The Italian general strike has boosted the struggle for Palestine liberation everywhere. It even forced Prime Minister Meloni to launch warships to defend the Sumud Flotilla. We reprint here an article by the Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori.
The day of the general strike for Palestine, called by the ‘base’ (rank and file) trade unions CUB and SGB, was an undoubted political success.
The 80 street demonstrations held in many cities, large and small, saw an exceptionally wide participation. Above all it was marked by young and very young people, university and high school students, hundreds of thousands of whom invaded streets and squares, giving it a militant and radical character.
In Rome, Milan, Turin, Naples and Bologna, even the numbers given by police headquarters substantially exceeded forecasts of the event. To give just one example, the police headquarters in Rome, which had said they expected 8,000 demonstrators, was forced to admit the participation of over 20,000.
The pressure in the streets has translated into multiple direct and mass actions: occupations and blockades of railway stations, highways, port hubs. In some cases (Milan, Bologna) the police charged them and made arrests, but in most situations, despite the punitive public order laws, they were unable to prevent or oppose the blockades. This reflected the strength of the demonstrations.
Not only that, the bourgeois media have been forced to bear witness to countless cases of solidarity with motorists, passers-by, and people coming out on their balconies to support or join demonstrations and blockading actions. The flag of Palestine was everywhere for the whole day. These expressions of pro-Palestinian sentiment constituted a veritable plebiscite by Italian society. The 80 demonstrations on 22 September gave this a face.
It is true, the actual number of workers on strike was modest. The CGIL bureaucracy openly sabotaged the strike, fearing its success. For this reason, on Friday 19th it had called for its own day of mobilisation on the theme of Palestine, with diversified expressions by regions and sectors. The obvious purpose of this initiative was to defuse the risk that important sectors of its rank and file would join the general strike of 22 September.
Not only did CGIL not join forces in the general strike, but it openly focused on seeking its failure. However, this bureaucratic manoeuvre failed in several respects. In the service sector, in health, and in particular in schools, an important section of the CGIL base went on strike. In Rome, the presence of teachers on strike, alongside their students, was one of the most significant contributions to the size of the demonstration. Similarly the presence of health workers in their white coats on the demonstration in Naples.
But above all, beyond the numbers, the political data counts. The strike was viewed with great sympathy and support even by the majority of wage earners who did not participate. First of all, the mass grassroots of the CGIL, identified with the tide of young people who took to the streets in the name of Palestine.
The disproportion between the muted initiative of the 19th and the success of the image of the strike of the 22nd was enormous. A stinging slap in the face for the CGIL apparatus. Proof of this is that for the entire day of the 22nd the leadership of the CGIL was silent, without a single word of comment on what was happening.
Now, after the great success of the pictures and participation in the demonstrations, the need for a real general, unitary, mass strike against the Zionist State, against the Italian government that supports it, and for the liberation of Palestine, takes on an even more visible character.
The day of 22 September places on everyone the responsibility to build a united front for action. The CGIL bureaucracy, after their poor showing, would like to talk about something else to dress their wound. The USB leadership would like to burnish its success in a self-promotional manner. But no one should be allowed the escape route.
The tide of young people who took to the streets expects a continuation of their action. The tragic events in Palestine, and the complicity of the Italian government make this more and more necessary with every passing day. The very theme of the political strike for Palestine is now clarified and legitimised in the perception of the masses. Likewise the theme of the total blockade in ports and airports against all transport of arms, of all commercial traffic with Israel.
Uniting forces in this direction, breaking down all dividing walls is the task of the moment. The PCL will fight everywhere with this slogan, together with the more general demand for the liberation of Palestine from Zionism and imperialism. The mass national demonstration convened jointly by all Palestinian organisations for 4 October in Rome will be a key event marking this direction.
