[The following open letter, scheduled for publication in the March issue of Matzpen Marxisti, was adopted by the United Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist League (the Israeli section of the Fourth International) and the Palestine Communist Group, which are in the process of unification.
(The translation is by Intercontinental Press/ Inprecor.]
Dear Comrades,
It is with excitement and pride that we have learned of the formation of the Socialist Workers Party in liberated Iran. After years in which you, as revolutionary Marxists, had to carry out your activities in exile, you have returned, together with tens of thousands of other political exiles, thanks to the heroic struggle of the Iranian peoples.
The importance of the Iranian revolution goes far beyond the borders of your own country. The Iranian masses have demonstrated to the masses of the Middle East and of the whole world that the most barbarous despotism, the most sophisticated weaponry, and the most diverse methods of repression are ineffective when confronted with the determination of the masses to take their destiny into their own hands and to win their freedom and rights through struggle.
That is why the dogs of international reaction fear the influence of the Iranian revolution among all the masses of the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where the sacrifice and determination of the masses of Iran have renewed the faith of the masses in their own strength and in the prospects for revolution.
The events in Iran have a special importance for us, as active revolutionary com. munists within the state of Israel. The bringing down of the Pahlavi tyranny is a defeat for one of the loyal allies of the Zionist regime and its main partner in defense of imperialist order in the Middle East. The Iranian masses have eliminated a major obstacle to the advance of the Arab revolution, and the Palestinian national liberation struggle in particular.
The Zionist regime was an active and direct partner in the repression of the peoples of Iran and in the maintenance of the notorious shah on his throne. The internationalist solidarity of the revolutionary forces of Israel will be small compensation for the crimes that have been committed against the Iranian masses in the name of the people of Israel.