Stop attacks on Gaza

The Socialist Party of Iceland (Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands) endorses the appeal from the solidarity meeting with the Palestinian people at Austurvöllur on October 15, 2023. It states:“In plain sight of the entire world, a genocide is being committed that must be stopped.Iceland has recognized the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own state and that Palestinian refugees have the right to return to their homes. It is the duty of the Icelandic government, which declares the importance and legitimacy of human rights and international law, to assist Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and human rights in their own land.With overwhelming force and powerful military equipment, the Israeli army attacks Palestinians in Gaza. Houses are razed to the ground, hospitals and schools destroyed, and thousands of people killed. Every day, settlers from illegal settlements in the West Bank attack farmers and other residents of Palestine; they burn fields, cut down olive trees that take decades to cultivate, set fire to houses and vehicles – and kill both young and old.We call on Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Foreign Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to send a strongly worded demand to the government of Israel to immediately stop the massacres in Gaza!”Iceland is an unarmed nation and should always stand for peace against war, demand a ceasefire and negotiations, and not side with those who want to use military force to achieve what they consider a desirable outcome.Equality, human dignity, and empathy are the best guiding principles to prevent armed conflicts. Unfortunately, the so-called Western world has never been further from letting these goals guide them. Democracy within states is weak, public influence is small, and governments primarily serve financiers and owners of large corporations. And thereby, arms manufacturers. The result is continuous war over the past decades and growing tension in international relations, crueler violence, and relentless human sacrifices alongside the militarization of the mindset.The Socialist Party encourages people not to succumb to government pressure to always choose war and threats, to give in to the fear and animosity that is fostered. We will not have a bright future unless it is built on hope, respect, and love. A future built with military force will be cruel, dark, and abominable. If the public gives in to governments driven by the interests of arms manufacturers, they will reap a world where war is constant. And war magnifies hatred and revenge, all that we should most avoid.Do not believe arms manufacturers who claim they will bring us peace through armed force. Those promises did not hold true in Iraq or Afghanistan, Syria or Libya, and they will not come true in Ukraine or Palestine either. The path to peace lies out of war.In the Socialist Party's policy onforeign affairsit states:“Iceland is a small nation that has had to fight for sovereignty over time but, despite its small size, has managed to gain independence from colonial powers. That valuable experience must be respected, and we have a duty to stand with other oppressed nations in similar situations. In this context, we can mention our neighboring nations such as Greenlanders and Faroese, as well as distant and war-torn nations such as Palestinians and Kurds.Instead of being a powerless small nation within a military alliance, we want the nation to strengthen its ties and cooperation with neighboring nations and other small nations and establish a peace alliance. Such an alliance would be an alternative to the country's current presence in NATO. At the time, entry into NATO was not put to a national vote. That should be done as soon as possible. In this way, human rights and a democratic constitution can be better promoted within the world against the power of capital and the oppression of larger states against smaller ones. Furthermore, Iceland shall always be unarmed and demilitarized. We condemn all violence and in no way support armed conflicts or the oppression of one state against another.”Drafted and approved at a joint meeting of the Executive Board (Framkvæmdastjórn) and the Policy Board (Málefnastjórn) of the Socialist Party on Saturday, October 21, 2023.