In view of the escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict following the massive Hamas attack on Israel, in which thousands of civilians have been murdered or abducted, and the massive Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, in which countless civilians are also dying, the Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council calls for an immediate end to the clashes. According to the KCK, the conflict shows how important the model of democratic confederalism proposed by Abdullah Öcalan is.

The KCK statement released on Friday includes the following:

"Thousands of people both from the Israeli and the Palestinian people have lost their lives in the attacks carried out by Hamas and the subsequent attacks launched by the Israeli state against the Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip. The mutual attacks resulted in a complete massacre. We are deeply concerned and sorrowful about this situation. As the Kurdish Freedom Movement, we would like to express our condolences to both the Palestinian Arab people and the Jewish people of Israel. Not only what has been done so far, but also the scenarios that are being talked about for the future are extremely worrying. These are extremely wrong attitudes that deepen the problems and result in the massacre of peoples. First of all, these attitudes should be abandoned immediately and attacks have to be stopped.

Just as Hamas’ methods are wrong, the attitude of the Israeli state is also unacceptable. The Israeli state must end the attacks and blockade against Gaza and must not resort to violence against the Palestinian people in any way.

The Palestinian problem cannot be solved through violence, but through democracy and the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people. The violent approach will only deepen the problems. The bitter picture that has emerged in the last few days is the result of the Palestinian problem being pushed to an unsolvable situation. The cause of this is the problem itself. If one is truly disturbed by this situation, it is necessary to focus on the solution to the Palestinian question. Every step to be taken, every attitude to be taken without discussing the solution to the Palestinian question and the rights of the Palestinian people will lead to the deepening of the problems. The hundred-year-old Palestinian question has proved this fact time and again.

The developments in Palestine and Israel have once again demonstrated the importance of an approach in the frame of a ‘democratic nation’ by Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] for the solution of the problems in the Middle East. The statist mentality is the root of the problems faced by society and humanity. From history to the present day, as the statist mentality has developed, the problems have increased. The fact that the state was first born in the Middle East has a decisive role in the fact that the problems in the Middle East are so numerous and deep-rooted. On the other hand, the problems deepened even more with the transfer of the nation-state system developed by capitalist modernity to the Middle East. All the problems in the Middle East today, including the Kurdish question, stem from the nation-state mentality. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also rooted in the nation-state mentality. All the problems in the Middle East, especially the Kurdish question and the Palestinian question, can only be solved by overcoming the nation-state mentality. This is the only way to correct the wrong course in the Middle East.

If there is to be a real change in the Middle East, this can only be achieved by overcoming the nation-state mentality, by the development of Leader Apo’s system of ‘democratic nation’ based on the coexistence, equal and common life of peoples and, on this basis, by the democratic solution of the problems of the Kurdish and Palestinian peoples. Problems cannot be solved by establishing more states, as is often said. On the contrary, problems can be solved by strengthening society, developing democracy, and developing a life according to the ‘democratic nation’ life based on the free, equal, democratic self-government and will of the peoples. This is how the problems of both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people can be solved.

Jerusalem, which is considered sacred by three religions, and the ancient Palestinian and Israeli geographies can best be lived in freedom and peace with this model. Otherwise, nation-state models inevitably lead to conflict, war and mutual destruction. This is best seen in Arab-Jewish reality. The only method to eliminate this confrontational and destructive dilemma is the approach of a ‘democratic nation’.

The cause of the Palestinian people is legitimate and nothing can deny the legitimacy of this cause. As the Kurdish Freedom Movement, we always stand by the just cause of the Palestinian people. The solution to the Palestinian issue is as important as the Kurdish issue for the solution to problems and the development of democratization in the Middle East. The state of Israel must see this reality and, above all, recognize the existence and democratic will of the Palestinian people. The solution to the Palestinian question is a fundamental condition for all Middle Eastern peoples, especially the Jewish people, to live in freedom, security and peace. On the other hand, a correct and respectful approach to the historical dramas and genocides experienced by the Jewish people absolutely requires this. Without a solution to the Palestinian question, the Jewish people cannot feel at ease in their conscience and cannot condemn and eradicate the treatment they have been subjected to. We believe that the Jewish people have enough of this consciousness, wisdom and will. The Jewish people are one of the ancient peoples of the Middle East and has a very important place and contribution to the formation of Middle Eastern culture and sociality. Just like the Kurdish, Arab, Persian, Turkish, Aramaic, etc. peoples of the Middle East, the Jewish people have the right to live in the Middle East, in the ancient geography where they have historically lived.

The Turkish state and the AKP-MHP government do not approach the Palestinian issue sincerely and honestly. They object to it entirely as an issue that can be exploited. The fascist chief Tayyip Erdoğan approaches the Palestinian question with this understanding and tries to use it as a bargaining chip to carry out his policies of Kurdish genocide. This is the only reason why they are interested in the Palestinian question. Otherwise, they are definitely not wholeheartedly on the side of the Palestinian people. If the Turkish state and Tayyip Erdoğan were sincere in what they say, first of all, they would not approach the Kurds like this and they would solve the Kurdish question.

Just as one cannot be right and democratic in Israel without seeing and recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people, one cannot be right and democratic in Turkey without seeing the Kurdish reality, without recognizing the rights of the Kurdish people, and without supporting the struggle of the Kurdish people. In particular, one can never stand by the just cause of others. The approach to the Kurdish people and the Kurdish question in Turkey is like a litmus paper. It is absolutely impossible for those who look at the Kurds with dark faces or ignore the Kurds to approach others correctly and stand by them. If this is being attempted, then there is a great distortion and hypocritical lie. This is what the AKP-MHP government and Tayyip Erdoğan are doing. In his speech, Tayyip Erdoğan, on the one hand, supposedly says that the attacks of the state of Israel are unfair and condemns them. But on the other hand, in the same speech, he talks with hatred about how he will attack the Kurds even more and kill more Kurds. Isn’t this hypocritical dishonesty and deceiving the world? These are definitely crocodile tears. How can one talk about what is happening in Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinian people when what is being done to Rojava is obvious and will continue? In the air strikes of the Turkish state against Rojava, the entire infrastructure system in the area was bombed. Dams, power plants, oil wells, supply depots and many other facilities were hit. Dozens of people lost their lives in these attacks.

Those who do this to the Kurdish people cannot be expected to be sincere towards the Palestinian people and their cause. On the other hand, those who do not raise their voices against the attacks and massacres of the state and the AKP-MHP government against the Kurds and Rojava, and those who see this as right and support it, cannot be in a real approach. The tears shed by these groups are nothing more than the crocodile tears shed by Tayyip Erdoğan. Maybe they are not aware of how they look, but everyone in the world except them knows very well how they look."