[ICSS 20250209] Palestine: Gaza, Prisoner Exchange, Trump's Threats & Resistance -- Charlotte Kates

The ceasefire in Gaza after 15 months of the genocidal Israeli war upon the Palestinian people, backed, armed and funded by the major imperialist powers — particularly the United States — has revealed many truths, including the failure of the Israeli regime to achieve its goals and the persistence, steadfastness and strength of the Palestinian resistance. The resistance in Palestine is currently presiding over a prisoner exchange process that is also liberating a significant number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, while Israel is escalating its attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. As half a million Palestinians in Gaza returned to their homes in the north, US President Donald Trump declared that he is seeking to dispossess Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt. This session will discuss the Palestinian, Arab and regional, and international contexts of the current situation of the Palestinian people, their resistance and their national liberation struggle, including developments in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, the fall of the Syrian government and the Israeli invasion and occupation of Syria, and the developing contradictions among the imperialist forces. Charlotte Kates co-founded Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. She is a longtime activist and organizer for Palestinian liberation, and works with a number of organizations to advance justice and liberation for Palestine in an anti-imperialist framework.