By Donald Ramotar, Former President of Guyana

   That struggle began after the Second World War when Japanese imperialism invaded Vietnam. The people, led by the Workers Party, later to become the Communist Party of Vietnam, began an armed struggle to rid their country of Japanese colonialism.

   Immediately after the war, the French, who had colonized Vietnam but had left it during the war, returned to repossess their “prized possession.” However, the people were in no mood to be recolonized.

   They finally managed to end French colonialism in 1954 with their victory at Dien Bien Phu.

   It was then that the United States, which had emerged from the Second World War as the most powerful state, entered the fray to continue to oppress the Vietnamese people. Their motivation was to “stop communism” due to the high prestige of the Soviet Union in defeating Hitlerite Fascism.

   The cost of the war was horrendously high. There are no exact figures for the number of Vietnamese civilians and soldiers who died. It varies between one and two million people.

   More than that, the Vietnamese people faced a tremendous bombardment. More bombs were dropped on Vietnam than were dropped in the Second World War. The US, in particular, used chemical weapons on the population, causing enormous ecological damage as well as human suffering.

   Two of the (in)famous bombs that were used regularly were “Agent Orange”, which destroyed forests and rice fields and poisoned the land. Even today, many babies are being born deformed and with other illnesses due to the massive use of those horrible chemicals.

   The other type that was used was napalm bombs, which burned the flesh off the people.

   The United States lost fifty-eight thousand three hundred persons (list of names at the Washington Memorial). Millions of dollars in military hardware were destroyed on both sides.

   However, the victory was so decisive that it took the US eight years before resuming its invasion and attacking other countries. In 1983, under the Reagan administration, tiny Grenada was invaded.

   Today, we are observing this event at a time when wars are raging in many places. Indeed, the National Liberation struggle of the Palestinian people has now degenerated into a genocide. Israel is clearly doing its darndest to kill all Palestinians.

   This is being done openly and with impunity. The people in Gaza are being bombed daily. The targets are mainly children and women. They are not only bombed, but snipers kill indiscriminately.

   In the process, health and other emergency workers are being killed, this is to ensure that no medical facilities are available for the thousands of injured.

   Now, there is a deliberate policy to starve the people to death. No food or medicine is allowed into Gaza. Water and electricity have been disconnected, and all infrastructure is destroyed. The Israeli army is even targeting machinery such as bulldozers to prevent the Palestinian people from removing rubble caused by Israeli/US bombs, thereby causing those trapped to die.

   It is hard to imagine anything more cruel than what is happening in Gaza. It is fascism on steroids.

   This is happening as the whole world watches, appearing helpless. It was very different during the Vietnam War.

   An important reason for the Vietnamese people’s victory (even at a very high cost) was international solidarity. Millions of people in most countries took to the streets to stand with the people of Vietnam.

   In that period too, the contribution of the socialist countries, the Soviet Union, China, GDR, Czechoslovakia, and Cuba, provided great assistance to the heroic Vietnamese people, which allowed the fighters not only to withstand the attacks, but they struck very decisive blows to the invaders/occupiers.

   Today, the imperialist states have taken full control of the mass media. They have a deliberate policy to block out news from the area. Nothing of the plight of the Palestinian people could be found in CNN, MSNBC, the BBC and other corporate media.

   Many countries and political parties that were vocal during the Vietnam War are now deafeningly silent. Now, the fear of what the US would do to them, what sanctions would be applied by the US if Israel is criticized, is the greatest concern of many of the leaders today.

   The only country that is reported to be helping the oppressed Palestinians is Iran. However, it is no match for the US, UK and other NATO countries that keep Israel’s killing machine well supplied.

   Tangible solidarity is being given by the Houthis in Yemen. Indeed, it is very heroic for Yemen is very poor, but they have emerged as the conscience of humanity. They are facing death with a heroism incomparable in history.

   The ongoing genocide by Israel, supported by the US, is not only doing damage to the Palestinian people but to all of us in the world. It is dehumanizing us and forcing us to accept the criminality of the rich and powerful states.

   As we celebrate the victory of the Vietnamese people on April 30, 1975 and the subsequent socio-economic progress that it has made since that date, let us recall the strength of international solidarity and demand that the Palestinian people have the right to live in their own state to determine their own destiny. Palestine will win eventually!