​NEW PALTZ, February 28—Signs saying “No War Criminals on Campus” and “Jews Against Genocide”  were among the sea of placards carried by hundreds of protestors at SUNY New Paltz today. The demonstrators, who included SUNY students and community members, were protesting the presence of Israeli soldiers, members of the IDF (Israeli Defense Force), who were brought to campus by the New Paltz Jewish Student Union in collaboration with Students Supporting Israel, a well-funded Zionist organization with chapters on dozens of university campuses. A spokesperson for the Jewish Student Union said, “I thought it would be beneficial to the community to humanize these [IDF] people…” The response showed that polishing up the image of soldiers who are carrying out mass slaughter of women and children is not so easy. 

Plans for a demonstration sprang up shortly after the IDF speakers were announced and within days 300 - 400 angry protestors were chanting loudly in the pouring rain. Pro-Palestinian organizations in the area, including Students for Justice in Palestine, New Paltz Women in Black, Jewish Voice for Peace, and others collaborated to get the word out. The energy was high. The political thrust of the protest was humanitarian, including reading the names of hundreds of Palestinian children killed in recent weeks. Still, the complicity of politicians and the university administration in the ongoing genocide was reflected in many chants. 

The rapid and spirited outpouring of political anger we are seeing, even in places that you won’t read about in the bosses’ media, shows that the lid is blowing off. There are so many people looking for answers today, especially young people, that organizers have our work cut out for us! Progressive Labor Party (PLP) comrades here in the Hudson Valley are becoming active in local mass organizations where communist politics can be injected into the protests against the brutality of imperialist slaughter.