As the horrors of Israel’s war on Gaza continue to escalate, a wave of student protests has erupted in solidarity with the Palestinians: drawing comparisons with the anti-Vietnam War movement. Starting in the USA, the encampments quickly spread internationally, meeting with press slander and brutal police repression. In this special episode, we speak with four student communists from Canada, the UK, Austria and the USA, who have been active in encampments at various universities, to hear about their experiences of this inspiring struggle.

The Eurovision Song Contest kicked off on 7 May in Malmö, Sweden, at the same time as Israel launched its assault on Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinian refugees are now living. In a powerful show of solidarity, Malmö responded with one of the biggest demonstrations Sweden has seen in decades.

The long-planned attack on Rafah has begun. On Monday 6 May, the IDF launched airstrikes on the city and issued calls for the evacuation of around 100,000 Palestinians from its eastern neighbourhoods to the so-called ‘humanitarian zones’ of al-Mawasi towards the coast, and an area west of Khan Younis.

The following letter was written by an editor of marxist.com, Jorge Martín. Every day, the capitalists’ own media outlets show the horrors of this system. From the deaths of child refugees in Europe, to the victims of the western-backed genocidal war on Gaza. Who are the killers? Our own callous politicians.

On Tuesday night, police stood by as a mob of Zionist extremists were allowed to violently assault the Palestine solidarity encampment at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The peaceful pro-Palestine protests breaking out across the USA have been smeared as violent, racist and antisemitic by the media a politicians of all stripes. But there has been a conspiracy of silence around the real overt racism and extreme violence of the Zionists attacking campuses these past few days.

The Palestine solidarity encampment movement has come to Canada. This escalation of the struggle is a breath of fresh air.

On Friday 26 April, heavily armed Israeli police raided the Nazareth offices of the Communist Party of Israel (CPI), and the Hadash coalition of which it is part, on the eve of the perfectly legal annual May Day rally. This disgraceful violation of democratic rights shows the utter hypocrisy of the imperialists who justify their support for Israel’s slaughter in Gaza with references to this being ‘the Middle East’s only democracy’. We extend our full solidarity to members of Hadash and the CPI in the face of repression by the Zionist state.

Student activists have escalated the Palestine solidarity movement significantly over the past week, establishing encampments at campuses across the country. The goal of the students is to divest—that is, cut all financial ties—from companies that are aiding Israel’s war.

Across the United States over 60 universities and colleges have seen students and faculty organising encampments in a growing movement against the massacre in Gaza. A whole generation is being politicised and drawing conclusions about the nature of imperialism, the role of the police and the state and the need for collective action.

Protests against Israel’s American-backed genocidal onslaught in Gaza are escalating on campuses across the country. On April 17, students at Columbia University in New York City set up the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” demanding the university divest from Israel and companies that profit off the slaughter. The protest coincided with Columbia President Minouche Shafik’s appearance at a Congressional hearing aimed at slandering the Palestine solidarity movement as

On Thursday 18 April, 28 workers were fired in retaliation for their occupation of offices in California and New York in protest against Google’s assistance to the Israeli military through ‘Project Nimbus’. The draconian action of the Google bosses against these brave workers shows their determination to stamp out this example. They know that without the permission of the working class, the imperialists’ war machine would grind to a halt.

A new Nakba is not only a dream of the Israeli far right, but would also be a profitable opportunity for the ‘free market’. Several western companies are speculating in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the banks have promoted this with more than $300 billion in investments and shares already tied up in the territories.

On Saturday 13 April, Iran announced that it had launched an attack on Israel with over 300 drones and missiles. That afternoon, Joe Biden left the comfort of his beach house in Delaware and hurried back to the White House amidst a looming sense of crisis. The same night, the President met with members of the National Security team regarding the unfolding missile attacks in the White House Situation Room. 

Establishment politicians have decried Israel’s killing of aid workers in Gaza, including several Britons. But the truth is that Sunak, Starmer, and the rest of the Westminster warmongers have blood on their hands. We say: overthrow their system!

Below, we publish an article sent to us by a young Israeli communist who has been living abroad. After refusing to serve in the IDF, this young comrade faced serious personal repercussions. But after being arrested at a Palestine solidarity protest, he was stripped of his Israeli citizenship and told he would no longer be able to return to Israel. This is a scandalous violation of the most elementary principles of democracy.