The Israeli Communist Forum demands that the government of Israel cease immediately its new murderous assault on the Arab-Palestinian people and their leader, Chairman and President of the Palestinian Authority, Yassir Arafat.

It is not for the first time in history that the present Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, tries to subdue the Arab-Palestinian people and their leadership, headed by Yassir Arafat. Almost 20 years have passed since his previous attempt, in Lebanon 1982. Thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese victims and many Israelis too, paid the bill for that aggression with their lives. At the end, the attempt to occupy Lebanon, and turn it into an Israeli satellite failed. Total failure was also the outcome of the attempt to subdue the Arab-Palestinian people and to eliminate its leadership.

We are convinced that the attempts, made by the Sharon-Peres government, to drown in blood the rightful struggle of the Arab-Palestinian people for the realization of their legitimate national rights will result in total failure this time too. But as the acts of aggression and the occupation continue, spreading in extent so also will rise the price in blood. The fact is that in spite of an unprecedented massive use of force, including fighter planes, combat helicopters, tanks and the deadliest and newest American weapons, in fighting against the Palestinian people, who have quite meager resources, the government of Israel did not succeed to stop the resistance to the occupation. That only grew in extent as the new wide-ranging aggression progressed. As result, the government of Israel had to mobilize tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, but not even that can bring about the outcome that it is looking for.

Allegedly, the war that the government of Israel wages is directed against acts of terror and against what it terms "infrastructure of terror". In truth, the aim of the war is to topple down the Palestinian Authority and its leadership, including an actual threat to the life of the Palestinian President, Yassir Arafat. As for the terrorist activities, these not only did not stop, but also grew in extent, since the beginning of the new wide-ranging aggression of the government of Israel. The hideous murders and destruction, committed these days in the areas of the Palestinian Authority, push more and more desperate Palestinians to commit suicide bombings inside Israel. These acts cause indeed the death of innocent civilians. We have always condemned such acts, and pointed out that they serve to aid the propaganda of the government of Israel, both inside the country and abroad. There is a distinct possibility, that those in power in Israel wish to cause intentionally, for the despair among the Palestinians to lead them into more activities of this kind. These might be then used as pretext for further escalating the acts of war, for the total reoccupation of the whole of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and for the perpetration of a mass "transfer" of their Palestinian inhabitants! Threats of making a "transfer" - a compulsory exile of Palestinian citizens from their native land - are being voiced recently more and more frequently, and that includes circles that did not support "transfer" until now (at least not in public).

The Israeli government started its recent wave of war activities immediately following the Arab summit meeting in Beirut. At this meeting all of the Arab states expressed their unambiguous wish to achieve peace with Israel. The just foundation for such peace being the withdrawal from all of the Arab lands, occupied since June of 1967, and the realization of the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN.

The acts of aggression and crimes perpetrated these days by the government of Israel are backed and supported, more than ever, by the Bush Administration. Nevertheless, there are significant forces, both in the USA and Europe, as well as in other parts of the world, who criticize the policies of Israel and the USA, and carry out protest activities against them. In the Arab countries there is a growing protest by the masses, demanding from their leaders to take actual steps in solidarity with the Arab-Palestinian people.

Also inside Israel, although public opinion in general is influenced by the official propaganda, there are wide circles objecting to the policy of the Israeli government, who expressed their objection in a series of impressive protest activities in recent days. We point out in particular to the rise in the number of officers and soldiers, most of them reserve soldiers, who refuse to serve in the occupied territories, part of them being kept in a military prison for that.