallcp.ps/

Follow the Palestinian Communist Youth Union here

Rhyddid i Balesteina