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Workers’ Voice newspaper: March-April edition
The U.S.-Israel war on Iran is a major escalation in the Middle East that has dangerous implications for working people everywhere. The brutality of the imperialist assault internationally is paired with the attack on civil liberties by the Trump regime inside the U.S. This includes the continued operations of ICE and Border Patrol, the threats to the 2026 mid-term elections, environmental rollbacks that deeply impact the Black community, and unchecked police brutality.
Our editorial in this issue warns us: “There is a great danger of underestimating the determination of the U.S. corporate elite to drive through this effort. We cannot rely on court rulings or upcoming elections to save us. We must organize now, not only for mass demonstrations and community networks against ICE violence, but to find our way to building a new working-class party through which we can organize our political defense on every plane and on every day.”
In this issue we also have articles on the Epstein files and the ruling class, the San Francisco teachers’ strike, and a review of the new album by U2.
The March–April 2026 edition of our newspaper is available in print and online as a pdf. Read the latest issue of our newspaper today with a free pdf download! As always, we appreciate any donations to help with the cost of printing.
Click on the image to read the paper or message us to get a hard copy:
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Millions protest Trump’s repression in nationwide ‘No Kings’ actions
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER
June 14 was a day of contrasts. Under gray skies in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump celebrated his birthday with a sparsely attended military parade. In the meantime, in cities and towns nationwide, millions of people took to the streets around the slogan of “No Kings!” The outpouring of protesters—led by a coalition of democracy activists, labor organizations, and civil rights groups—was of historic proportion. It was a magnificent display of courage, resistance, and determination.
The president, who has only half-jokingly styled himself a “king,” had obviously hoped that he could produce a spectacle that would rival those of other authoritarian and self-aggrandizing “Great Leaders” in history. As it turned out, however, the bleachers along the parade route were largely empty. The president and guests sat stoically behind bulletproof glass and visibly struggled to stay awake as endless columns of tanks and trucks rolled by. The liveliest portion of the $45 million extravaganza was when a couple of robot dogs pranced before the reviewing stand.
Of course, Trump’s paean to the military was closely tied to his declaration of war on immigrants—signaled by the administration’s call-up of National Guard and Marine units against protesters in Los Angeles the week before. And it coincided with Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran, which has been aided by the U.S. military. U.S. Navy ships have been rushed to the Persian Gulf while Trump is weighing whether to become more directly involved in the war against Iran. Such a move would threaten to spark a much wider war in the Middle East.
Trump proclaimed that acts of dissent would not be allowed in Washington, D.C., on June 14, and that protests of his military parade would be met by “very heavy force.” He motivated his threats by describing protesters as “people who hate our country.” Similarly, when asked by the press about the protests of immigration raids in Los Angeles, he exclaimed, “These are paid insurrectionists!” But rather than frightening most people, Trump’s attempts at intimidation seemed to have persuaded many more to join the protests.
“President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday,” the No Kings protest movement stated on its website. “But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else. No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance.”
People responded to the call to action; they came into the streets like never before. Colorful signs and chants soundly rejected Trump’s increasingly authoritarian policies. The protesters singled out the brutal deportation raids against immigrants, raising demands such as “National Guard out of L.A.!” Other demands addressed impending cuts to Medicaid and other social programs, attacks on DEI and trans people, gutting of measures against climate change and for environmental protection, and much more.
Anu Joshi, national campaign director for immigration at the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the leading organizers of the rallies, said that people appeared shaken by the “cruelty” they have witnessed from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. “We’re just seeing the incredible abuse of power that this administration is exercising, and people just can’t sit on the sidelines anymore,” she told the press. “I think when you see children being zip tied by agents wearing face masks and ripped away from their parents because they are going to their court date, people are moved by that and they don’t want to live in a country where that is the law of the land.”
The largest protest mobilization in history?
Major sponsors of the national mobilization—including Indivisible, ACLU, 50501, Move On!, etc.—agreed that over 5 million people participated in No Kings events in at least 2100 towns and cities around the country. It was possibly the largest nationwide single-day political demonstration in U.S. history, even exceeding the over 4 million who demonstrated nationwide in the Women’s March that took place soon after Trump first came to power in 2017.
The numbers of demonstrators in single locations were also extraordinary. The largest action was in Boston, where the No Kings event coincided with the previously planned annual LGBTQ Pride parade. Indivisible and 50501 partnered with Boston Pride for the People as the chief sponsors of the combined event. About 1 million people reportedly filled Boston Common and lined the streets. Banners read: “Resist with Pride” and “No Kings but Yaaas Queen!”
About 200,000 came out for the No Kings march in Los Angeles—the epicenter of Trump’s anti-immigrant roundups during the last couple of weeks. The crowd included a great many people of Mexican or Central American heritage. As they marched, they passed National Guard troops or Marines who were stationed outside government buildings. Unfortunately, toward the end of the event, police with horses and armored cars attacked a number of protesters. They used rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, and tear gas against the marchers—injuring several people.
In a statement to FOX News, Hunter Dunn, national spokesperson for 50501, said: “Today, over 200,000 people gathered peacefully in downtown Los Angeles to protest the egregious overreach of this administration. While the official No Kings event concluded earlier in the day, many remained in the streets to continue their nonviolent dissent. The escalation came from law enforcement, not protesters—who responded with tear gas and violent crowd suppression. One organizer was shot directly with a rubber bullet, while passing out supplies. We unequivocally condemn this unnecessary and aggressive use of force, and we stand with every person who chose peace in the face of provocation.”
Philadelphia, which had been denoted as the “flagship city” for No Kings protests, saw 100,000 people march up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway despite a continuous light rain and predictions of a heavier downpour (the police gave a figure of 80,000 marchers). The huge and densely packed crowd shouted, “Whose streets? Our streets!” They seemed younger and more diverse than at many of the earlier anti-Trump marches, with a broader array of issues and demands reflected on their signs. A lively Palestine solidarity contingent also took part in the march with banners and flags.
Many teachers marched in Philadelphia behind a wide American Federation of Teachers banner—just as a large number of teachers did in other cities—and AFT President Randi Weingarten addressed the rally. For the most part, however, the unions failed to organize their members to participate in the action as organized contingents. Likewise, nationally, the labor movement—which is key to organizing a powerful fightback against government cutbacks and repression—has generally been slow in getting involved in protests.
Organizers reported that about 100,000 marched in New York City, braving a steady light rain and rows of intimidating cops in riot gear. Close to 100,000 marched in San Francisco, organizers say 70,000 in Chicago, at least 70,000 in Seattle, and 60,000 in San Diego. Other cities also saw tens of thousands respond to the call for protests on June 14. According to the media, Dallas had a protest of about 11,000 people despite Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for National Guard troops to counter statewide protests.
Unfortunately, Trump’s attempts to create an atmosphere of chaos and fear did stir a handful of far-right people to try to disrupt some protest events with violence. A person drove his SUV into protesters in Riverside, Calif., causing injuries, while a similar incident took place in Virginia; a fatal shooting took place in Utah; and fascist Proud Boys made an appearance at a demonstration in Georgia. In the meantime, some 10,000 people demonstrated in Minnesota, despite Gov. Tim Walz’s request to cancel all protests following the assassination of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband by a right-wing vigilante on the morning of June 14.
Where do we go from here?
In all, the No Kings actions, coming just five months into Trump’s administration, were an excellent launching pad for building a sustained movement of resistance. The mobilization on June 14 gained strength not only through the coalition of big organizations that sponsored the major events but also through the heavy footwork by grassroots activists—often members of local chapters of Indivisible, 50501, and other groups. Now, what will it take to move decisively forward?
“No Kings!” was fine as a general defensive slogan to unite people against the rise of authoritarianism. But rather than merely protesting for the restoration of things that the Trump administration has removed or is threatening to abolish, we should go on to demand far-reaching measures that can achieve true economic and social justice for all people. To do this, we must present clear and concrete demands to the government—the entire government, not just Trump and not just the Republicans.
These essential demands, and the strategy and tactics to achieve them, can best be decided and put into action by means of mass democratic assemblies and unified coalitions, centered on expressing the deep needs and concerns of working people and oppressed communities. These coalitions should function with democratically elected leaderships who are representative of and accountable to the participants.
What kinds of demands should be raised? They might address, for example, questions of the federal budget. They could point out that money that is now to be appropriated for the imperialist war machine (at least $895 billion), building a wall on the Mexican border ($50 billion), beefing up the dragnet against immigrants (an estimated $34 billion to $160 billion), direct subsidies for oil drilling (current estimates range from $14 billion to $52 billion a year), and lavish perks for the super-wealthy could be redirected to items that people really need—such as quality affordable housing, free health care for all, and strict protections against environmental pollution.
It is essential that the labor unions get fully involved; in fact, they should take the lead in organizing workers and their allies in a concerted struggle against both the government and the bosses to gain the economic and social benefits that working people need.
In recent months, the AFL-CIO and some unions like the AFT and government workers in the SEIU, AFGE, UFCW, etc. have co-sponsored anti-Trump rallies here and there. There are indications that union participation might now be increasing. According to Carl Rosen, president of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, a new formation called Labor for Democracy helped to bring together 15 national unions and hundreds of locals and regional bodies to back the No Kings Day protests. He said that they recognize that “the labor movement has a special role to play in defending democracy in our country.” (The website https://laborfordemocracy.org/ is due to be launched soon.)
Ultimately, the “heavy hitters” that organize workers in industry, transportation, and the docks need to make their presence felt in the movement. Such workers have unmatched power to fight for change; their tactics extend beyond street demonstrations to actions at the workplace—pickets, slowdowns, strikes, and factory sit-down occupations—that can have a jolting economic impact.
Organized labor’s concerns go beyond the shop floor; they also include the political sphere. If Trump decides to bomb Iran, for instance, the conflagration would affect working people in this country and all over the world. At the very least, oil and gas prices would rise in this country and domestic repression would be heightened, while the lives of U.S. workers in the armed forces would be threatened. How could the antiwar movement respond? Let’s suppose that port workers, warehouse workers, and railroad workers mount an antiwar protest by sitting down on the job so that nothing moves! That would really send an effective “message” to the war makers!
Unfortunately, political strikes and sit-ins are unlikely to take place in the near future. The unions have been hobbled because of their bureaucratized leaderships’ almost universal support of the Democratic Party—while a few have recently strayed to the Republican Party. Unless this collaboration with one of the bosses’ parties is broken, we can foresee that most labor leaders will concentrate their efforts—and the funds derived from the dues of union members—on supporting major-party candidates in the 2026 Congressional elections. Next to those electoral campaigns, the necessary struggles of working people will take second place.
In 2017, we saw in the aftermath of the massive Women’s March, which was led primarily by organizations tied to the Democratic Party, that the movement suddenly collapsed into a campaign to elect politicians to office. That must not happen again.
But supporting Democratic or other big-party politicians presents more dangers than merely being a distraction at election time. Such support also establishes limits on how far a struggle can go with its demands and strategies. The Democratic Party, which like the Republicans mainly depends on capitalist donors for its support, is interested primarily in maintaining the status quo. It is not going to allow trade-union leaders, or protest movement leaders—or anybody else it believes it can successfully co-opt—to fight for and achieve demands that upset the regular workings of U.S capitalism; unless, of course, it is forced to make concessions.
As it is, as long as the Democratic Party establishment feels that it has the unions, the NGOs, and other social organizations in its pocket, the politicians will continue to induce working people to accept crumbs so that they don’t take the whole pie.
Moreover, failing to take up working-class battles in order to better align with Democrats further pushes workers away from union politics and toward the far right. That some union leaders, like Sean O’Brien of the Teamsters, have used that trend as a justification to pivot to supporting Republicans is even more shortsighted given that the government’s policies actively undermine the ability of unions to organize and grow. It’s like filling your gas tank with sugar water because the meter is reading low; the meter may now read full but you’ve ruined the engine. The engine of strong union politics can only be fueled by a committed, unapologetic defense of working people’s needs.
For these reasons alone, a successful working-class movement for radical change must be fully independent of the Democratic Party. Ultimately, the labor movement and its allies need to establish their own party, which can consistently and militantly organize the fight for the needs of working people and the oppressed.
Photo: No Kings marchers fill Market St. in San Francisco on June 14. (Jason Winshell / SF Public Press)
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Hands off Iran!
By CARLOS SAPIR
UPDATE: Soon after Israel began its military attack on Iran in mid-June, it was joined by the U.S., which conducted direct airstrikes against alleged nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran on June 21. An older article follows below. Please look for our commentary on these developments in future articles.
Since June 13, Israel has been carrying out a brazen military offensive, striking both civilian and military targets across Iran. In the face of this aggression by a state with the full military backing of the imperialist U.S., Iran has both the right and obligation to fight back. In doing so, it opens a new front in the war against the Zionist occupation and genocide being carried out against Palestinians.
Thus far, Iran and Israel have traded multiple aerial strikes daily, with Israel flying U.S. F-35s over Iranian airspace as Iran strikes back with barrages of missiles breaking through Israel’s air defenses and inflicting casualties as well. The exact extent of damage in Israel is unclear at the moment, due to the military censorship obstructing reporting and the lack of sustained Iranian aerial presence over Israel that could identify and confirm strikes. Nevertheless, the partial reporting obtained through social media suggests that this is the most damaging bombardment that the Zionist state has ever experienced, an occurrence that many Israelis likely thought was impossible thanks to Israeli propaganda regarding their air-defense systems.
It remains to be seen whether the Israeli military will be able to use this assault to consolidate its position, or whether the pressure of Iranian missile strikes will crack the Israeli population’s willingness to support their government’s endless, futile wars. Nevertheless, it is quite clear that Israel’s brazen actions are carried out with the full complicity of the U.S. government, underscoring the urgent need to break U.S. support for Israel once and for all.
NATO’s nuclear hegemony
In the immediate aftermath of Israel’s first volleys against Iran, Israel’s aggression was met with diplomatic statements from countries such as France that defended Israel’s actions, even committing to dedicating their military to defending Israel’s home front in the case of a wider Iranian counter attack. On June 16, the Group of Seven imperialist nations, meeting in Canada, issued a statement expressing full support for Israel in the conflict while labeling Iran as “the principal” source of instability and terror in the Middle East. This was despite the fact that the same countries had a week earlier been threatening Israel with sanctions for its genocide in Gaza, a crime against humanity that Israel continues to commit unabated. How is this possible?
The international reactions to Israel’s surprise attack and the Iranian response largely follow their positions regarding the protection of NATO states’ nuclear hegemony. Countries favorable to the continued imperialist dominance of NATO states’ nuclear arsenals support Israel, while countries opposed to this hegemony recognize Israel’s aggression as a threat. France itself is a key benefactor of this status quo, controlling the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and thus it supports the Israeli military offensive, as it protects its own imperialist edge. This is a higher priority for the imperialists than the genocide in Gaza.
While French president Macron’s overnight transformation from an Israel critic to a pledged defender of Israeli territory is illustrative of how Israel has counterintuitively used further aggression to win a diplomatic reprieve, it is of course the U.S. that is the imperialist state most directly complicit in these attacks. In addition to the ongoing military and logistical support that the U.S. provides to Israel, without which Israel would not have an operational air force, the U.S. has used its diplomatic clout to maneuver Iran into exposing its military assets as part of supposed nuclear disarmament negotiations.
While hypocritically warning Iran that any attacks on U.S. assets will be met with fierce retaliation, Trump rushed to take credit for Israel’s attack, saying “we knew everything.” After making a quick exit from the G-7 meeting, Trump took an even harder tone, stating that he was no longer “much in the mood to negotiate” with Iran. In posts to social media on June 17, Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Iran and said that the United States knows where Iran’s supreme leader is but won’t kill him, “at least not for now.”
Iran’s contradictory role
While Israeli aggression has forced Iran to fight back against the forces of imperialism, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a principled ally of political liberation in general, nor even of Palestine in particular. While Iran’s religious leaders have consistently offered rhetorical support for Palestinian liberation, they propped up the Assad regime in Syria—which brutally repressed Palestinians in exile, quietly tolerated Zionist occupation of the Golan, and collaborated with U.S. imperialism in its “War on Terror,” facilitating “extraordinary rendition” (prolonged detention and torture) in its territory. In Iraq, they have directly coordinated and collaborated with the U.S. to bomb the country into submission and reinforce sectarian division. In Ukraine they have abetted Russian imperialism, providing firepower for the Russian arsenal. And domestically they have butchered leftists and fiercely repressed women and ethnic minorities.
Nevertheless, despite all of these historical crimes, it is all of Iran that is under attack by imperialism, and the Islamic Republic is correctly taking up the fight to defend itself and its people. A regime change under the aegis of Israeli bombardment and imperialist pressure can only result in the further subordination of the people of Iran, and must be opposed. The original dream of the 1979 revolution—a socialist, democratic, liberated Iran—can only be brought about by the self-activity of the Iranian masses, not by an imperialist bombing campaign aimed at crippling the country’s military capacity. For Iran and for the region as a whole, it is the defeat and dissolution of the constant military threat that is Israel, and the retreat of imperialism from the region, that will open the road to liberation.
Now more than ever: End U.S. aid to Israel!
Ending U.S. aid to Israel was already a vital demand in the context of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocide that it is committing. With Israel now spreading war elsewhere, and leaning even more heavily on U.S. logistical and diplomatic support to do so, this demand has only become more urgent. With the possibility of the U.S. military stepping in directly, it is vital for socialists, antiwar activists, and all other supporters of Palestinian liberation to mobilize demonstrations denouncing the ongoing U.S. support for Israeli war.
Such mobilizations will begin to put pressure on the U.S. government to reconsider its posture, but even more importantly, they will help educate the broader public of working people about the nature of both the Israeli attacks and their backing from U.S. imperialism, and organize the public into a force that can act for itself to stop war production bound for Israel, irrespective of imperialist politicians’ opinions. This is not a struggle limited to the U.S., but rather an international one, with activists everywhere able to build public pressure against Israel’s warmongering, isolating the Israeli apartheid state and building a conscious global movement against it.
Massive mobilizations have already been organized, with over 100,000 people rallying at The Hague in the Netherlands over the weekend. These build on other efforts to draw attention to the crimes Israel is committing in Gaza and the West Bank. In order to free Palestine, the Israeli war machine must be stopped.
Hands off Iran! Hands off Palestine! End U.S. aid to Israel now!
Photo: A firefighter works in a residential building in Tehran destroyed by Israeli bombing on June 13. (Morteza Nikoubazi / NurPhoto / Reuters)
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Global March to Gaza Video Diaries
{:en}PSTU-Brazil member Fabio Bosco is on the ground with the Global March to Gaza, bringing updates and drawing attention to the ongoing genocide Israel is committing against Palestinians.
1. Introduction
2. Activists stopped by Egyptian police at a checkpoint
3. Activists’ passports confiscated
4. Latest updates as Israel attacks Iran
5. Next steps and repression
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Gaza: Israel’s only plausible motive is genocide
By CARLOS SAPIR
As this article was being edited, news broke of Israel’s bombing of Iran on June 12. These acts of aggression further underscore the Israeli state’s brutal motives and methods that are the focus of this article.
Spring has turned to summer, and Gaza is still starving. For years now, Israel has blocked the entry of vital aid that it is legally obligated to provide as its soldiers perch upon the ruins of what was once among the most thriving cities of the Mediterranean, its agriculture and economy now entirely defunct. The U.S., meanwhile, has been a willing accomplice, not only maintaining its decisive military and logistical support for Israel’s military, but even engaging in ludicrous pantomimes of aid provision that began under Biden and are sadistically continuing under Trump.
While the genocidal intent of Israel’s far-right government has been obvious from the start—stated plainly by Bezalel Smotrich and other ministers when merely implied by Prime Minister Netanyahu himself, and proven through its military actions in Gaza and the West Bank alike—we are nevertheless witnessing a turning point in Israel’s attacks against Palestinians.
Previously, there was a narrative that Israel could present to the public, demonizing Hamas and insisting that only removing Hamas from power could lead to peace in the region. This pretense has now crumbled. Hamas states that it is willing to step down from power, and already has been prevented by Israeli occupation from playing any real role in governing Gaza. With Hamas agreeing to hand over governance of Gaza to a technocratic government, previously the basis of the U.S. plan to end the war, Israel has run out of excuses that it can present the world as to why it continues killing and dispossessing Palestinians by the dozens to hundreds each passing day.
Although Israel’s excuses for continuing the genocide only grow more and more Kafkaesque, it is prolonging the war so that it can continue killing Palestinians with impunity. This policy is consistent with the increase of attacks and land grabs in the West Bank as well.
This murderous goal has even been publicly identified by members of Israeli’s military intelligence. Alongside an open letter signed by 41 Israeli military personnel, which denounced Israeli military orders as being “clearly illegal,” one officer noted that the Israeli military has been “willing to do everything to achieve a goal that wasn’t really a real goal … and if there is a goal, it’s to try to get rid of Gaza’s population by any means.”
How Israel avoids providing aid
There are no “safe zones” in Gaza. Israel’s genocide has targeted every piece of civilian infrastructure in the territory. Every inch of the strip is a “kill zone” and every occupant a target.
In February 2024, Israeli forces carried out the infamous and brutal “Flour Massacre.” Soldiers fired on Palestinians of all ages and genders waiting for a scheduled aid-distribution. At least 104 Palestinians, kept starving and impoverished by direct military occupation, were murdered and more than 700 injured. Now, Israel’s genocidal strategy to combine mass starvation with mass slaughter is organized formally through the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Israel has systematically destroyed and banned all international aid efforts not completely subservient to itself and the United States. In their place, a shadowy “aid” initiative called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has taken control of aid distribution in the strip. The GHF participates in one of the most obvious “covert” Israeli intelligence operations of all times. The U.S.-backed GHF, which employs private security contractors, has turned all aid-distribution points into deathtraps. In a massive expansion of the “Flour Massacre,” Israeli forces have shot at civilian aid seekers and killed hundreds in the short period since the GHF began operations.
Simultaneously destroying the old aid infrastructure system, vastly decreasing the number of distribution points, and requiring submitting to Israeli surveillance (alongside international intelligence-linked mercenaries) to receive aid has created intense chaos at aid-distribution sights. In addition to allowing Palestinians to be murdered, the GHF often uses the chaos created by Israel’s psychological warfare operations to shut down aid for the day. Since the GHF began, its facilities have either been completely closed or opened for a small fraction of what was originally announced.
The GHF is simply and strictly a part of Israel’s genocidal campaign. The purpose is to utilize aid distribution to herd Palestinians into ever smaller concentration camps, leaving them exposed to be murdered or pushed into the Sinai, Libya, or any of the other proposals for ethnic cleansing that have been considered. Essentially, Palestinians can choose between starvation, execution—or possible forced exile into refugee camps abroad.
Another element of Israel’s genocidal policies is through supporting and arming gangsters who have been stealing from the aid convoys. The leading elements of these criminal groups are escaped prisoners convicted for collaboration with Israel, Salafism, and drug dealing.
According to Haaretz, roughly 100 men operate with the approval of the Israeli military near the Gaza border. They style themselves as a “National Force” that is providing security, but an armed group operating with the approval and support of the Israeli military in the context of this genocidal war provides the very opposite of security for the inhabitants of Gaza. The sabotage and interruption of aid efforts can only lead to one result: the deepening of the crisis facing Palestinians and the acceleration of the genocide.
International solidarity
Israel is not invincible, however. It is economically and militarily dependent on imperialist patronage, particularly from the U.S., which also provides the framework for the military and diplomatic cooperation between Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. While the U.S. has long been loathe to impose restraints on Israel, its support is not absolute. It weighs its support for Israel against what this costs it in terms of diplomacy in the Arab world and beyond.
And Washington is also mindful of the positions of its own populace: For decades, pro-Israel propaganda in the U.S. press has kept popular U.S. support for Israel high. However, the degree of Israel’s atrocities in the past few years, coupled with the increased visibility of foreign press and social media, have pierced this veil. Labor solidarity efforts with Palestine have steadily grown and provide a basis for a mass movement that can organize not just the thousands of the already-existing vanguard of the Palestinian solidarity movement but the millions of people who can recognize that what Israel is doing is wrong and that U.S. support for this genocide must stop.
International solidarity efforts play an important role in building awareness and moving people into action. On June 8, the aid vessel Madleen, carrying internationally-recognized activists including Greta Thunberg, was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters, and its crew arrested. The sacrifices and risks incurred by the Madleen‘s crew, the sixth such convoy effort since Israel began its siege of Gaza in 2006, and the second this year alone, both unmask the senseless cruelty of Israel’s siege of Gaza and provide a basis for action—to mobilize in the crew’s home countries to demand their release, safe return, and consequences for Israel. A parallel effort to march from Egypt to the Gaza border, drawing thousands of activists and trade-union leaders from over 80 countries, is also underway. International volunteers who began their “Global March to Gaza” in Cairo will be met by another convoy of 2000 solidarity activists that left Tunis, Tunisia, last Monday.
It is vital to continue using all opportunities that present themselves to move people into solidarity with Palestine and to call for an end the genocide. In the U.S., these efforts can further combine with existing, rising mobilizations for immigrants and civil liberties that are blooming in their own right: as each of these movements recognizes how the state prepares to wield the same repressive apparatus against them, and the role that U.S. imperialism plays in advancing capitalist tyranny and cruelty everywhere.
Let Gaza Live! Freedom for the Madleen crew! Freedom for all Palestinian prisoners!
Photo: Mahmoud Issa / Reuters
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Global march and convoy against genocide head for Gaza
By INTERNATIONAL WORKERS LEAGUE
Solidarity with Palestine is growing around the world. Recently, the freedom flotilla exposed to the world that the State of Israel has kept the Palestinians under a maritime siege since 1967.
Now two movements want to expose the siege imposed by the State of Israel on the Palestinians by land. The Global March to Gaza brings together 3,000 activists from more than 50 countries to walk 50 km from the city of Al-Arish to the Gaza border, where they will hold a 2-3 day camp starting on June 15.
The Convoy of Resilience—Sumudconvoy—has brought together activists from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya to travel from Tunis to Gaza and join the Global March. There are 12 buses and more than 100 cars. Wherever they go, you can see the Arab people’s solidarity with Palestine. Today they are crossing Libya on their way to Gaza [on Thursday, the convoy was halted by authorities in eastern Libya — editors].
Situation in Egypt
So far, the Egyptian government has neither authorized nor disallowed the march and the convoy. However, conservative political commentators have criticized these pro-Palestinian protests in the Egyptian mainstream media. In their view, these movements could jeopardize Egypt’s good relations with the United States.
At Cairo airport, some delegations are being barred from entering the country, as was the case with a group of activists from Australia [hundreds were reportedly deported or detained at the airport and in Cairo — editors]. If Egyptian President al-Sissi prevents the march and convoy from reaching the Palestinian border, he will become an accomplice to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
The International Workers League (IV International) unconditionally supports the Palestinian struggle for liberation, from the river to the sea. We are part of these initiatives that aim to stop the genocide, allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza, and end all Israeli aggression, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, Palestine ’48, Lebanon, Syria, or Yemen.
Defeating the Israeli war machine strengthens the struggle for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea, the only true and just solution for the Palestinian people and the working class throughout the world.
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Boston SEIU calls for release of David Huerta and an end to immigration raids
By MADO BLACK and INNES COREA
On June 9 at 1:30 p.m., hundreds came out to Boston City Hall to rally with Boston-area SEIU locals. The rally was collectively called for by SEIU Locals 509, 32BJ, 1199, and 88, and synchronized rallies sponsored by SEIU locals across the country (see The Guardian). The rally brought together many Boston unions and locals to fight for California SEIU leader David Huerta to be freed.
David Huerta, the SEIU California State Council and SEIU-United Service Workers West president, was arrested in Los Angeles on June 6 for protesting immigration raids. He was briefly hospitalized with a head injury before being taken into custody, where he was charged with “one count of conspiracy to impede an officer,” according to The New York Times.
The crowd, united by chats of “Free David Huerta” and “All for one, one for all, free David, free them all.” included members and retirees from many Boston unions—such as UNITE HERE Local 26, Boston Teachers’ Union, AFSCME, and Teamsters Local 25. The crowd and speakers made it clear that they were not there just on behalf of Huerta but all immigrants. SEIU 509 President David Foley said, “Today we’re here not just to free David, but to end ICE raids everywhere!”
This was echoed by signs within the crowd. A local resident and retired member of Teamster Local 25 was quoted as stating, “My union was founded by immigrants … [but] our folks [haven’t] always held out the welcome mat for others, and I think that’s a problem with a lot of people. We have to understand that we’re connected and … we have to welcome people.”
In Massachusetts, ICE abductions have already started happening, ripping apart families and terrorizing neighborhoods. Recently and particularly notable was the arrest of a high school athlete, Marcelo Gomez De Silva, on his way to volleyball practice in Milford. The Milford community immediately mobilized to defend Marcelo, and he was released six days later. With the threat of more ICE raids happening across the country, we must be prepared to defend our communities.
At the Monday rally, additional calls were made for “the labor and immigrant rights movement[s] … to be ready to mobilize here in Boston” by SEIU 1199 Executive Vice President Cari Medina. She said in her speech that “these military style ICE raids are nothing short of a coordinated campaign of fear and intimidation … to silence workers, to crush organizing, and scare immigrants into the shadows.” Her accurate analysis of the moment was met with cheers and chanting.
The working class must continue to mobilize throughout the country. Mass, peaceful, and legal protests must be built in order to be accessible to workers at large. The movement must continue to focus on the connection between immigrant oppression and the oppression and exploitation of the entire working class—along with other struggles, such as the struggle for trans liberation.
David Huerta was freed later in the day on Monday, but he still faces absurd federal charges. We must also continue to call for the release of all detained individuals back to their families and returned from the CECOT prison in El Salvador. We also need to form rapid response networks to support our communities when ICE comes to town. Mass-action-oriented organizing is necessary to protect our friends, our family members, and our neighbors.
The working class and immigrants must not allow themselves to be intimidated by Trump’s draconian measures. They must not allow themselves to be pushed into the shadows. We must be visible and we must be proud!
End the military occupation of L.A.! Abolish ICE!
Photo: Robin Lubbock / WBUR
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Ohio conference: A step forward for the Palestine solidarity movement
By COCO SMYTH
On May 3, more than 200 Palestine solidarity activists and organizers gathered together in Columbus, Ohio, for the “No New Bonds” Conference. This Conference, organized by a coalition of many organizations across the state dedicated to Palestinian liberation and opposing Ohio local and state government investment in Israeli bonds, was a big step forward for the movement in Ohio.
Palestine solidarity activism has deep roots in the state, with ongoing organizing for decades in both cities and towns. Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, the movement has reached new levels, with millions across the country taking to the streets and organizing in solidarity with Palestine. This same dynamic has played out in Ohio.
In each Ohio city, there have been large demonstrations and protracted organizing against the genocide, for BDS (Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions against Israel), against repression of activists, and against Ohio’s funding of Israeli bonds. On the other hand, institutions from government to universities, have hit out hard to stop the advance of Palestine solidarity.
Since the crushing of the encampments and Trump’s unprecedented attacks on free speech rights, including the detention of Palestine activists, the movement has faced serious difficulties. The Ohio Palestine Conference testified to the fact that despite the decreased visibility of organizing, the movement is preparing for future battles.
After months of planning, the event came together and provided space for Ohioans committed to Palestine to learn, discuss, and debate the path forward. The event consisted primarily of panels and speeches with open discussions. Topics included “Fighting Repression,” “What are Israeli Bonds?”, etc.
Themes which bubbled up through the conference included the centrality of organizing, the importance of understanding the material links between the oppression of Palestinians and the institutions that dominate our lives, and the need for ambitious mass action to forward the movement.
Attendees came out of the event enthusiastic about the future of the movement. There are a few reasons this was a significant event:
- It was organized in a democratic fashion with organizations from cities and towns across the state. This was a big advance since the movement, despite high levels of activity, tends to be relatively siloed off between cities. The success of the conference showed that coalition work across the state is possible and desirable. We will need to build out this type of collective organizing and decision-making if we want to put up an effective fight against the genocide. The U.S. government is organizing in support of the genocide from the national level all the way down to local governments; consequently, to effectively fight back, we need our movement to be well-organized in resistance from the local level all the way up.
- It provided a space to share organizing experience and discuss the path forward for the movement. Sharing of experiences is key to generalizing the lessons we’ve learned in the movement. By discussing and debating tactics and strategy, we raise the consciousness of organizers and get a clearer sense of how to fight and win.
- The conference showed that more ambitious organizing is possible. Bringing together hundreds of activists from many organizations through collective organizing is no small feat. The conference has raised organizing sights to bigger things. We have the capacity to organize big events and bring together the movement state-wide, which increases the weight of our organizing.
We need to use the conference as a stepping to stone to bigger and better things. We need to overturn the anti-BDS law, abolish Israeli bonds, and cut off our state’s support for genocide—and the only way to do all of that is through mass action and effective organization. Our task as organizers is to translate the mass sentiment of millions in favor of Palestine into effective action that can force an end to the U.S. bankrolling of Israel’s ethnic-cleansing campaign.
The task before us is great, but events like the Ohio conference show that the movement has the numbers, experience, and dedication to organize seriously and ambitiously. Consolidating the energies that went into the conference behind democratic coalition-building and mass organizing methods will be vital to channel the popular outrage of our communities into a successful struggle for change. It’s time for the Palestine solidarity movement to pool our energies statewide—and nationally.
Photo: Palestine solidarity rally outside the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus in October 2023. (Clare Grant / The Columbus Dispatch)
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Trump raises the ante in Los Angeles
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By CARLOS SAPIR
As National Guard troops confront anti-ICE protesters in Los Angeles, the mobilizations against Trump’s agenda and the repressive actions taken to quiet it have both reached a new level. The Friday, June 6, massive ICE raids in Los Angeles were intended to inaugurate a new “normal” degree of authoritarian, anti-immigrant repression. The government has set a goal of 3,000 deportations per day, and it intends to meet that goal by rounding up workers en masse on the basis of racial profiling against Latino people.
The Friday raids were meant to be a show of force, striking one of the historical homelands of the immigrant rights movement. Instead, they’ve provoked an immediate groundswell of mobilization by the movement, with strong support from the labor movement as well. Hundreds of people showed up immediately to demonstrate against the raids and stood their ground against the ICE agents’ attacks. David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, was among those who showed up, and was attacked and arrested along with at least 44 others.
While union leaderships have been sluggish in responding to Trump’s prior attacks on workers, there has been no hesitancy in their statements demanding Huerta’s release and defending the actions in solidarity with immigrants. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, issued a statement representing her union federation’s 15 million-strong membership, and local and regional bodies across the country have similarly joined in an outpouring of solidarity from around the country. Thrust into action, these unions have the power to challenge and upend the Trump program.
The protests have also noticeably included clear signs of participation from other social movements as well: In addition to the Mexican flags that are a common feature of immigrant protests, Palestinian flags have frequently appeared as well (and U.S. flags are conversely much less visible than they once were). People taking the streets to protest are making the connections between U.S. imperialism abroad and repression at home.
Protests grew on Saturday, and have continued on Sunday. The SEIU is planning a rally on Monday in Los Angeles and solidarity rallies are planned nationwide. Trump and his administration have responded to the movement by casting blame on Los Angeles and California, claiming that ICE agents were confronted by a “rebellion” and denouncing the LAPD and local governments for not engaging in swifter repression. As National Guard troops were trucked into the city, the Marines in nearby Camp Pendleton were placed on high alert (the Marines are Hegseth’s idea, which is to say they’re likely Jack Daniel’s idea more than anyone else’s).
Faced with this challenge, and knowing that the people of California overwhelmingly oppose ICE, California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass have denounced Trump’s measures, criticizing the raids and Trump’s further threats against protesters.
The deployment of 2000 National Guard troops to L.A. against the protests of local and state government officials is guaranteed to further inflame outrage and opposition to Trump’s authoritarian measures. With “No Kings Day” protests already set for the coming weekend, planned months in advance, this could easily become the largest moment of protest since Trump took office and a potential turning point for further mobilizations against the government.
The tasks for trade unionists, movement activists, and socialists are clear: We need to push our unions (especially those that have already issued protesting the raids of immigrant workers) to take action. Likewise, we must muster all of our forces to support the immigrant rights and civil liberties protests where they have emerged spontaneously, as well as to build the rallies planned for June 14-15, and to use these events as opportunities to further build connections and gather forces for the fights that are to come.
Find a June 9th rally near you
Find a June 14th No Kings protest
Photo above: Spencer Platt / Getty Images. Home page photo: Jae Hong / AP.
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Join us in Chicago, July 3-6 for @socialismconference 2025! Friday, hear from immigrant organizers on how we defend our workplaces and communities against ICE at our panel. Saturday, join our meet-up to discuss our strategy of revolutionary mass action. #Socialism2025It’s not too late to register and attend. https://socialismconference.org/
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No borders, no binaries!
By RIO NERO
During the 2024 election cycle, immigrants and transgender people became the primary targets of a scapegoat campaign that was launched by the Republican Party and deepened by the Democrats, which now has borne fruit in the form of a slew of executive actions. As of March 26, both transgender people and immigrants had endured attacks from above in the form of 101 2 executive actions respectively, intending to force transgender people out of public life and to lay the groundwork for mass deportations of immigrants.
Transgender people in the U.S. are facing the rollback of discrimination protections, the loss of funding for federal health programs oriented towards trans people, exclusion from athletics programs and public restrooms in federal and educational facilities, and specific attacks on trans youth—including the prohibition of educational material on gender and sexuality in schools up to the college level—a ban on gender affirming care for trans youth, and, through the slogan “parental rights,” a policy of outing trans youth to their parents 3, which would force millions of trans youth into potentially dangerous situations.
Immigrants in the U.S. are experiencing a new proliferation of harassment, intimidation, and kidnapping by ICE agents, while the Trump administration is currently enacting plans to expand detention facilities, including the recently passed Laken Riley Act, a $26.9 billion plan to ramp up capacity at immigrant detention centers. The government of Mexico anticipated the fallout from this plan of mass deportation and is currently setting up shelters for deported migrants in Nogales, Mexico, along the Arizona border.4
While the struggles for transgender and immigrant rights may initially appear disconnected, the two are more acquainted than one might think. The first and most obvious connection is that transgender people and immigrants are not separate groups—according to a January 2024 study by the Williams institute, 13% of all trans people in the U.S. are immigrants. Apart from this, immigrants—especially undocumented immigrants— and transgender people share a similar sense of vulnerability and economic precarity.
On Jan. 20, 2025, the Trump administration passed “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” an executive order that legally erased transgender people from federal documentation. The text of the order is designed to force transgender people’s identification documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses, to correspond to the gender signifier that is on their birth certificate.
The issuing of this executive action wreaked havoc on transgender peoples’ freedom of movement. Passports submitted for renewal were instead confiscated, and in at least one case, returned in a destroyed condition. 5 Individuals who chose the now invalid X gender marker may not be able to use their passport at all.
This experience of un-documentation is a marked overlap with the experience of undocumented immigrants, whose freedom of movement is administratively bound by a lack of government-issued identification documents. Both groups are increasingly ostracized from participation in public and economic life, facing challenges finding employment in an already crushingly competitive job market.6
Over half of immigrants 7 and 82% of transgender people 8 report workplace and employment discrimination, with undocumented immigrants more or less locked out of legal employment, forcing both groups into disproportionate involvement in highly exploitative under-the-table arrangements without legal protection. In their own ways, both groups find themselves toe-to-toe with accepted societal and cultural norms in the U.S, and as a result must rely on small communities of others like themselves in order to share resources and support in a hostile societal environment.
Immigrants and transgender people are both highly marginalized populations that are primarily working class. For the purposes of this article, “working class” refers not to level of income, but to people who must sell their labor, usually in the form of waged labor, to survive. In a capitalist economic system, it pays to keep workers separated into distinct groups that can be pitted against each other. This serves to keep labor costs down for capitalists looking to hire, and the blame for problems endemic to a capitalist system pinned on vulnerable workers, rather than on the capitalist class, which seeks to indefinitely prolong an economic system that primarily serves to generate profit rather than to meet people’s needs.
During the last election cycle, Donald Trump campaigned in part on the slogan “Kamala is for they/them, not you.” 9 This exemplifies the phenomenon of misplaced blame; in this case, Trump points to a transgender “other” and implies that this marginal group bears interests counter to “yours,” whoever you may be, and wields the loyalty of a powerful political edifice—the Democratic Party.
In response, the Democrats evaded the issue of transgender people, mentioning this vulnerable population only to distance their party from support of transgender rights with statements that implicitly fed into anti-trans rhetoric, such as Biden’s statement in summer of 2024 that the Democratic administration “opposes surgery for transgender minors,” 10 evoking the QAnon-adjacent boogieman of forced gender reassignment surgery for children at the behest of “transgender groomers” and so-called “Marxist politicians,” such as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The slogan “Kamala is for they/them, not you” is currently regarded as a wildly successful 11 political maneuver that shifted the presidential race 2.7 percentage points in Trump’s favor, and lowered public acceptance of transgender people by 3-4 percentage points. Unfortunately, scapegoating works.
If the Trump campaign had one finger pointed at transgender people, they had the other pointed at immigrants—and so did the Democratic Party. While the Republican Party employed campaign ads that toted racist lines such as “Stop the caravan. Vote Republican,” 12 the Democratic Party competed for an even harsher immigration stance. In a campaign ad simply titled “Tougher,” Harris promises to hire thousands more border patrol agents to crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking, placing the responsibility for these social ills squarely on the backs of immigrants. 13
This bipartisan onslaught against immigrants has resulted in a 14 percentage point increase in the number of U.S. adults who want to see immigration decreased; in 2023, 41% desired a decrease in the immigrant population, and in July 2024, this number had increased to 55%. 14 While rhetoric around drugs and crime certainly appealed to rural and suburban populaces, this predatory attack also fed off of American workers’ concerns about unemployment due to employer’s preference for the cheapest possible labor, which is to be found amongst undocumented immigrants who have no choice but to take on highly exploitative contracts.
Regardless of their immigration status or other demographic particularities, all workers share the same interests in terms of higher wages, low rents, access to health care, more leisure time, and better working conditions, but all of these interests are diametrically opposed to those of capitalists and landlords who make their millions off the backs of working people. High wages would result in smaller profits for the capitalists, who purchase the labor power of workers, and low rents would invariably put a dent in the passive profits of landowners who demand their tithe for shelter. When the living conditions of working people are poor, capitalist political parties keep the common social and economic interests of all workers unrealized by ensuring that workers keep hostility circulating endlessly within their own class. So long as marginalized groups like immigrants and transgender people have to answer for systemic poverty and violence, the capitalist perpetrators of these social problems may thrive undisturbed.
In a broader sense, immigrants and transgender people, alongside cis-gender women, share a common region in the capitalist economic landscape: the reproduction of the labor force. Women, and gender minorities that share the physical capability, literally replenish the labor force by giving birth to future workers. Immigrants expand the labor force by increasing the U.S. population through migration and participation in the U.S. economy, whether that’s through legal employment or the cheapest labor of them all—slavery. The vast majority of people who are victims of sex and labor trafficking are immigrants, contrary to what Democrats and Republicans would have you believe. 15
The relationship of transgender people to reproductive labor is slightly more abstract. The far right imagines that transgender people threaten what they view as the ideal system of social reproduction under capitalism: the nuclear family. Most effective, the right believes, is the once normative setup of two adults, one tasked with economic pursuits and the other tasked with birthing and raising the next generation of workers, business owners, and traditional wives. This sex-deterministic model is ideologically wrapped in a backwards, patriarchal worldview in which embodiment of “God-ordained” gender roles is crucial to living a good, respectable life. On a purely ideological level, transgender people are fundamentally threatening to these sex-deterministic beliefs, because if it is true that the gendered social roles and behaviors that individuals fulfill and enact are not biologically determined, and it is true that gendered biology can be altered, these oppressive, patriarchal gender roles must be of a purely social, and therefore malleable, character. While “God’s Truth” may be immortal, social constructs certainly are not.
The liberal wing of the capitalist class is more than capable of employing meaningless, progressive lip-service towards oppressed groups like transgender people. However, liberal political support will always leave the roots of a given oppression intact, because capitalist class rule relies on subjugation. Patriarchal oppression is both the foundation of transgender oppression and an entrenched element of capitalist society, used to ensure replenishment of the global working class at the lowest cost and to maintain the family legacies of capitalists. For this reason, meaningful political support toward transgender people is nothing short of a political liability to the most liberal of capitalists.
In our current era, which may very well be the dawn of U.S. fascism, the declining neoliberal capitalist wing apparently finds even lip service towards transgender people to be a liability. Meanwhile, the dominating capitalist right is ideologically fixated on “bringing back” the American dream, largely through legally exterminating those it deems degenerates, and transgender people more than fit the bill. The nuclear family is a core tenant of the American dream, after all.However, this sex-deterministic family model, even if it were desirable, is far out of reach for the majority of today’s workers.
The rate of population growth in the U.S. is on the decline. This is related to high costs of living paired with low wages, keeping the vast majority of the youthful population of the U.S. living from paycheck to paycheck, spending vast amounts of their income on rent, and unable to save enough money to buy a permanent home or otherwise plan for the future. The number of 25-34 year olds who own their own home has dropped from 50% to 27% in two generations. 16 This simply is not a conducive economic environment to raising a family.
In the golden age of liberal capitalism, problems of stabilizing the capitalist economy and reproducing the workforce were solved through welfare. Franklin D. Roosevelt is synonymous with the idea of social welfare and reform in the U.S., having championed the “New Deal,” which reinvigorated the depressed American economy by alleviating conditions of poverty among the U.S. working class—conditions that could have otherwise proven to be revolutionary. But welfare is not a profitable venture, and the dismantling of welfare apparatuses in the 1980s has left low-income workers with nowhere to turn to in the present.
Currently, about half of U.S. workers make less than $33,000 per year. Today’s capitalist state answers problems of labor force decline with a far more cost-effective solution: Ban abortions, ban no-fault divorce, force transgender and LGBTQ people into the closet, and keep immigration highly restricted or illegal, ensuring that those immigrants have no rights and are working at little to zero cost to their employers (or prison wardens and labor traffickers). These factors combined are designed to force a struggling working class to reproduce beyond its means.
This situation will not be alleviated without the pressure of a mass movement. We cannot depend on political parties that are happy to paint our respective communities as “groomers” and “invaders” if it means swinging an election in their favor. The Trump administration agrees that immigrants and transgender people have much in common—enough so to run its presidential campaign on our collective backs.
If we are united, our forces will be significantly more capable than they are while we are separate and disorganized. We should connect our communities, build broad collaborative actions, and broaden our base of support and collective power, independently of the capitalist political parties that are incapable of keeping our best interests at heart.
All political struggles are won collectively. The civil rights movement, the women’s liberation movement, and the movement for gay rights all were prescient examples of movements that took great strides in securing political rights. It is clear that the victories of past struggles are in no means indefinitely secured, and if we want to keep the victories of struggles past, we ought to take the lessons of the past to heart, fight along the proven lines, and advance the rights and living conditions of our collective community.
Photo: Transgender Law Center
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‘The Encampments’: A timely film for the Palestine movement
By LENA WANG
“The Encampments” (directed by Michael T. Workman and Kei Pritsker, 2025) documents the surge of Palestine solidarity activism at Columbia University and beyond in the spring of 2024. The film faithfully captures the political mindset, resolve, and self-sacrifice of the Columbia student organizations protesting for their school to divest from Israel. While timely, informative, and emotionally moving, however, the film ultimately prioritizes the symbolic actions of the morally conscious few over the organization of the masses.
It is true that the Columbia encampment—and the spectacle of its repression—sparked a remarkable wave of protests using similar tactics across college campuses. Some of the film’s strongest moments depict the hypocrisy, callousness, and Zionist sympathies of Columbia University administrators, who regularly justified their unflagging support for Israel under the guise of “defending Jewish students’ safety.” Notably, it was this kind of rhetoric that then-University President Minouche Shafik used when she called upon the NYPD to brutalize and arrest student protesters, many of whom were themselves Jewish.
However, since the filmmakers were embedded in student organizations at Columbia, they created a misleading picture of Columbia students as the vanguard, rather than a wing, of the movement—a perspective that sidelines the role of working-class and community organization. For instance, there is very little reference to the massive rallies and marches against the genocide prior to spring 2024, or the decades of Palestine solidarity work that came before.
As it makes protagonists out of Ivy League students and heroic spectacles out of footage of their arrests, the film erases the primacy of the working-class struggle. It pays no attention to the local forces in the New York City community that so quickly mobilized huge defensive rallies and resources for the Columbia students. It ignores the kind of work done by the many organizations that have been mobilizing alongside student activists; one is Labor for Palestine, a group built in 2004 to push working-class solidarity with Palestine, which opposes Israel through BDS resolutions in union locals.
The film attempts to historicize the encampments in another way: by interspersing the students’ acts of civil disobedience in 2024 with footage of antiwar student protests from 1968. A current Columbia student shares his takeaways from the history of the civil rights movement, alleging that you need to be prepared to be beaten and gassed to fight for the causes you believe in. But the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements weren’t inspiring because they were repressed, but because they mobilized millions in the working class and oppressed nationalities, and won.
Following the ICE kidnapping of one of the film’s interviewees, the Palestinian graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, the producers decided to speed up the film’s release. The urgency was due to a sense of duty to inform the public about Khalil and his role as the encampment’s negotiator with the university administration. The film notes the news of Khalil’s arrest in its closing cards, and ends on its ultimately shortsighted thesis—“instead of defeating the movement for Palestine, repression has reignited it.”
This idea has been manifested in many encampments and occupations nationwide, that is, where activists engage in direct actions that purposefully instigate repression. Proponents of such ultra-left tactics, including many chapters of the Palestinian Youth Movement and Students for Justice in Palestine, often use two lines of reasoning—first, that “escalating” their “disruptive” actions will “put pressure” on institutions to heed their demands, and second, that their heroic sacrifices will reveal the barbarity of the administration and the state, therefore inspiring others into action. We saw this logic present when organizers of the encampment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst declared “victory” after being raided by the police, leading to over 130 arrests of activists and bystanders.
As Peter Camejo described in the pamphlet “Liberalism, Ultraleftism or Mass Action” (an abridged transcript of his 1970 speech to the Young Socialist Alliance), many ultra-leftists often believe that the ruling class will “listen” to activists if they’re rowdy enough. Their actions, as attempts “to affect the moral conscience of the ruling class,” still hold the liberal assumption that the ruling class has a moral conscience at all. More anarchistic ultra-leftists intend that their small actions will “escalate” into larger ones over time. But rather than sparking a mass revolution, direct action activists often find themselves isolated, burnt out, or jailed after a wave of repression. The working class will not be mobilized spontaneously by “the propaganda of the deed” but by a strategy of independent mass action.
To quote Camejo again, “We’re not interested in moving 20 or 200 or several hundred community organizers to engage in some sort of civil disobedience, window trashing, or whatever. We say that is a dead end, because it doesn’t relate to the power that can stop the war—the masses. You can’t ask the 15 million trade unionists to sit in at a congressman’s office. There just isn’t enough room. Of course, the ultralefts know that 15 million workers aren’t going to do that, so that call is clearly not aimed at involving workers.”
To be clear, we do not oppose encampment as a tactic. Workers’ Voice members have participated in encampments—and especially those more oriented towards mass action. Notably, at San Francisco State University, the Students for Gaza were able to leverage the power of their student and faculty unions to beat back repression and used the camp space as a hub to organize mass rallies. Within two weeks, through open bargaining—as opposed to the negotiations behind closed doors that occurred on many other campuses—they forced the administration to commit to divestment.
As we reach the one-year anniversary of the encampments, the film has been screened across college campuses as outdoor and building occupations have cropped up again, though they have been even more short-lived this year than last, and have led to immediate police repression. Rather than catering to our own morale with stories of heroism, we must reflect on the victories and failures of our tactics. As civil rights are under attack in the U.S., and Gaza continues to burn, we must focus our energy on reaching the broadest possible layers of the masses to form a united front to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel and an end to deportations. The students alone cannot defeat the U.S.-Israeli war machine, let alone a small band of student radicals; only a united working class has the power to truly “shut it down.”
“The Encampments” is a timely and relevant film for today’s Palestine movement, albeit a flawed one. We recommend that our readers screen the film in their communities, share how it reflects or departs from their recent experiences on the ground, and discuss how to strategize in the movement going forward.
Photo: Makhmud Khalil speaks at Columbia University (a scene in the film “The Encampments”).
