From Our Friends in Israel

When one thinks of Israel and Palestine, our thoughts almost immediately turn towards the cruel campaign against the Gaza Strip, carried out recently by the Israeli military, or the horrific launching of Qassam rockets by Hamas into densely populated civilian residential areas. However, in both nations there are people working for peace and equality, working in election campaigns like we just did in 2008. We received this message from Uri Weltmann, an activist in the Young Communist League of Israel. In his letter, he describes briefly describes the current electoral struggles within Israel itself.

--The Editors

Comrades,

We've been following closely the US elections, and how the CPUSA and YCL intervened successfully in that campaign, helped to build it, and joined ranks with many working people, social activists and progressive organizations in driving out the Bush clique. I personally think that this is Communist politics at it best: not standing in a sectarian way, outside the living movement of our class, but submerging yourself into it, letting people to become aware of your positions and your struggles, and eventually perhaps joining your organization.


The past few weeks have been very hectic. Undergoing an election campaign, as you know very well, is very excruciating. Let alone having to undergo two of them in three months, plus a bloody war...

In November the municipal elections were held country-wide, with our candidates running to city council and mayor's office in dozens of cities and towns. It was extremely successful for the Party, especially in Tel Aviv, where a broad social-environmental coalition called “A City for All of Us” was formed. This Coalition's mayoral candidate was Dr. Dov Khenin, a member of the Political Bureau of Communist Party of Israel and a member of Knesset. He won 35 percent of the vote, after a very low-budget yet intensive campaign, in which his opponent (the incumbent mayor, who was supported by all three big parties) used Mccarthyte rhetoric against him (“He's an Anti-Zionist”, “He's a Communist”, “He won't stand up when the national anthem is sung”, “He supports the refuseniks,” etc.).

The coalition actually got more votes to the city council than the mayor’s party! This was a historic achievement for us, as our Party was the initiator and the driving force behind this coalition, which was successful in bringing together hundreds of young, politicized activists, most of whom never took part in politics before. Many of them are now supporters and activists in our election campaign to the Knesset.

The elections to the Knesset will be held in two weeks time (on February 10th), and we are running under the slogan of “Building a New Left,” saying that a vote for us is a vote for forging a new and effective left alternative in Israeli politics. According to the polls, we will increase our representation in the Knesset from 3 seats (out of 120) to 4, and perhaps even 5. We are running, as you probably know, along with non-Communist partners in a list called “The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality” (DFPE), as we did in the last 32 years. The DFPE has been the only electoral list that openly opposed the War on Gaza.


In Solidarity,
Uri Weltmann
Haifa, Israel