Students have declared their unwavering support to the Palestinian liberation movement and have come out avowedly against the genocides conducted by the Zionist Israeli state with the overt support of imperialist forces, especially US and UK imperialism. The protest is escalating at a time, when Biden signed a new military package of $31 billion to provide shoulder to the Zionist crime, causing humanity Crisis in Palestine. The movement that begun in the Columbia University has spread to several other universities, not only in the US but has crossed the Atlantic swiftly. Right now, we can notice a tsunami of student movements in the support of the Palestinian cause spreading across the capitalist-imperialist countries for the first time in the 21st century. Several newspapers and articles have nostalgically pointed that the ongoing student movement is a reminiscent of the 1960’s student movements that were against the imperialist Wars on the oppressed countries and people. Some remembers the typhoon protest wave of 1970’s anti-Veitnam war. They are right in some way. The student movements that has escalated the support of the Palestinian struggle, in essence is anti-Imperialist and anti- establishment and that is in no way opposite to that of the 1960’s student movements.
Student movements, happening in the center of Imperialism, has nakedly exposed the finance capital backing of its pet child’s genocidal war on Palestine. Furthermore, the imperialist US State is restoring to the use of brute force against the protesting students. This illustrates how desperate is US to curb any movements against Zionist colonialism, whether it is in its home-turf or in foreign soil. The question remains why? For more than five decades, the Palestinian people have been waging relentless struggle against the Zionist Israeli state, advocating for free Palestine and right to live with freedom and dignity in their own land. But, Imperialism with its intent to expropriate the natural resources of Palestine, views this movement as a threat to its evil design, hence need to be crushed ruthlessly with any means.
With this aim, imperialism has turned Palestine into a land of rubbles and graveyards. This genocidal war is functional through military-industrial complex that has become an essential component of imperialism. The profits of the war mongers have reached stratospheric height since Israel commenced its genocidal campaign. Students perceive this profit raised through blood shade, against the principles of humanity. Without the massive support from the US, Israel is no way capable to perpetuate such mass killings through war machines. US Imperialism maintains more than 750 military bases overseas. It leads the nuclear arms race at the cost of human’s life. Protesting students are questioning this massive siphoning of reources for the military-industrial complex.They are disturbed, their bloods boils when they become aware that their government, their universities and the monopoly companies are enmassing huge chunk of profits from this war on humanity. What this highlight is the readiness of the capitalist-imperialist system to prioritize is not human beings but the bank balance of the capitalist parastic class. All these financial maneuvers depict in a crystal clear manner that capital moves everywhere with dollars and weapons soaked in blood from head to toe. In last December, a study published by the “Don’t Buy In to Occupation coalition” shows the involvement of 776 financial
institutions economically involved in the Israeli occupation war with a total of approximately $160 billion in loans and a further $140 billion in equity shares. Since World War 2, US has given $260 billion both as military and economic aid to Israel.
US economy is engulfed in deep crisis that has worsened the living conditions of working class and the middle class. Each citizen in the US is stuck deep in the morass of debt, which is not taking name to stop. Students community are severly effected by the high debt burden. To overcome from the crisis, US State is investing massively in the military-industrial complex. Apart from few cosmetic recovery, such policy has taken the economy to a serious inflation crisis. Centralization and concentration of capital creates demand for the military-industrial complex.
Most of the universities in US are in the direct control of the Monopoly capital. These elite universities get half of their endowments. These endowments are invested in top companies. These companies are financing the imperialist wars across the world, some in the form of inter-imperialist proxy war and other in the form of imperialist wars on the oppressed Nations.. The students are chanting slogan: “Divulge, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest”. It is a rightful slogan that hits the bulls eye. The demands of the student are that universities should disinvest from those companies belongs to imperialist war mongers that are enormously aiding financially to war, the University administration should disclose the spendings of the University and of the enforcement of the Right to Free Speech in the University campuses. This has given a undigested blow to Monopoly capital, especially to US Imperialism.
In the pursuit of its objective to stifle the students protests, US State under the direct orders from the financial sharks has sent riot forces to the Universities. Such massive deployments of police personnels in Universities has turned it into a war zone. Apart from massive deployment of police and riot control forces at University campuses, the capitalist media and the Monopoly capitalist class have smeared the student movements in North America in the support of Palestine as displaying anti-Semitism intent. During the Vietnam solidarity movement and anti-Imperialist protests in 1960’s, the ruling class in US in the time of McCarthyism labeled those protests as “Red Menace”. This time they found new weapon for witch-hunting the students, anti- Semitism. This weapon is been systematically used in the new McCarthyism time against anyone who raise their voice against the Israel’s predilection for racial supremacy. Mainstream media, which is nothing but a lapdog of the monopoly capital, is propagating hatred ness towards the students movements, creating a rift in the student community. Anti -Semitism charge by the capitalist bosses no longer carries weight as most of the protesting students belongs to the American-Jewish community. In its attempt to quell the protests of the students, which is happening in more than 120 universities in North America and Europe, the US House of Representatives voted to approve the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act. It criminalizes any form of protests against the Zionist-Israeli state. This reflects the powerful lobby of American monopoly capital with of Israeli counterpart.
Many liberal thinkers are busy in consciously blaming or restricting this student movement as a narrow issue between the student and the University administration. They are trying their best to liquidate/ divert the movements from becoming a militant mass anti-Imperialist movement. This movement is a direct outcome of the anti-imperialist war aspirations which is the by product of the general crisis of the
capitalist-imperialist system. In order to come out from the crisis, the Monopoly capital seeks to intensify its exploitation of the regions rich in natural resources as well as its own people. In the imperialist stage, all the contradictions gets intensifies and grow deeper. This gives birth to social unrest and turns into movements directed against the system of exploitation. Whereas, the capitalist- imperialist system tries to resolve the contradiction and restore “disturbed equilibrium” through the use of naked force. War is the general custom of imperialism. Without waging war for the re-division of the world and establishing hegemonic control over the natural resources, imperialism will be a massive dust bowl. The student movements must realise that the world has only one option, echoing the words of Rosa Luxembourg, Socialism or Barbarism.
Nothing can be more hilarious than US imperialism proclaiming itself as a democratic state. Between the end of the second world war and 2014, America endeavoured to overthrow more than fifty foreign governments. It is the most terroristic state which has massacred lakhs of people in Asia, Africa, Latin America,West Asia and Europe. It boost themselves in the strength of their weapons, but history is made by the weapon. It is the masses which are the motive force of history. Today the people of the whole world are standing with Palestinian liberation struggle.re. On 10th of May, 143 countries voted in favour of the resolution upgrading the observer status of the Palestine and it was passed by the UN General Assembly. Nine countries which we lead by the US voted against the resolution. US imperialism and Zionist Israeli state are more isolated in the International arena than any time before in history. US imperialism and Zionist Israeli state has stepped into the shoes of German, Italian and Japanese fascism. While US imperialism is waging war on Palestine and proxy war in Ukraine, it is preparing for new war to regain its hegemony over the world. With this aim, it is determined to crush all revolutionary and democratic movements of the world, which is becoming serious hurdles in its ignoble aim. As comrade Mao Tse-tung put it, “The principle of the reactionary forces in dealing with the democratic forces the people is definitely to destroy all they can and to prepare to destroy whatever they cannot destroy now”.
Students have always been in the forefront in the struggles whether it is against feudalism, colonialism or imperialism. They provided imperative strength in the 1917 Revolution and the Chinese New Democratic Revolution. They always raised against the immoral force without any hesitations. Today imperialism is fearing the massive upsurge of the students and its worst nightmare is that the latter alliance in the coming days with the working class and the oppressed people. Communists and revolutionary forces must organize these vast section of population and failure to do that would be fatal to the revolutionry movement.
Kurusam Shankar is a Bastar-based Adivasi activist-scholar and a member of MulvasiSamskritik Kala Manch.
