The Palestinian people are fighting for their very existence. The murderous offensive of the Israeli army in the West Bank represents a new and bloody chapter in the long history of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Under the pretext of "fighting terrorism" Israel is waging war. To this end it is using the most modern weapons of destruction: tanks, Apache helicopter-gunships, rockets, F-16's, etc. And this against a people that has little more than simple rifles with which to defend itself. The entire Palestinian population has been made the target of one of the most powerful war machines in the world. According to Amnesty International Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Scharon declared at a news conference on March 5, 2002: "The Palestinians must be hit and it must be very painful. We must cause them losses, victims, so that they feel the heavy price."

For days and weeks densely populated areas have been fired upon by tanks and bombed from the air. It is still unclear how many people have been killed. But numerous reports have stated that fighters and civilians were summarily shot by Israeli soldiers while trying to surrender. Many of the thousands who arrested where subject to the worst kinds of abuse and torture. On April 6 the Israeli Supreme Court refused to order a stop to the torture. Among other events the destruction of a large part of the refugee camp at Jenin raised international attention. Many observers and human rights organizations have charged that Israel committed war crimes at Jenin. At first Israel claimed that it had nothing to hide. But then it refused to allow a UN commission to enter the country to investigate unless it was allowed to determine the outcome of the investigation in advance.

In the course of this offensive hundreds of thousands of people were cut off from all access to food, water and medical attention. According to reports in the press in many places mothers were forced to give their babies sewage water to drink because in many homes the supply of both milk and drinking water ran out. People who left their homes in an effort to find food and water were targeted and killed by Israeli sharpshooters.

A report by Amnesty International stated: "However, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) acted as though the main aim was to punish all Palestinians. Actions were taken by the IDF which had no clear or obvious military necessity; many of these, such as unlawful killings, destruction of property and arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, violated international human rights and humanitarian law. The IDF instituted a strict curfew... they also killed and targeted medical personnel and journalists, fired randomly at houses and people in the streets... 'The military operations we have investigated appear to be carried out not for military purposes, but instead to harass, humiliate and harm the Palestinian population.'"

Even today die military blockade by the IDF of almost all the key places on the West Bank and in Gaza have turned the Palestinian cities and towns into prison camps. The Israeli soldiers have permission to shoot anyone who appears to them as "suspicious". That means that now over 3 1/2 million Palestinians are on the death list of the Zionists and their imperialist backers. The actions of the IDF are so brutal that over 400 Israeli reserve officers have refused to serve. They called this a "mission of occupation and oppression", whose goal is to "dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people".

This on-going offensive of terror is a continuation of over 50 years of zionist/imperialist occupation of Palestine. In 1948, when the USA and the other big powers decided to create Israel, Palestinians made up over 2/3 of the population of the whole of Palestine and owned 92% of land. Through a series of wars of aggression (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982) the Zionists have occupied ever more of the territory of Palestine and neighboring Arab countries. For over 3 decades they have held millions of Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza as virtual prisoners of war with practically no rights.

The imperialist big powers with the USA at their head have supported the Zionist project of establishing the State of Israel in order to erect a military outpost to control the oil rich and strategically important Middle East. Even when they at times "criticize" the brutal actions of the IDF this is only an exercise in feigned distancing in order to divert attention from their own role and guilt. In reality the current offensive was approved by the USA and the other big powers. That is the reason why Israel could completely ignore the UN-Security Council resolution calling on it to immediately end its offensive and withdraw its troops without suffering any consequences what so ever. If Iraq or another country that is currently on the hit-list were to do this, it would be immediately threatened with war if not attacked.

Without justice there will never be peace in Palestine and the Middle East. Neither the illusions preached by false leaders who claim that a "peace process" in cooperation with (read: in collaboration with and dependent upon) the USA and the other big powers will bring justice for the Palestinian people, nor will the false promises of religious fundamentalists who are trying to misuse the longing of the Palestinian people for freedom in order to advance their own dreams of becoming middle-age-style feudal rulers can ever bring about true liberation.

Only the common struggle of the peoples of the Middle East -- the oppressed of all nationalities and faiths (Moslems, Christians and Jews) -- can achieve justice. Today the Palestinian people are on the front line of this struggle. It is especially important that here in Europe, in the centers of the imperialist metropolis, that all people who want to see true justice in the Middle East actively and determinedly demand an end to the zionist/imperialist occupation and freedom for Palestine!

The World People's Resistance Movement is being formed to help the struggles all over the globe flow together like a mighty torrent. The WPRM provides an international vehicle to promote and facilitate the world wide unity against our common enemy. Today's focus must be opposing the imperialist crusade carried out under the sign "war on terrorism".

The WPRM does not seek to supplant or compete with any other people's organization on a national or international level. All those on the same side of the barricades are welcome. Help form chapters of the WPRM in every country made up of individuals, circles, associations and political parties. North, South, East and West, unite the people's struggles!

Provisional Organizing Committee, World People's Resistance Movement