Venezuelan Social Movements Back Palestinians’ Right to Resist

Mexico City, Mexico, October 9, 2023 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan social movements organized under the banner of the Palestine Solidarity Platform defended the Palestinian people’s right to resist colonialism and occupation following an offensive action Saturday carried out against Israel by Hamas and other armed elements of the Palestinian resistance movement.

“From the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the members of different social organizations, that are joined together in the Palestine Solidarity Platform, raise our voice in support of the resistance of its brave, noble, and native people who today, as always, fight for their liberation,” read a statement by the umbrella organization.

Naming Israel an “Apartheid regime which subjugates the Palestinian people in a much more cruel way than what was experienced in South Africa,” the communique pinned the blame for the outbreak of further violence on Israel’s flaunting of international law and the political, legal, and economic support of the United States toward Tel Aviv.

The International People’s Assembly, a coalitions of social movements from Latin America and other parts of the world, published a declaration in a similar vein. It supported the Palestinian people’s “struggle for national liberation” and condemned the blockade of Gaza.

For its part, the Nicolás Maduro government likewise pointed to the complicity of the international community for failing to adequately support the Palestinian people in their plight to achieve their national liberation. 

“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses its deep concern over the evolution of recent events in the Gaza Strip, while also positing that the escalation is the result of the impossibility of the Palestinian people to find a space in multilateral international legality to assert their historical rights,” read the communique shared by Foreign Minister Yván Gil. 

The Venezuelan government called for a quick resolution to violence “in the entirety of the Palestinian territory” and for Israel to abide by United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution 2334, which condemns settlements in occupied territory as illegal and demands an end to the Israeli government’s support for them. 

Supporters of the Palestinian people’s cause have frequently labeled Israel’s illegal settlements as a provocation and an impediment to peace. Venezuela under the leadership of former President Hugo Chávez and his successor has been seen as a strong champion of the Palestinian people’s cause, defending their right to resist in various international fora.

In August, the Maduro administration announced plans to open an embassy in Ramallah.

In its own statement, the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) also expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian people and similarly called for the international community to prevent a further escalation of violence.

“The Alliance reiterates its call to the United Nations and the international community to search for a definitive solution to the conflict through dialogue and the norms of International Law,” read the ALBA-TCP communique.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack in the early hours of Saturday, using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorcycles to break through from the Gaza Strip into Israel, catching occupation forces off guard and rattling the country.

Under the leadership of far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has expanded settlements in the occupied territories and tightened the blockade against the Gaza Strip, which has been described as the world’s largest open-air prison due to the severely limited mobility of its inhabitants.

The Israeli government’s response has already raised fears of indiscriminate bombings inside the Gaza Strip, as has happened during previous outbreaks of warfare between Hamas and Israel. UN Secretary General António Guterres criticized Tel Aviv for cutting off the enclave’s electricity, water and fuel supply.

In an interview with BBC, the Head of Palestinian Mission to the UK Husam Zomlot said that Saturday’s militant action was the result of the international community failing to heed warnings that the oppression of Palestinians, particularly those in the Gaza Strip, would produce a violent response.

In its statement, the Palestine Solidarity Platform reaffirmed the Palestinian people’s right to resist by any means necessary.  

“The people, through popular resistance, with all the means at their disposal, according to international laws, fight: to defeat the occupation; recover their land [and] national dignity; for the right of return of refugees; the creation of an independent Palestinian State and to recover its historic capital Jerusalem,” read the statement.

The solidarity coalition concluded by calling for mobilizations in order to put pressure on international bodies and end the Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in New York.