How to Rebuild the Movement

The Spartacus Youth Club participated in a Students for Justice in Palestine-organized October 7 protest at SUNY Binghamton. The liberal-led student movement is small and isolated. Pro-Palestine students are repressed, and the Zionists are emboldened on campus. Instead of learning the lessons of this defeat, speakers offered moral outrage and appeals to the same administration that is repressing students. The way forward to rebuild the movement to free Palestine and defend those targeted is to link up with the workers movement. This was stressed in the SYC speech, which was edited for publication.

I’m Sandro with the Spartacus Youth Club at Binghamton. So, I just want to say, as we approach the two-year anniversary of October 7, the genocide of Palestinians remains ongoing. The movement, both on and off campus, has proven unable to slow down Israel. And I think it’s not unfair to say the situation has gotten worse.

Now, we have Donald Trump’s peace plan, which is nothing more than an attempt to paralyze the movement and fully escalate the Zionist colonization of all of Gaza.…

The genuine anger from the students has been diverted into impotent actions. For example, there’s been constant collaboration with the Democratic Party, the same party that oversaw the genocide at the beginning. Despite this, no ‘progressive’ Dems have broken with the party. Even now, Zohran Mamdani upholds Israel’s right to exist. This is because Israel is key to American imperialism and their domination of the Middle East. But what does Israel exist for? Israel exists as a state for the genocide of Palestinians, for the constant oppression of the Middle East.

How can we be anti-Zionist while tied to the Democratic Party politicians who cannot break with this line? This movement has been brought to this point because the fundamental program it followed was one based on liberal divestment and electoral pressure. Its goal was one of shaming those in power, from the Democrats back home to the administration on campuses, to do better.

But the admin on campus are the enemies of Palestinian liberation. Working with them has only held back the struggle. It’s prevented us from linking with the working class. Admin continually, continuously scapegoats ‘outside agitators’ to weaken the movement. But really, we need every ally we can get. We’d be better off talking to the Lockheed Martin workers about why they have a material interest in striking a blow to U.S. imperialism than begging admin for divestment. Escalation on the same program will not work while we are even more isolated and facing repression.

Even now, across campuses, students are being attacked for their pro-Palestinian views. Mahmoud Khalil is a great example of this. But even at Bing, four professors have been named on the Canary Mission website as “anti-Semitic.” Students continually face Zionist harassment. We must be able to defend ourselves from these kinds of attacks without relying on admin. We must link up with the working class for a unified defense of the pro-Palestinian movement on campus. For student power—For the power of the working class! Free Palestine!”