At the beginning of November, the 13000-member-strong youth wing of the German Left Party Die Linke, the Linksjugend [’solid], passed a motion titled “We must never again remain silent in the face of a genocide”. Linksjugend [‘solid] is the first major political organisation in Germany to give itself an anti Zionist orientation.

The comrades have commendably criticised their earlier stance, and they are now recognising the colonial and racist character of the Zionist Entity. This is a huge step forward in the struggle against the German state, and given the German Left’s historic tailism of the Israeli state project, they should be celebrated.

Instead, the German media and the leadership of the German Left have united to defend and downplay Israel’s genocidal campaign, accusing Linksjugend of antisemitism. This behaviour is nothing short of scabbing by the Die Linke leaders, willing to abandon their own youth wing and the Palestinian masses to appease their own state machinery and secure their careers. 

It is the world-historic task of the working class in Europe to unite into a mass party rejecting the existing order. The bare minimum condition of unity is opposition to our state’s complicity in support for colonialism, apartheid and genocide and solidarity with the people resisting them. For the struggle of the Palestinians, solidarity must be based on the Thawabit, the fundamental principles set by Palestinians themselves, not the terms set by our own states. 

We, as an editorial board, offer our solidarity to the comrades of Linksjugend [‘solid] and wish them good luck on the realisation of their motion.