The IMT used Slack to communicate across the Phoenix Region. The Phoenix IMT’s Slack had a channel called “#united-front-work,” which discussed our coalitions with other political organizations. In the Region, members used the phrase “united front” internally to refer to the joint political work we did or wanted to do with other orgs. This terminology was not shared with the orgs we worked with, as far as I’m aware. It was also not formalized in any documents on Box. This phrase had historical roots in Marxism since the 1920’s, but the internal usage of the term was only tangentially related to those roots.
The Communist International (Comintern) used the term to refer to the strategic alliance of Communists with Social Democrats. This is how Leon Trotsky picked up the term. He wrote,
“The function of a Communist Party is to lead the proletarian revolution. In order to call upon the proletariat to seize power directly and in order that this may be realized, the Communist Party must be supported by the overwhelming majority of the working class. But as long as it has not such a majority at its command, it must fight to win over the majority.”$^1$
Communists supported workers’ struggles even if they were led by reformist Social Democratic Parties. However, Communists still maintained an independent political party from the social democrats. Trotsky attempted to apply this approach within the 4th International to fight fascism and grow the communist movement during World War 2. This was different from the Popular Front, the policy of Stalin, because it attempted to maintain class independence from Bourgeois Political Parties.
The IMT distinguished itself from other organizations based upon a firm theoretical position of class independence. The IMT attempted to maintain independence from other socialist groups based upon its specific theoretical positions. However, it formed coalitions with other socialist groups and even Palestinian nationalist groups for certain social movements, such as the Palestine solidarity movement. This was meant to agitate the working class to gain a base of support.
The IMT adopted a “united front” tactic within the Palestine solidarity movement. We participated in both smaller student protests and larger protests organized by Palestinian nationalist organizations. At student protests, we recruited less people because many students were already organized. At the larger protests, we had a more positive reception because we talked to many workers, mostly from the local Palestinian American community. We eventually helped organize some of these protests and spoke to hundreds of protesters about our perspective.
Our “united front” tactic involved an alliance with Palestinian organizations and other leftist organizations such as the PSL and the DSA in support of the struggle against imperialism. We worked with these organizations because they had a working class base, and we refused to work with the Democrats or Republicans. This was our attempt to grow both the movement and the IMT.
We initially attended these protests informally, but eventually 1 CC member and a couple other members began attending planning meetings after joining the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC). because it organized the largest protests in Phoenix. They gave speeches, and newer members were also encouraged to give speeches. I didn’t attend any of these meetings, only the protests. Our speeches at the protests gave us more recognition from local activists.
One goal of recruitment was creating communist cells within trade unions because the IMT believed it could block arm shipments and trade with Israel. “Trade unionists should present motions in solidarity with Palestinian workers and youth—calling on the union federations to do the same—and oppose the continued support of the unions for the Democrats. Unions can also help organize and attend local solidarity rallies, calling on their members to attend as a block.”$^2$ The IMT wanted to stop the genocide in Gaza by harnessing the power of the entire working class through strikes. This would require more than just a few small strikes, but a wave of mass strikes against companies which traded with Israel. Of course, we were a smaller organization, but we wanted to become a mass party which could achieve this.
It is worth repeating that the term “united front” as used by the IMT differed from the Comintern’s original conception. The Comintern was working under very different conditions than the IMT, and it was also significantly larger and more influential than any leftist organization in modern America, including the IMT. The Comintern was attempting to use the United Front to lead workers’ revolutions across Europe, but the IMT had nowhere near this level of power.
The IMT distinguished itself from other socialist organizations due to its position on Palestine. In this section, I will explain the political positions of these orgs.
The IMT used the slogan of “Intifada Until Victory.” It connected the current protests in the US and worldwide to the First Palestinian Intifada. We passed out leaflets about this slogan, and our newspapers and website explained it in more depth.
IMT members printed out many copies of the IMT’s leaflet for Palestine to bring to all protests. This leaflet was created on October 13, 2023, very soon after Hamas’s October 7 attack. We passed these leaflets out near the beginning and end of every protest. As protesters waited for the protest to begin, we discussed the IMT position on Palestine.
“The latest horrific conflict in the Middle East is the direct consequence of the escalating violent suppression of the Palestinians, promoted by Netanyahu, who leads the most reactionary government in Israel’s history. Now that war has been declared, the brutality of the Israeli state’s response to Hamas’s attack will only intensify. Retaliatory bombings have already killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured thousands, leveling schools, hospitals, mosques, and apartment buildings.”$^3$
The IMT made it very clear that the genocide in Gaza was Benjamin Netanyahu’s fault. Although Israel used Hamas’s Oct 7 attack as justification for its massacres in Gaza, its retaliation was clearly disproportionate.
“The leaders of Western imperialist governments are now talking about the ‘right of Israel to defend itself.’ Biden, Macron, and reformist leaders like Starmer in Britain, in a hypocritical chorus, have condemned the attack on Israel. Conveniently, however, they have remained silent for decades in the face of Israeli brutality”$^4$
“This repressive reality is intentionally obscured by the international capitalist media in an attempt to focus the blame on “crazy Palestinian violence.” The same people who talk today about “terrorism” remained silent during “Operation Cast Lead” in 2008–2009, and again during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014. On both occasions, Israel killed thousands of Palestinians, and left tens of thousands without shelter. This is just to mention two recent examples.”$^{5}$
The IMT pointed out that Oct 7 and Israel’s retaliation were simply a continuation of a longer conflict. Western media outlets emphasized the Oct 7 attack and “crazy Palestinian violence,” rather than Israel’s violence. The IMT wanted to contextualize the current massacres in Israel-Palestine.
“They present the situation as if it were a struggle between two equivalent forces. This is entirely false. This is a struggle between a powerful and aggressive imperialist state, and a weak and oppressed people, fighting to defend itself and assert its right to exist as a nation.”$^{6}$