Coni Ledesma
Head, NDFP Special Office for the Protection of Children
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Special Office for the Protection of Children (SOPC) strongly condemns Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed nearly 2,000 Palestinian children. The US-backed indiscriminate airstrikes launched by the Zionist Israeli regime is tantamount to genocidal war crimes and warrant the condemnation of the international community.
By continuing to provide military aid and political support, the US further emboldens Israel as its key asset in a regional proxy war meant to consolidate US control over oil resources in the Middle East. This US imperialist agenda comes with the horrendous cost of the lives of thousands of Palestinian children killed. While we hold the Zionist Netanyahu regime responsible for these war crimes, the US must equally be held accountable for its conflict-goading and warmongering in the region.
The SOPC likewise condemns Marcos Jr’s “terrorist designation” of Hamas in its desperate bootlicking to curry favor from his imperialist master. Marcos Jr holds no moral ascendancy to call the Palestinian armed resistance “terrorist” especially considering its bloody record of state terror against the Filipino people. Akin to the national democratic revolution being waged by the New People’s Army in the Philippine countryside, the Palestinian struggle for liberation, self-determination and freedom from US-Israeli military occupation can never be considered an act of terrorism.
We stand with the Palestinian people and recognize their right to bear arms and wage armed resistance in the context of a long history of fascist military occupation and especially in the face of genocidal offensives launched by US-backed Israeli forces. We enjoin the international community to denounce Israel’s child-killing spree and demand the protection of children’s rights consistent with the rules of war and international humanitarian law.
