Over 1,000 New York City high school students walked out of school to protest the U.S.-backed, Israeli genocide in Gaza. Composed of students from every borough in New York City, hundreds of young people rallied at the headquarters of the Department of Education to demand justice for their class siblings in Palestine. Brave high school students spoke out, connecting the fact that NYC has the largest, most segregated school district in the nation, the same anti-Muslim, racist system of apartheid that fuels mass murder in Palestine.

From Gaza to NYC worker-student fightback is key

A student from the Columbia University encampment also spoke of the police terror and rising fascism that young people are facing for their protests. From suspension and expulsion to brute police force, youth understand that the veneer of liberal democracy is crumbling. The ruling class has run out of arguments and reasonings—Joe Biden and his clique are falling back on naked violence to silence dissent. But it is despite this ruling-class terror that young people continue to risk and sacrifice in the name of multiracial and internationalist solidarity. Indeed, young people see themselves in the cause of Palestine: the genocidal destruction of worker’s futures in Gaza echoes the receding future that young people everywhere are experiencing as climate change, poverty, and escalating war rack the planet.

As courageous students put everything on the line in these protests, it is critical that they do not  succumb to cynicism. Nationalist misleaders are already attempting to hijack youth energy, diverting it into supporting the Palestinian ruling class. These nationalist elements are ready to sell out workers, to silence calls for revolution, and to accommodate a future occupation of Gaza on terms acceptable to Israel.

To liberate Palestine, nationalism must go

Against nationalist misleaders, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) was also at the high school rally fighting for internationalism. Educators of the Party stood with their students, distributed CHALLENGE, and continued to build a base for nothing less than communist revolution. The working class needs a party that unifies the entire working class and sustains revolutionary optimism. From all the rivers to all the seas—you too should join PLP to keep the fire of class struggle burning brightly from the Department of Education to Palestine, to Sudan, to Congo, to Haiti, to the ends of the earth.