Workers World Party condemns the heinous assassination of Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the Political Bureau of Hamas and founder of the Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades. Those in the Israeli government and military who ordered the drone strike and those in the U.S. government who have colluded with and armed the Israeli settler state are equally guilty of this latest war crime.

Workers World Party urges working-class organizations worldwide to join the protests called by the Palestinian resistance organizations to protest and condemn the assassination.

Resistance News Network described the 57-year-old Arouri’s contributions: “A freed prisoner who spent 18 years in Zionist prisons, Arouri, from Arara in Ramallah, was instrumental in uniting the fields, galvanizing the escalating resistance in the West Bank, and establishing the Shalit prisoner exchange deal in 2011. He leaves behind a legacy of defiance and resilience, and an indelible influence on the regional resistance.”

This assassination is first and foremost a tremendous loss for the Palestinian people, including the resistance that he helped found. It is also a loss for revolutionaries around the world and for all whose lives are guided by working-class internationalism. An injury to one is an injury to all.

Nevertheless, we are certain Arouri’s martyrdom will deepen the resolve and determination of the Palestinian people’s heroic struggle since 1948 to free themselves from the shackles of Zionist apartheid. The Palestinian people must and will win back their ancestral lands, an integral component of self-determination. Reparations must be paid to the Palestinian people. 

Arouri’s martyrdom will plant more seeds for the resistance to grow, both now and in the future, against all forms of imperialist plunder and occupation. 

A free and sovereign Palestine will be a victory not only for the Palestinian people but also for workers and oppressed peoples on the entire planet because it will strike an unprecedented blow against imperialism. 

As the dynamic Black Panther Party leader, Fred Hampton, martyred in December 1969 by a police murder, once said, “You can kill a revolutionary but you can’t kill the revolution.” That quote applies to all those who, like Arouri, have been martyred in the struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian people.

Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, rest in power!

With revolutionary solidarity and deep respect,

Larry Holmes

Workers World Party First Secretary

United States