Sobre la ejecución de dos diplomáticos israelíes en Washington

Alan Woods' Distortion of Revolutionary Marxism (On the execution of two Israeli diplomats)

Y Red, 26 May 2025

Two Israeli embassy staff members were shot and killed in front of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on Wednesday night. Elias Rodriguez, 30, is accused of opening fire on a group of people on Wednesday night as they left an event for young diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that supports Israel and fights antisemitism.

In addition to first-degree murder, Rodriguez was charged in a criminal complaint with murder of foreign officials, causing death with a firearm and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.

Rodriguez was associated with two leading institutions of the revolutionary ecosystem, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and one of its front groups, the ANSWER Coalition, an acronym for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.

He attended several marches coordinated by both groups in 2018, and was identified as a member of the PSL. Now that Rodriguez has been caught both groups are distancing themselves from him. Israel’s Foreign Ministry identified the two as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.

The case brings to mind the killing of a German diplomat by Grynszpan which was retaliated by the Nazis in the Kristallnacht. We do not have any tears for the Zionist diplomats who represent the Zionist monster guilty of genocide. It is a lie that it is a case of antisemitism.

Trotsky wrote an article for Grynszpan where he wrote: "It is clear to anyone even slightly acquainted with political history that the policy of the fascist gangsters directly and sometimes deliberately provokes terrorist acts. What is most astonishing is that so far there has been only one Grynszpan. Undoubtedly the number of such acts will increase. We Marxists consider the tactic of individual terror to be inexpedient in the tasks of the liberating struggle of the proletariat as well as oppressed nationalities. A single isolated hero cannot replace the masses. But we understand only too clearly the inevitability of such convulsive acts of despair and vengeance. All our emotions, all our sympathies, are with the self-sacrificing avengers even though they have been unable to discover the correct road. To tear Grynszpan out of the hands of capitalist justice, which can chop off his head to further serve capitalist diplomacy, is the elementary, immediate task of the international working class!" [i]

Free Rodriguez!

Endnotes:

[i] Leon Trotsky For Grynszpan Against Fascist Pogrom Gangs and Stalinist Scoundrels (1939)

Reproducimos nota publicada en el sitio de la CCRI, el 26 de mayo sobre este hecho

Dos empleados de la embajada israelí fueron asesinados a tiros frente al Museo Judío de la Capital en Washington el miércoles por la noche. Elías Rodríguez, de 30 años, está acusado de abrir fuego contra un grupo de personas el miércoles por la noche cuando salían de un evento para jóvenes diplomáticos organizado por el Comité Judío Americano, un grupo de apoyo a Israel y lucha contra el antisemitismo.

Además del asesinato en primer grado, Rodríguez fue acusado en una denuncia penal por asesinato de funcionarios extranjeros, causar muerte con arma de fuego y disparar un arma de fuego en un delito de violencia. Rodríguez estuvo asociado con dos instituciones líderes del ecosistema revolucionario, el Partido para el Socialismo y la Liberación, y uno de sus grupos fachada, la Coalición ANSWER, un acrónimo de Actuar ahora para detener la guerra y acabar con el racismo. 

Asistió a varias marchas coordinadas por ambos grupos en 2018 y fue identificado como miembro del PSL. Tras la captura de Rodríguez, ambos grupos se están distanciando de él. El Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Israel los identificó como Yaron Lischinsky y Sarah Lynn Milgrim. El caso evoca el asesinato de un diplomático alemán a manos de Grynszpan, represalia de los nazis en la Noche de los Cristales Rotos. Aunque no compartimos este tipo de acciones de terror individual, no sentimos ninguna lástima por los diplomáticos sionistas que representan al monstruo genocida, culpable del asesinato de miles de palestinos, tampoco consideramos que sea un caso de antisemitismo, como agitan los medios, mayoritariamente.

Trotsky escribió un artículo para Grynszpan donde escribió: «Es evidente para cualquiera, incluso con un mínimo conocimiento de la historia política, que la política de los gánsteres fascistas provoca, directa y a veces deliberadamente, actos terroristas. Lo más asombroso es que hasta ahora solo ha habido un Grynszpan. Sin duda, el número de tales actos aumentará. Los marxistas consideramos que la táctica del terror individual es inoportuna en las tareas de la lucha liberadora del proletariado y de las nacionalidades oprimidas. Un solo héroe aislado no puede reemplazar a las masas. Pero comprendemos con demasiada claridad la inevitabilidad de tales actos convulsivos de desesperación y venganza. Todas nuestras emociones, todas nuestras simpatías, están con los vengadores abnegados, aunque no hayan podido encontrar el camino correcto. ¡Arrancar a Grynszpan de las manos de la justicia capitalista, que puede decapitarlo para servir aún más a la diplomacia capitalista, es la tarea elemental e inmediata de la clase obrera internacional!» [i]

Notas finales:

[i] León Trotsky Por Grynszpan Contra las Bandas de Pogromos Fascistas y los Canallas Estalinistas (1939)

Y. Red, 29 May 2025

Stanton Young of Alan Woods' “In Defense of Marxism” deals with the execution of two Israeli diplomats and distorts the Marxist full position on individual terror against representatives of an oppressive imperialist state.

He writes:

"Communists do not support this attack. We are opposed to individual terrorism because we understand that such acts will do nothing to stop the genocide in Gaza and only play into the hands of Netanyahu and his American backers. But we must be crystal clear here: the real violence comes from the imperialists in the US and Israel and the system they defend.

"This is one reason communists reject individual terrorism – it’s entirely counterproductive. For one, isolated individuals cannot substitute themselves for the working class, which is the only force in society that can overturn US imperialism. There is no replacement for mass, collective struggle, which will raise the working class’s sights to its own immense power as a class. Moreover, isolated attacks offer the capitalist state an easy excuse to target the workers’ movement, and to distract from the mass violence they are raining on the heads of innocent people around the world."

And then the writer added: “As the imperialists continue to support war and genocide, it should come as no surprise that individuals who feel powerless try to take the fight into their own hands. But while as individuals we are weak, together we are strong” [i]

This is all true, but one-sided. What is missing is the defense of Elias Rodriguez. Compare this one-sided position to Trotsky's stand in the case of Grynszpan:

"We Marxists consider the tactic of individual terror inexpedient in the tasks of the liberating struggle of the proletariat as well as oppressed nationalities. A single isolated hero cannot replace the masses. But we understand only too clearly the inevitability of such convulsive acts of despair and vengeance. All our emotions, all our sympathies are with the self-sacrificing avengers even though they have been unable to discover the correct road"…. In the moral sense, although not for his mode of action, Grynszpan may serve as an example for every young revolutionist. Our open moral solidarity with Grynszpan gives us an added right to say to all the other would-be Grynszpans, to all those capable of self-sacrifice in the struggle against despotism and bestiality: Seek another road! Not the lone avenger but only a great revolutionary mass movement can free the oppressed, a movement that will leave no remnant of the entire structure of class exploitation, national oppression, and racial persecution" [ii]

Trotsky's position of moral solidarity with Grynszpan is very different from Wood's distortion of revolutionary Marxism. As the position of wood's fake international lacks any moral sympathy with Elias Rodriguez, who acted against the Zionist monster.

Endnotes:

[i] https://marxist.com/dc-embassy-shooting-the-us-israeli-imperialists-are-the-real-murderers.htm

[ii] L Trotsky For Grynszpan Against Fascist Pogrom Gangs and Stalinist Scoundrels (1939)