ATLANTA, GA, November 12—“Ho Ho, Hey Hey, Biden, how many kids have you killed today?” yelled the masked public health students as they descended, forty strong, on the Emory School of Public Health Dean’s Alumni Reception.  The protesting students were all wearing clear latex gloves painted red to represent the blood everyone has on their hands by staying silent while the imperialist U.S. government continued to send billions to fund the fascist Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians.   

The gathering of public health alumni at the Rollins School of Public Health was being held Sunday evening to celebrate the American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting taking place in Atlanta.  While attendees of the reception drank wine and ate cheese as a live band played, the contrast between the masked, militant students with signs calling out genocide and chanting into bullhorns in the middle of this reception was stark.  

The students are furious at the silence of the School of Public Health administration regarding the ongoing genocide of Palestinian workers in Gaza.  The protest was multiracial; most of the protesters were Arab and Black students, but there were also Asian and white students present. They were united in their anger at the school’s unwillingness to call for a ceasefire. After marching through the reception and disrupting it, they went outside and stood at the windows with ongoing chanting. Two women from the reception left and came out to join the protest. They told demonstrators, “We couldn’t stay in there after you all came in, we would be on the wrong side.”  

Private universities often have ties to Israel, as does Emory. Emory’s Institute for the Study of Modern Israel is one way that they fund students and faculty to participate in this ongoing imperialist project. Just this year, Emory boasted about strengthening their ties with Tel Aviv University (8/11). On October 11th, following Hamas’ attack on Israel, Emory University President Fenves declared support for Israel while acknowledging his Jewish heritage, but remained silent about the loss of Palestinian life and discrimination that Muslim students were facing on campus (10/11). It’s not surprising considering their financial ties – and personal ones with Emory Alum serving in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) (10/10). President Fenves encouraged respectful disagreement; the focus on “respect” and “professionalism” that liberal universities resort to in instances like these shows their true nature. Professionalism has no place during ethnic cleansing.

Public health “professionals” often tout the line that evidence-based strategies are the most important for healthy populations. However, it was clear here that evidence crumbles when there are financial incentives. One Emory student got on the bullhorn and said, “I learned in this very building that war and violence have detrimental effects on health.” They continued by explaining we know that a ceasefire is the answer for the health of the Palestinian people, but Emory doesn’t care because of their financial ties to Israel. Other students echoed this call: they learned at the School of Public Health that racism is a social determinant of health, yet the University is showing its true racist nature.

As Progressive Labor Party (PLP)members who had heard of this action from a friend and made the 5-mile trip out to the reception site from the APHA conference to participate in solidarity with the students, we were impressed by their multiracial, well-organized militancy.  The students were very serious in their organizing and security—they had planned the rally in secret and when we arrived at the reception, it was clear that no one knew the protest was coming. They had sent in advance scouts into the reception and communicated via secure text messages to coordinate. Almost every single person was wearing an N95 or KN95 mask and others took additional measures to conceal their identity, wearing sunglasses and head scarves. Many of the students were dressed almost completely in black.   

Once we were outside, there were speeches and we were invited to speak on the mic too.  Making connections between racism here and imperialism abroad was a point that was well-received by the students.  This point was made even clearer when a person from Emory University’s “Open Expression Committee” came to tell us that we were in violation of the school’s free speech policies! She said we had to either move the rally or stop using the bullhorn.  If we didn’t, we would be at risk of arrest by the Atlanta Police Department (APD).  The students called out the racism of siccing the police on Black and Brown students protesting racist genocide.  
The concept of “free speech” under capitalism is laughable. It is a liberal performance, tricking working-class people into thinking they have “freedom” in this system. It’s clear that the APD had no interest in supporting protestors’ freedoms of any kind. The students saw right through this. The rally ended safely and those of us in PLP were inspired by the internationalism, anti-racism, anti-imperialism, and sharp, confrontational nature of this action. Power to the working class!

Washington DC, November 4—As the fascist state of Israel continues bombing civilians and advancing into Gaza, millions of workers around the world are holding massive protest demonstrations against the genocide of Palestinians.

Mass protest in D.C.
In Washington, DC, 100,000 or more marchers converged on the White House and the surrounding streets to demand that Israel halt the genocide of Palestinians. “Joe Biden, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” rang throughout the march, recognizing the role of the U.S. ruling class in this war against the workers of Palestine. Marching side-by-side with thousands of angry workers, the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) held up the banner for the only strategy that can guarantee liberation-- multi-racial, communist revolution! No nations, no borders, no capitalists!

Chants of Shut It Down! were directed to the capitalists of the U.S. and Israel, while linking the mass movement against Israeli fascism to the racist murders by police in the U.S.--many of whom have been trained by the Israeli army!

PLP workers from Maryland,  Virginia, DC, and New York City organized a bullhorn rally by the so-called Freedom Plaza to address marchers with speeches calling for communist revolution and banners declaring NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR and WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE. Our ongoing rally called out capitalism, racism, imperialism, and genocide, reaching thousands of protesters with over 500 CHALLENGE newspapers and a similar number of flyers calling for Arab-Jewish unity for communism.

With our literature table as a base of operations, we engaged 100s of protestors in conversations about the need to crush capitalism, the root of genocidal evil, and to build a revolutionary party to fight for communist revolution.  We met many old friends and made new ones with whom we will work in the coming months to build the PLP.

An independent mass movement Is growing
This rally was different from many large rallies in D.C. such as the women’s march in 2017 after Trump’s election or the gun control rally called after the Florida Parkland student massacre in 2018. Those rallies were supported and organized by the Democratic Party to bolster their electoral base. Today’s massive rally and march was much more like the anti-war protests against the Iraq and Vietnam wars. It attacked the role of the U.S. in its consistent support for the Zionist regime. It led the mass movement away from slavish adherence to the Democratic Party, the organization that kills off working-class movements. No doubt the Democrats will attempt to mislead workers into the election trap, but for now, workers are not buying it!

Despite this positive development, the main strategies advocated by the organizations calling the rally are dead ends. These strategies are for a ceasefire now and the creation of a single or two-state solution. But what kind of state? Nationalism in the region or elsewhere has been shown historically to fail to liberate workers, as capitalists of various nationalities continue to exploit workers even after the overthrow of colonialism.

A Palestinian state with Hamas or a new formation approved by Israel would still be a capitalist enterprise resulting in continued oppression of workers. The continuation of a Zionist state that has oppressed Palestinians and its own working class is also not a solution. Class war against the misleaders in Tel Aviv and Gaza is the only solution to achieve liberation. Seeds of this possibility can be seen in the organizing being done by both Palestinian and Jewish organizations in the U.S. and, in smaller ways, in Israel. Jewish Voice for Peace and Not In Our Name are Jewish organizations that are calling for a ceasefire and protesting side by side with the Palestinian Youth Movement and other Palestinian organizations. In the past month, the almost daily rallies in D.C. have included thousands of these multi-ethnic local residents on the Mall, at the Capitol, and at the White House.

Israel: A vital ally of U.S. imperialism
Israel serves as an enforcer for U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. Its importance to the economic and military goals of the U.S. ruling class is huge. Biden admitted that the $3 billion given to Israel every year is a great defense investment because otherwise, the U.S. would have to establish military bases and troops throughout the region to ensure U.S. power over pipelines, trade routes, and oil. The $14 billion now going to Israel is a further investment for the U.S. financial oligarchs. Of course, Israeli fascism may not be enough to ensure U.S. power in the region. China is strengthening ties with U.S. archenemy Iran and is building strong diplomatic and economic ties with Saudi Arabia.

A single communist state is needed
For workers to build this unity, we communists must stress to other organizers that the reason for wars, displacement, and genocide of multitudes of our brother and sister workers around the globe is capitalism’s drive for maximum profits by seizing markets, resources, and labor. Anti-colonial struggles throughout the 20th century focused on national liberation from settler colonialism and imperialism. This strategy failed to end capitalism and exploitation. PLP has watched and participated in many of these struggles only to see the reversal of whatever gains were made in these battles. Some revolutionaries, like Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso, Mohammed Babu in Zanzibar and Tanzania, and Walter Rodney in Guyana, aimed at a classless society within national liberation struggles but were not able to get past the new capitalists. We must not lose again! A communist strategy can achieve and preserve workers’ power!

CHICAGO, November 5 -- The spirit of communist revolution was strong tonight at Progressive Labor Party’s (PLP) annual Bolshevik Revolution celebration. Over fifty multiracial, multigenerational workers and their families attended. We participated in discussions centered around the profit-based slaughter of workers and children in the Middle East and the role of U.S.  imperialism in that part of the world. We also built small models of the pro-worker bus stops that were built in the Soviet Union.  These bus stops were developed by the Soviet government to highlight multiethnic working-class culture and artistry, in contrast to the anti-communist lie that revolutionary society was bleak and barren of color.

The evening was highlighted by several dynamic speakers, including a Ford auto worker, fresh off the picket line, a worker from the Steelworkers Union, and a young PLP leader who gave the keynote address. The Ford worker talked about how he looked to the Party for leadership during the auto worker's strike. He first met the Party in high school, and more recently on the picket line. We look forward to inviting this auto worker to a study group and helping build the revolutionary movement in the auto industry.

The steelworkers’ union member stood at his union meeting to propose that their local support the auto worker's strike by sending a thousand dollars and organizing activities in support of their strike. Both proposals were approved. He explained how the concept of internationalism is so important, and that nationalist wars only benefit the capitalists:

"To me, when you look at the Ukrainian and Russian war, and the Israeli genocide, you see working people being slaughtered. It shows the terrible consequences when we let nationalism get the best of us. You see farmers killing farmers, miners killing miners, students killing students, unemployed killing unemployed. It's really oligarchs fighting oligarchs.  These wars are all about fighting for profits--from oil, raw materials, cheap labor, and markets. So, like striking, it takes guts to take internationalism and antiracism seriously. We have to look past phony borders that have been created to keep workers divided. Workers' lives have always improved when they have stuck together!"  

The keynote speaker gave reasons why we celebrate the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in 2023.  "We celebrate the Bolshevik Revolution because it was the first time the working class seized state power and liberated one-sixth of the world's land mass, and every worker in it from the grips of feudalism and capitalism.  We celebrate because the bosses want us to forget our working-class history.  We celebrate because sometimes it feels like we won't win. We celebrate because we need to remember that our class made a revolution before, and WE WILL DO IT AGAIN.  The Bolsheviks showed us that if we truly commit ourselves to our class, and follow the plan, we can free our class from this misery.  The Bolsheviks were a tiny Party in 1905, and twelve years later, they led the working class of Russia to victory!"

We are on the cusp of a historical shift from liberal "democratic" capitalism to war and fascism throughout the world. The racist Zionist bombardment on Gaza and the war in Ukraine is symptomatic of the inter-imperialist rivalry between the U.S. and its rivals, China and Russia.  The PLP is building an alternative movement for communist revolution and worker liberation. Join us.