The Left parties on Tuesday condemned Sunday night's attack by Israeli armed forces on a flotilla of six ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The attack on the flotilla in international waters, 65 km off the Gaza coast, again shows the complete contempt that Israel has for international law or international opinion. Attacking ships in international waters and killing its passengers is a brazen act of piracy and must be treated as such by the international community,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau said in a statement.
The CPI(M) called upon the Government of India to condemn the dastardly act, which the statement described as both unprovoked and a criminal attack on ships carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid to Gaza , which has been under siege for almost three years now.
The party said India must work actively with other countries from the non-aligned nations in the United Nations and other bodies to force Israel to lift the illegal siege.
In its statement, the CPI Central Secretariat said the belligerent act once again showed to what extent Israel could go to defy world public opinion and humanitarian values.
“It is a fact that Israel is fully backed by the United States in its war against the Palestinian people,” it said.
Stating that India's response was weak while the whole world condemned the attack, the party attributed it to New Delhi's multiple cooperation, including in defence, with Tel Aviv.
The party demanded that India take a firm stand and condemn Israel, and called upon all peace-loving and anti-imperialist forces to condemn the attack and express solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Echoing similar views, the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the attack must be treated as an act of war and crime. In a statement, the party's Central Committee demanded international sanctions against Israel and the lifting of the blockade against Gaza. It also called for the scrapping of India's military and strategic ties with Israel.
