We confront a moment of great historical import and crossroads.

A genocidal slaughter, backed and armed by the U.S., with the “Genocide Joe” Democrats soaked in the blood and forced starvation of the people of Gaza, while the MAGA fascist Republicans call for even greater brutality and finality.

A genocidal slaughter, unleashed by Israel in the immediate wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, but in continuity with and escalating the ongoing Zionist-apartheid oppression of the Palestinian people, expanding occupations and repeated expulsions, the dehumanization and daily degradation.

A genocidal slaughter that threatens to spin even more dangerously out of control. A tense world watches as rival imperialist powers like China and Russia vie with the U.S. for advantage, as do regional powers like Iran.

We experience the weight of this in different ways. We understand this from diverse perspectives. But we are all profoundly outraged by the genocidal slaughter of the Palestinian people and moved by their courage and resilience in the face of such horror. We all feel a responsibility to act!

We have the responsibility to grapple honestly and deeply with the difficult reality we face and the way forward. To that end, we offer the following thoughts to stopping the genocide of Palestinians and towards ending the system of capitalism-imperialism that is driving this horror and inflicting a reign of exploitation, oppression and potentially catastrophic extinction on people worldwide.

We can no longer afford to allow these imperialists to continue to dominate the world and determine the destiny of humanity. And it is a scientific fact that humanity does not have to live this way. (@BobAvakianOfficial)

1 This Is a Time to Face Reality Squarely and Step Up the Struggle Based on That—NOT for Empty Triumphalism or Despair

For the last seven months, a “second Nakba” has unfolded before the eyes of the world. What we see is Israel and Netan-nazi seizing on October 7 to attempt a “final solution” to the “Palestinian problem.” Israel aims, at a minimum, to reduce the Palestinians to such a state that they will no longer pose any “problem” for Israel, if not literally killing off and/or driving out all the Palestinians.

Despite some words of concern and even though it could cost him the election, Genocide Joe's commitment to Israel is—as he himself put it—“ironclad.” The same is true of the entire U.S. ruling class. This is not because of “the power of the Jewish lobby”—or because of some ignorant and outrageous notion that “Jews control everything.” This is because, as the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian (BA) has put it:

Israel plays a “special role” as a heavily armed bastion of support for U.S. imperialism in a strategically important part of the world (the “Middle East”). And Israel has been a key force in the commission of atrocities which have helped to maintain the oppressive rule of U.S. imperialism in many other parts of the world. [bolding ours] (@BobAvakianOfficial)

THIS U.S.-BACKED GENOCIDE MUST BE STOPPED. We here in the U.S. have a special responsibility to call forward massive and sustained struggle, uniting all who can be united against the genocide to create a deep enough political crisis to compel the rulers of the U.S. to back off their support for Israel. This would be a huge contribution to bringing the slaughter to a HALT! Nothing less is required.

In such a high-stakes situation, attempting to buck up our spirits with the empty triumphalism of chants like “Palestine is almost free” or declarations like “victory is inevitable” spread illusions. Illusions do harm. Instead, we have to confront reality as it actually is, meeting real challenges and doing the work—theoretically and practically—to forge the way forward. We need a scientific, evidence-based approach.

2 “They” Fear Us—U.S. Student Protests, Jewish Voices Uniting with Palestinians Against the Genocide, U.S. Officials Resigning in Protest, and the Struggle Spreading…

It matters that there has been ferocious resistance and struggle worldwide, and especially right in the belly of the U.S.-imperialist beast... Palestinian Americans giving voice to the anguish of a global diaspora... Jewish voices declaring NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE... high-level resignations from the State Department and military... artists and writers voicing their conscience... Genocide Joe unable to appear in public without rebuke... all of this mutually strengthening, and morally legitimizing.

It matters that a potentially generation-defining wave of students, as well as faculty—particularly at elite universities—have put their futures on the line, defying suspensions, expulsions, vigilante and state repression...

All this has contributed to ripping the camouflage off the rulers of this country. They are not champions of “freedom and democracy.” They are not “protectors of human rights.” Their claims of “free speech” are mere window dressing. Beneath these claims lies the reality of a ruthless capitalist-imperialist dictatorship, one that cannot easily back off its support for Israel.

The recent repression, while vicious, also further exposes their nature—and their vulnerability. Bob Avakian explains:

…this repression is happening because representatives of the ruling class in this country have a definite sense that if youth especially at “elite” universities begin to seriously question and act against what this system is doing—if the system “loses the allegiance” of large numbers of those students—that can be a big factor in creating a real crisis for the system as a whole, as happened in the 1960s: a crisis that, now more than ever, this system really cannot afford, when the whole country is already being torn apart by deep divisions, with bitter clashes right among the ruling powers.... The ruling class is desperate to prevent opposition to its fundamental interests from spreading and involving masses of people, from all parts of society. [bold and italics ours] (@BobAvakianOfficial)

3 “Escalate4Gaza”—Yes, But HOW? Uniting All Who Can Be United to STOP the U.S.-Israeli Genocide of Palestinians NOW vs. Artificial “Purity Tests”

It is righteous that the call has come forward to #Escalate4Gaza. But it matters how we mean this.

Some insist that calls for “ceasefire now” that are not accompanied by calls to “decolonize” are meaningless. Some reject the participation of people who did not join the struggle until students came under attack. Some dismiss what they call “conditional solidarity.” All this is strategically flawed and will only weaken the struggle that is needed.

Instead, if we are serious about stopping the horrific genocide now unfolding and advancing the fight to win full liberation, we will work to realize the worst fears of the rulers—we will work to deepen and widen their loss of legitimacy in the eyes of millions by drawing ever more people into this struggle against the genocide they are backing.

This requires uniting all who can be united! Everyone who can be won to declare “Stop the U.S./Israeli Genocide of Palestinians Now!” should be welcomed in this movement!

Let us make this a “hot summer”—reaching out to and drawing forward the conscious participation and righteous fury of those trapped at the bottom of this society. It’s the same system that impoverishes and unleashes its racist police on the oppressed of this country that is terrorizing and ethnically cleansing the people of Gaza!

Let us see even more courageous disruptive protest and nonviolent direct action—but these need to be aimed at challenging and calling forward the millions who are still on the sidelines to pick a side and join the fight, not isolated acts of frustration.

Let us reach out to all those who are having their eyes forced open to this horror for the first time—and call on them to join us... in the streets... with their public platforms... in the arts... in their workplaces... and everywhere!

Let us answer each new escalation against the people of Palestine with ever more protest and ever fiercer resistance.

Then, as the eyes of the world are fixed on Chicago’s Democratic National Convention in late August, let us take this struggle to new heights! Let’s bring people from around the country and from all walks of life to flood the streets with the demand:

STOP THE U.S./ISRAELI GENOCIDE OF PALESTINIANS NOW!

Another World Is Possible! A Radically Different and Far Better World!

As we do all this, let us defend all those who come under attack, further exposing the utter illegitimacy of this system’s support for genocide and their repression, and through doing this bring forward even more people to take a stand.

All this can deepen the crisis the rulers are facing—exposing them before the eyes of people all over the world. In this way each new advance by the people, and each illegitimate attack by the fascists, Zionist thugs, and the “democratic” rulers can be used to draw forward even more support and involvement on our side. Wave upon wave. Demanding a STOP to this atrocity! This lays the strongest possible basis to create the kind of political crisis for the rulers that could compel them to bring this genocide to a halt.

4 The Culture, Ferment and Debate Needed, Not “Cancel Culture” and Ad-Hominem Attacks

Does our emphasis on the need to unite all who can be united mean that debate over the deeper causes—of the century of oppression faced by Palestinians, along with all other forms of oppression—and what it will take to finally win real and lasting liberation and emancipation is unimportant? No! Far from it!

We need much more substantive and serious debate—and exploration—over what is driving the current genocide, how Palestine can finally get free, and what will be needed to win emancipation for all of humanity. Everyone has the right—and the responsibility—to join in this struggle in a principled way. We will speak and defend our understanding of these questions—as should others. This kind of ferment and debate is much needed. Here, there are lessons that Bob Avakian draws from the great struggles of the 1960s:

What characterized the truly massive movement of the 1960s, with all its different tendencies, was a determination to actually put an end to the outrages that people were rising up against, along with a broad sense of “being in this together in the fight for a better world,” and the generosity of spirit, as well as largeness of mind, that went along with that. One of the significant expressions of this was meaningful discussion and debate about different ideas and programs, within the broad mass movement, where the actual content and substance of opposing positions was gotten into, instead of petty bickering relying on “cheap shots” and distortion of the views of others—or the refusal to seriously engage views that are different from and might challenge one’s own viewpoint.

– Bob Avakian, @BobAvakianOfficial 

As for how we see the situation in Palestine, the answer is not to drive out all the Jews, or the “two state” solution promoted by Biden (which would just be a puppet state divided up and dominated by Israel). To again quote Bob Avakian:

The answer is the abolition of the state of Israel, and in its place the creation of a revolutionary state in which the government and the laws do not promote any religion and do not favor one people over another, and instead there is equality between Jews and Palestinians.

5 NO Fascist Trump! NO Genocide Joe! The Whole Damn System Has Got to Go!
At a Rare Time When This Is More Possible Than Ever, the Revolution We Need

For good reason, growing numbers cannot cast a ballot for Genocide Joe!

But neither can we accept Trump’s MAGA future of open white supremacy, enslavement of women and LGBTQ people, genocidal xenophobia and outright fascism.

That these are the “choices” offered up by this system exposes the system as utterly bankrupt and illegitimate. But it’s even deeper than that.

The system of U.S. capitalism-imperialism is a global network of worldwide plunder, exploitation, oppression and misery. It is shot through with white supremacy and patriarchy, and it is rapidly destroying our planet. This system cannot be fixed or reformed. It must be overthrown. And it can be!

In powerful social media messages, Bob Avakian breaks down why we need a real revolution and how this revolution can be made—not in the far-off future, but right in this time.

Look with fresh eyes at the situation in this country: Polarization and divides in society are unbridgeable. The center barely holds. The rulers—war-criminal Democrats and fascist Republicans—at each other’s throats, even as they are united on U.S.-imperialist support of Israel. Talk of civil war is commonplace. Illusions of normalcy shatter, and people’s lives and cherished beliefs are increasingly upended. The old order is unraveling, its cohering norms shredded.

The upcoming 2024 election season is shaping up to be pivotal. NOT because of this system’s current “choices”—but because the sharp fissures between these two sides—and all across society—will intensify through this.

All this could contribute to an opening for millions to be led NOT to choose between this system’s oppressive rulers, but to rise up and overthrow the system of capitalism-imperialism as a whole.

We urge and invite you to dig deeply into the messages at @BobAvakianOfficial to get more deeply into this and to join the Revcom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity to fight to make this revolution real in this time, and learn more as you do.

6 Let us return to where we began. We sit at a historic crossroads. For the people of Palestine. For the direction of this country. For the future of the world. It is no exaggeration to say that the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now starving in Gaza, the future of the Palestinian people as a whole, and the prospects for an emancipated world for all of humanity will be impacted by what we do. Let us all bring our best understanding to the table and struggle vigorously over the big questions before us. Let us do it with principle and substance and free of ego. Let us measure every idea and program up against the reality we face and whether it will advance the cause of liberation or work against it. Through doing this, let us forge deeper unity of will, lasting relationships, and fighting determination to act with daring and clarity to call forward the broadest, most determined and mightiest struggle seen in generations. Let us settle for nothing less than complete liberation for the people of Palestine and for all the world’s peoples.