On April 1, Israel attacked Iran, bombing its embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus and killing 16 people including seven top military officers. This attack clearly violated diplomatic norms and international treaties, including the Vienna Convention and the UN Charter. In addition, the attack on the embassy in Damascus violated Syria’s territorial integrity, marking a serious regional escalation in the genocidal war on Palestine.
In a statement issued on April 3, the Tudeh Party of Iran noted that “this calculated move by the ruling far-right government of Israel was designed and implemented in order to provoke and directly involve the Islamic Republic of Iran in military conflict, together with its proxy forces in Lebanon and Iraq.
The Tudeh Party points out that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu was fully aware of the consequences of this criminal action. “It was trying to use this attack to provoke the Islamic Republic regime to enter the conflict in Gaza, expanding the scope of the conflicts in the region to prepare the ground for the inevitable entry of the US and its European allies to back Israel in the Middle East and prepare for the widening of the war. The policy of appeasement of the state of Israel by US and UK imperialism and the EU in recent months has prepared the context for, and practically assisted in creating the emerging catastrophe that the world has witnessed in our region.”
The Security Council convened in order to condemn the Israeli attack, but the US, Britain and France vetoed the resolution.
The Canadian Peace Congress, in a statement on April 14, noted that “Canada was silent regarding this serious violation of international law. Had the ‘international community’ and the Security Council of the United Nations vigorously condemned the Israeli aggression, it is possible that further escalation might have been prevented.”
In response to Israel’s aggression, Iran launched an aerial attack on Israeli military targets on April 13-14. News agencies reported that Iran launched three waves of drone, cruise and ballistic missiles, many of which were intercepted by Israeli, British, US and Jordanian air defences. This marks the first time that Iran has directly attacked Israel.
As Israel’s genocidal siege of Gaza continues, the catastrophic costs of its actions are causing opposition and resistance to grow around the world.
As the Tudeh Party stated, “The anti-human criminal actions of this racist regime are now facing the anger and disgust of people the world over. The actions of the criminal state of Israel have such dimensions of violence and oppression that even its imperialist partners are finding it difficult to defend its policies.”
In the face of this, Israel is clearly desperate to expand the siege of Gaza into a into a regional war, specifically against Iran, in the hope that the US and its NATO allies will enter the conflict.
“The consequences of a regional war would be disastrous for the peoples of the Middle East,” said Canadian Peace Congress President Larry Wasslen. “It would produce more death, displacement and destruction, more famine and disease, and could lead to a nuclear strike by Israel on Iran.”
Wasslen notes that the Canadian government had no comment on Israel’s attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus, but Justin Trudeau immediately condemned Iran’s military response, repeating the worn-out phrase that “Israel has the right to defend itself.”
The Tudeh Party says that this kind of one-sided response is fueling the genocide and the risk of a wider conflict.
“Netanyahu’s government, by openly opposing UN resolutions, humiliating the International Court of Justice, and condemning the Secretary General of the United Nations, is now on top of the list of the world’s rogue regimes and sees itself as exempt from any accountability to international laws and institutions, with the direct backing of US imperialism.
“Bombing entire residential areas, hospitals and medical centres has made nearly two million Palestinian citizens homeless, destroyed roads and urban facilities, and prevented the war-torn Palestinian people from accessing food and medicine. Famine and widespread deadly diseases are now threatening the lives of the remaining people in Gaza. This is, in fact, exactly the catastrophe for which the genocidal Israeli regime has been aiming.
“However, with the killing of more than 200 UN employees responsible for delivering vital aid to Palestinian citizens and the murder of hundreds of journalists, the people of the world now witness and clearly understand the reactionary nature of the apartheid policies of the extreme right-wing government of Netanyahu, which have been used against the Palestinian people and those who defend the conventions adopted by international institutions.”
Millions of people across Canada have organized against Israel’s genocidal siege of Gaza. This has forced several Liberal MPs to pressure their party leadership into backing away from its hardline pro-Israel position and to support, albeit with problematic amendments, an NDP motion to stop arms shipments to Israel.
The Canadian Peace Congress has condemned the Trudeau government for not speaking out strongly against the Israeli attack in Damascus on April 1, and calls for mass mobilization to oppose Israel’s attempts to provoke a regional war.
“It is imperative to immediately halt the escalation of the war on Palestine into a regional confrontation involving Iran and Israel, and perhaps other states as well.
“We repeat our call for an immediate, permanent and sustainable ceasefire to end the genocidal war against Palestine. We reiterate our demand that humanitarian aid be allowed to enter Gaza unhindered by Israeli forces. Finally, we call for an end to Western support of Israel, and for the removal of all Canadian and other Western sanctions against Iran.”
[Photo: SANA]
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