In regards to calling for a ceasefire in Palestine, on Tuesday 25th, 2024, the city council of Lancaster City passed Council Resolution No. 54-2024 with five votes in favor, one against, and one council member absent from the meeting.
The Strength of Unity
It should first be noted that the struggle to reach this point came from the mass mobilizations that have happened locally and nationally since October. In October 2023, PSL immediately began organizing in response to the unfolding genocide in Gaza.
In 2024, a coalition of organizations including the Lancaster Palestine Coalition, Democratic Socialists of America, Lancaster Abolition Group, Students for Justice in Palestine Millersville, F&M Coalition for Peace and Justice, Ceasefire PA, Lancaster Change Makers and the Party for Socialism and Liberation began weekly rallies in the center of Lancaster on Saturday mornings.
The coalition’s work also included an action to disrupt Senator Bob Casey’s visit to Lancaster for a GOTV event (video Part 1 and Part 2). Over the past eight months, it became undeniable that the movement for Palestine was growing and a historic movement was emerging in the city.
As with all social and political upheavals, the ruling class and their institutions of power either attempt to repress the movement or appease it with concessions. In Lancaster, both occurred. Local police made many attempts to restrict the weekly protests, but to no avail. The strength of the movement forced the ruling class to change their tactics to appeasement.
This is the primary reason why the city council was willing to introduce a resolution for a “ceasefire in Gaza.”
The Resolution
For months local Palestinian and progressive organizations drafted and revised a proposed resolution for the city council to pass. Across multiple organizations, a draft resolution was agreed upon and presented to the city council. A week later, a new draft was released to the press by the city council with some significant changes made to the language of the resolution without input from activists.
The changes in the resolution, particularly using “terrorist” to describe the Palestinian resistance, referring to the genocide as the “Israel and Hamas war,” and removing references to Palestinian political prisoners, were among the most egregious changes.
These were changes that we could not endorse. We, the PSL, since our founding in 2004, have stood with Palestinian self-determination and the moral and legal right for Palestinians to resist their occupation. The language used in this draft is a continuation of the demonization of the Palestinian people and their resistance to occupation and apartheid. As with Nat Turner’s uprising, indigenous people’s resistance and the Tet Offensive, when the colonized fight back, the ruling class and its allies will try to demonize it to justify their rule.
The oppressors, in other words, have no moral right to impose guidelines on their victims, the oppressed, for what counts as legitimate ways to resist oppression. As socialists in the oppressor country, the U.S., our commitment is to the oppressed’s right to resist genocide by any means necessary and fighting imperialism in the belly of the beast.
We believe a ceasefire is an important and immediate need, but not at the expense of demonizing Palestinians and their struggle for self-determination. We recognize all of the work that has been put into this campaign and the other compromises made. For the PSL, these compromises went too far for us to fully support.
The struggle for Palestinian liberation is an intergenerational struggle that has taught us the importance of patience in the resistance to oppression. From generations of Palestinian revolutionaries, we learn that there are no shortcuts to victory. Consistency, determination, and discipline are the elements to a successful revolutionary movement. As socialists in the US, fighting against US imperialism, our duty is to side with the oppressed of the world without hesitation.
Further resources:
- Building a real left: Not one that condemns resistance and is without Palestinians
- People’s Conference for Palestine: Palestinian Resistance and the Path to Liberation
- People’s Conference for Palestine: How do Movements Achieve Transformation?
- People’s Conference for Palestine: The Movement for Palestine in North America