LIBERATION: Israel and the United States have launched a military aggression against Iran, resulting in significant civilian casualties, including children. What do you think are the main objectives behind this war?
REEM HAZZAN: The objective of this war is not what they are saying. It is obvious that there are other goals that are not made explicit. The continuous violations by Israel and the United States of every international law that exists show that these are two countries with no respect, no boundaries, no limits. This is not only a war to topple the Iranian regime; it is a war of hegemony by Israel -- to complete the Abraham Accords so that all of West Asia is controlled by Israel, and in this way to eliminate the Palestinian right to self-determination, annex the West Bank, and maybe negotiate a Palestinian state.
The 1947 partition plan (which was itself unjust to the Palestinian people) proposed a two-state solution with defined borders. None of the UN resolutions have been respected by Israel since then. If a Palestinian state had been established alongside Israel, perhaps we would not be seeing these wars eighty years later. Palestinians would not have become refugees, nor suffered this genocide.
Of course, we do not support the Iranian regime, which has hunted, tortured, and killed communist comrades and the progressive left in Iran. But this war is about hegemony -- about oil, trade routes, and control over South-West Asia and the Mediterranean. The US has many bases that it has been nurturing for years. What is the purpose of these bases, if not to control Arab countries and deny them sovereignty? The US and Israel are either arrogant or believe the rest of the world is naive if they think they can do this under the pretext of regime change in Iran. But the world is beginning to question the real motivations behind this war.
Last June, in what they called the “12-day war,” the stated goal was to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. Netanyahu then declared victory and claimed that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been destroyed. However, Iran’s alleged nuclear threat continues to be invoked. There are also persistent claims that Israel itself has nuclear capabilities, but it does not admit this, as it is not interested in being part of any nuclear agreements limiting such weapons, in continuity to not abiding with international law.
The US and Israel assassinated the negotiating Iranian delegation they were meeting with the night before. Negotiations were progressing, and a consensus seemed possible -- but then what excuse would Israel have had for war? A similar incident occurred earlier with the assassination of a Hamas negotiating delegation in Qatar. Not that we support Hamas, but this is a blatant violation of international law. You do not act this way if you intend to resolve conflicts. Israel does not want a resolution. Otherwise, how will it justify continued military aid and support for its wars?
LIBERATION: And how do you see this war in the broader context of imperialism in the Global South?
REEM HAZZAN: As we speak of hegemony in West and South-West Asia, the pattern is similar everywhere. Imperialism requires these bases, like Israel. The Israel and the US both clearly agree on control and hegemony. Over the past years, we have seen the weakening of the UN and international institutions, and how the lack of implementation mechanisms did not serve people under Israeli and American aggression.
Imperialism in the Global South is not only direct. Look at Congo, Sudan, and across Africa – as mechanisms to gain access to natural resources. The same applies to Latin America -- Venezuela and Cuba. This is about imperialism seeking global dominance while repressing resistance by people, by sovereign nations. You cannot understand the attack on Iran and the resulting oil shortage without understanding what happened in Venezuela. The US sought to secure oil supply -- others may face shortages, but not the United States. You cannot ignore the blockade of Cuba or the siege of Gaza for twenty years before October 7, 2023. These fundamental processes of imperialism -- the subjugation of peoples, the subjugation of nations -- are interconnected. They come from the same logic: control of natural resources, subjugation of peoples, and denial of self-determination -- of Palestinians, Iranians, Cubans, Venezuelans. For us, this is all connected. When we protest the war on Iran, we also carry the Cuban flag -- because it is the same system of aggression. This is one very big war. I remain optimistic, they will not succeed. This is a system consuming itself.
LIBERATION: The Netanyahu regime is simultaneously trying to erase the Palestinian question through continued settlement expansion, starvation, and military assaults on the people of Gaza. How do you understand the war with Iran in the context of settler-colonialism and imperialism in Palestine?
REEM HAZZAN: Since this war began, more than ten people in the West Bank have been killed by settlers. Since October 7, 2023, settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories -- especially the West Bank -- have escalated unprecedentedly. The displacement of Bedouin communities from the Jordan Valley has become a major challenge, even for the Israeli solidarity groups trying to defend them. This is becoming a major tragedy -- effectively, the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. This has intensified since the war with Iran began. In Tammun, a week ago, an entire family was killed by the occupation army; only two brothers survived. Yet no one is held accountable. As with other Israeli actions, neither the settlers nor the army face consequences. No one has been held accountable for the genocide in Gaza. Ministers who incited genocide remain unpunished. This is the atmosphere we are living in right now. That incitement, hatred, and violence are very much legal here if you are a Jewish citizen. You can openly incite against Palestinians, including citizens and elected representatives like our parliamentarians and local authority members and mayors. During the war on Gaza, before the ceasefire, the protests of the Israeli public were mainly about returning the hostages, which, of course, is important. But on the other hand, the public opinion in Israel is brainwashed, and it took a long time for people in Israel to realize what we were speaking about and to start demanding an end to the genocide and war in Gaza.
In the past three weeks, demonstrations against the war on Iran have grown -- from fifty people initially, to hundreds now. Elections are approaching, and there is hope of defeating Netanyahu. However, the alternatives are not fundamentally different. They seek to replace him, not the policies of war, occupation, and settlement and neoliberalism. This is our central challenge: how to shift political discourse and public opinion to recognize that democracy cannot coexist with occupation, settlement and fascism. We are working towards broadening the mobilization. March 28 marks four weeks of this war. We must widen the anti-war front in Israel and the world.
LIBERATION: What is the state of the anti-war and broader anti-occupation struggle in Israel?
REEM HAZZAN: Public opinion in Israel does not want to face reality. Netanyahu took power in December 2022, and protests started immediately, especially against the proposed judicial overhaul. From then until now, many of these measures have been implemented, weakening the separation of powers and giving more control over the judiciary to politicians. From January to October 2023, the communist party and Hadash began to influence public discourse, raising slogans against occupation and apartheid, and demanding equality for all. Apartheid -- as a Palestinian citizen of Israel, I have fewer rights and a lower status than my Jewish neighbors or colleagues. However, after October 7, there was a sharp backlash. Hundreds were arrested; people faced persecution at workplaces and universities. Suddenly, everything changed. Even before this war, we were protesting settler violence and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. But the war with Iran has overshadowed everything. Settler violence, or “Jewish terrorism” as it is officially called, continues unchecked. These are militias. They are criminal people. Administrative detention still applies to Palestinians, but it effectively ended for Jews since October 7. With the army busy in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, settlers act with more impunity. The occupation army does nothing in the West Bank in opposition to this ethnic cleansing. When they don’t kill the Palestinians themselves, they protect the settlers who do. This is a deeply militarized society. Both in Israel and in the settlements. The normalization of violence makes anti-war activism very difficult.
LIBERATION: Finally, what is your message to progressive movements, particularly within Israel and internationally, in building anti-war, anti-occupation, and anti-imperialist solidarity?
REEM HAZZAN: I think this is a very important question and a struggle for all of us. Whether in India, Israel, Germany, or the United States, similar processes are at work. We need to see the big picture as communists, and we are good at connecting the dots. But if we do not do the work we are required to do in our own countries, this will remain at the level of slogans. We need to broaden our fronts- anti-war, anti-fascist, anti-occupation- through coalitions and alliances. This is what we do as a Communist Party. Because if we do not change the government of Israel, we will not be able to end the occupation. We will not be able to do our part for the Palestinian people, or even for the Israeli people. This is true for all countries.
