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| Photo: SKP |
The statements are as follows:
Solidarity with the Palestinian People
At the 39th Congress of the Communist Party of Sweden, the following statement in solidarity with the Palestinian people was adopted:
The death toll is actually much higher: tens of thousands have died due to lack of medical care, medicine shortages, and other deprivations. Even more have seen their lives shattered and homes destroyed. The entire population of Gaza now suffers under the siege imposed by the terrorist Israeli forces, leaving the whole population on the brink of starvation.
Israel’s actions are barbaric, aimed at the displacement and genocide of the entire population of Gaza. There is no justification for the torture now inflicted on millions of Palestinians, and communists worldwide stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
On October 7th, two years ago, forces mainly associated with Hamas entered Israel—but the war did not begin that day. It began decades earlier, with the Israeli occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people. Nakba—the great catastrophe—was the turning point, when the Zionist movement launched a massive campaign of forced displacement that has fuelled the region’s suffering ever since. October 7th is like a moment in time compared to the long-term suffering inflicted on the Palestinian people, and it only is one link in a long chain of oppression. We therefore reject any attempt to frame the current suffering as beginning with the events of October 7th.
The international communist movement has long supported the demand for a two-state solution—that is, the establishment of two equal Palestinian and Israeli states. This position is based on the understanding that it is the most effective way to ease the conflict and the rampant nationalism on both sides, creating space for social issues to come to the forefront. It is also the most immediate and practical way to halt the ongoing genocide and provide the Palestinian people with a moment to breathe.
The 39th Congress of the Communist Party of Sweden reaffirms its support for this demand as a necessary first step toward resolving the horrific situation endured by millions of people in the region.
Knowing that the conflict will not resolve itself, the communists of Sweden and their party send their message of solidarity to the people and communists of both Palestine and Israel, because only they can force a solution that serves the working people of the region. We also salute the courage they show every day in a struggle that is anything but easy.
Long live the Palestinian people’s struggle and resistance!
We condemn the imperialist war in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine followed years of mounting tension and low-intensity conflict, particularly in eastern Ukraine. The situation escalated significantly after 2014, when the country’s pro-Russian president was overthrown and Ukraine began aligning itself with the West. Three years have now passed since Russian tanks crossed the border in an effort to reverse that shift, and there is still no end in sight. Western countries, including Sweden, continue to pour in money and weapons, doing everything they can to prolong the war.
The war is a symptom of how capitalism works and clearly illustrates the consequences of capitalist development.
In a system where all capitalist countries are driven to expand, they inevitably collide. The competition for natural resources, markets, labour, industry, trade routes, and strategic footholds intensifies. This drive for expansion is fundamental to every capitalist economy and every large-scale capitalist enterprise, which sees constant growth as essential for survival. Any company that stands still is quickly overtaken by its competitors.
This is true for every capitalist economy, whether Swedish or Russian. All capitalist politics derive from this reality. In the competition for expansion, repression inevitably tightens, and ideological battles grow more intense, fueling a surge of nationalism in every country. That is why we reject any attempt to reduce the conflict in Ukraine to Russian delusions of grandeur or uniquely authoritarian Russian policies. Instead, we emphasise the economic forces that propel this type of politics.
That is why we call this war imperialist. It is no defensive war for the Russian minorities in eastern Ukraine, just as little as the Ukrainian side’s war, backed by Western capitalism, is a defence of democracy or Western values. This is a war over profit and for gaining advantages over the competition. We refuse to be fooled by the ideological warfare from either side and instead focus on the core issue.
Based on our understanding of how the capitalist economy operates, we also know this war risks being the beginning of broader imperialist conflicts, as the drive for capital expansion will not go away, no matter the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
In this war, just like in all imperialist wars, it is the people who pay the highest price. Workers on both sides fight each other for the benefit of their respective capitals. This is the core reality of imperialist wars.
Against this increasingly grim scenario, we put forward socialism, which offers the only way to prevent wars by replacing the capitalist economy with a socialist planned economy. In a socialist economy, there is no pressure to constantly expand. Instead, the conditions exist for real development that benefits all peoples.
Therefore, Sweden's communists condemn the imperialist invasion of Ukraine. It is a war driven by the Russian capital’s push for expansion, just as, on the other side, it is a struggle for the expansion of Western and Ukrainian capital, at the expense of the people. In the global battle for dominance, capital sends workers to die. That is why we organise and fight for socialism, which is the only salvation for working people across the world.