Brilliant video of the WHOLE March 26 march

What an absolutely brilliant video. Paul gets the whole thing including speeches, music and even him chatting away or trying to avoid being removed! Flick through to see all the different banners, colours, actions and so on. Well done Fourmanfilms.

Re-elect Clare Solomon #1 ULU President. ALL* University of London students can vote, ie, you do NOT need a ULU card.

Well, the elections have started with a bang. At 11am Friday morning (so 47 hours after voting opened) over 1,200 votes had been cast. For the whole week last year, there were around 2,000. I feel confident that my manifesto pledge of last year to increase turnout to elections will be not broken.

Clare and Tariq drink radical beer! Thanks to the students of Courtauld Institute for this lovely publicity-it certainly lubricated the campaign trail

We’ve had loads of lovely endorsements so far and people from many different groups are helping out, from FOSIS to the African – Caribbean Societies, from Women’s to Football teams.

I have support from lots of ULU colleges:. Here’s a selection of some of them:

Daisy Jones, President of the Courtauld Institute and the crew there made these fantastic beers –>

Daniel Lemberger Cooper Royal Holloway President-elect and ULU Senator

Active, campaigning and creative unions of the kind that Clare has developed over her short time at ULU are going to be key in fighting against the government’s public spending cuts and their devaluing of education. She has been central to the movement’s upsurge, a committed organiser who has made the University of London Union relevant again! Vote Re-elect Clare Solomon #1 ULU President

Tahmeena Bax Queen Mary

Vote to Re-elect Clare Solomon #1 ULU President for a President that will fight against racism and not stand by as students are intimidated, kettled, beaten by police and liberation campaigns smashed and silenced!

Wanda Canton Queen Mary Women’s Officer.

Clare Solomon has genuinely worked hard to resist the appalling and discriminatory cuts of the coalition. Considering the heightened controversy of the student movement this year, she has stood by us and led a ULU union with integrity and honesty. If don’t want to stand by whilst fees hike, public services are obliterated, and the poorest, least represented communities are isolated further and blocked from education and welfare; VOTE CLARE #1 brap brap!

James Haywood Goldsmiths President-elect and ULU Senator

Go Clare! 100% support! Been absolutely amazing for ULU to have Clare as President, we need another year of it!…For a University of London Union that will campaign like it used to against Apartheid in the 1980s!

ULU Tango Society: Tangology Org

Claire offered ULU students the “gift of tango”, a life changing hobby. We hope to be able to resume activities soon. Thank you Claire!

Mark Bergfeld

Clare is at the heart of the struggle. She has made ULU the hub of the students’ movement and will continue to make it the centre of the movement. I wish Clare all the best in her campaign!!!

Sky Yarlett

Clare has been at the front-line of the student movement, representing thousands of students voices, showing the government that students will not back down and take £9k fees!

I personally and professionally know Clare is one of the hardest working women out there! She doesn’t understand the idea of office hours and can be found working at all hours!

Re-elect Clare Solomon for ULU President!

Sky Yarlett

NUS LGBT Committee (Open Place) p.c.

Aaron Kiely

Go Clare! Stunning in her defence of students and her attack on the Tory-led government’s destructive policies. There is only one choice and that’s for Clare Solomon!

Bryan Simpson

Clare is simply one of the most charismatic and inspirational student leaders in Britain at the moment. She has the fire and commitment to further solidify ULU’s reputation as the centre of the anti-cuts movement. Vote Solomon #1 for ULU President.

Here’s my hustings at 4min 26 secs. Then Q & A’s. Hear all the hustings for all the positions, from those that came, in this lengthy video courtesy of the fantastic QMTV. Loved the question ‘What is Liberation and how would you campaign for this?’ at the end of the video…

Thanks for all the support-let’s make this turnout a record year to match the increase in turnover and footfall!

HOW TO VOTE

ALL University of London students can vote (you don’t need a ULU card)- and here’s how:

1- Check your uni/college email. You should have been sent a Username and Password from ULU*. The subject of the email is ‘2011 ULU Elections Password’.

2- Log on at www.ulu.co.uk/elections/election and cast your vote.

3- Share with all your friends!

ULU President. *ALL* University of London students can vote, ie, you do NOT need a ULU card.

Click to enlarge and/or print off for your campus. And you could upload or 'Share' on facebook. *ALL* University of London students can vote, ie, you do NOT need a ULU card. Even students overseas on year abroad

*ALL* University of London students can vote, ie, you do NOT need a ULU card.

The University of London Union needs a President who sticks to their manifesto pledges and defends education for all, unlike the Cleggs and Camerons of this world. I promised a campaigning ULU: you got it, with ULU at the heart of the student protests over cuts and fees.

Voting details: ONLINE ONLY 9-16th March. Check your college inbox (and check spam) for your username and password. If you can’t find it email elect2011@ulu.lon.ac.uk.

See all the manifestos at http://www.ulu.co.uk/elections/content/index.php?page=98225

Join the Facebook group HERE

I’m proud of the role ULU played in helping pull together the biggest student movement for a generation. ULU helped support occupations and demonstrations across the city, becoming a powerful voice for students in London and beyond. That’s a voice we will need over the coming year as education faces exceptionally tough times.

A more relevant, visible ULU means greater student engagement. ULU’s turnover is up, with 11,000 more people through our doors than last year. I’ve organized events and conferences on everything from education to immigration, and widened ULU’s range of cultural activities, along with the NUS Black Students conference.

As promised, I’ve taken steps to improve ULU democracy, establishing the regular London Student Assemblies and ensuring Senate meetings are open to all.

I want to build on this record by pushing ULU harder, improving our services and policies, and ensuring the London Living Wage is implemented here and across university institutions. I will continue to work with and apply pressure on the NUS, working with them where possible and taking a lead where they fail us.

I’m asking for your vote to ensure London students keep their union campaigning.

See my manifesto at ulucampaigner.wordpress.com and join in the campaigns

Nick Clegg talks to the hand

Daily Mail report and brilliant photos HERE.

The Guardian HERE

We were in the Financial Times, the Metro, on BBC News at 6 & 10pm then also the next day.

On Wednesday, what Nick Clegg intended to be a beautiful publicity stunt turned into a PR disaster when students

managed to grab the media attention. This photo I took inside 70 Whitehall demonstrates, perhaps, how scared the government are at the moment.

12 students from higher education and school students were invited to ‘discuss developing policy on the future of Higher Education Funding’ on the day that the coalition government released their report on education cuts.

He invited me, Clare Solomon, and 11 other education representatives, all of whom have colleges in Lib Dem constituencies, to what I can only describe as a sham consultation.

At 12.30 he released his report into the Brown Review. We were to meet him at 1pm. This gave us no time to download, digest and analyse the content therefore making a mockery of his attempt to pass off the meeting as though he had discussed it thoroughly with us.

Prior to the meeting we decided to write Hands Off Education on the palms of our hands a couple of us wore t-shirts with slogans on them underneath our regular clothes and managed to get past security with them concealed.

When Clegg invited the BBC to do a 3 minute panoramic shot of him looking cosy with students I was able to remove my shirt and tie and expose the message “Remember, Remember, the 3^rd of November: The Coalition Government Plot Blows Up Education’. His minders quickly tried to hide my striking t-shirt by surrounding me but I kept moving and waving my palm in the air.

This set the tone of the meeting, at which all students were very angry with Clegg, his bogus meeting and his defending of the massive cuts to education that he and his party are supporting.

Mr Clegg, along with all his Liberal Democrat colleagues, signed a pledge to vote against any rise in tuition fees. This Wednesday it was confirmed that the Deputy Prime Minister intends to break his promise and vote for fees to be trebled to £9,000 a year, despite having proposed their abolition at the general election and signing a pledge to “vote against any increase in fees.”

We demanded to know why the LibDems broke their manifesto promise of removing fees. Clegg said ‘you may live in a bubble but in the real world we have no alternative; what’s YOUR alternative then?’ he asked!! What a cheek. We told him to stop allowing companies like Vodaphone to dodge taxes, to halt the 55% pay increases for the bosses, to implement a progressive tax system across society, to stop funding war and Trident.

He said ‘that is complete nonsense’!!

When he tried to justify the loans scheme that poorer students will have to take to afford the fees one of the school students asked ‘are you saying that debt is acceptable?’

Elliot from Leeds Uni brought up the fact that Muslim students may not be able to take out loans because of the interest that is associated with the loans so large swathes of people will also not be able to afford the fees.

Elliot also pointed out that since education benefits the whole of society not just the individual who receives it (an educated society is more likely to vote, to have lower infant mortality, is more healthy etc etc) and that, therefore, it should not be the individual that pays. We need to push for progressive taxation across the whole of society so that the rich pay more tax and the poor less. This is the only fair way to fund the best education system.
We told him that we are committed to fighting both the cuts to education and to wider society and also against fees. We told him about the NUS & UCU demo; and we told him we will be hounding the LibDems wherever they go (like the EducCamp students in London have been doing to Vince Cable)

See you on November 10^th. Don’t forget the Big Demo and Breakfast at ULU from 8am, banner & placard making and student press conference at 10.15 all at ULU. Ask your coach to drop you at Mallet St.

Email campaigns@ulu.lon.ac.uk to book your breakfast. We have over 1,200 booked in so far so make sure you let me know asap.

see: http://ulucampaigner.wordpress.com

See more videos on this playlist: http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=5A612FD02298763C

Fees rise to £9k, 100% cut to Arts & H-tell me ur protest details by 1-2pm...

Remember, remember, the 3rd of November. And I'm going to parliament! I've just heard that 20 coaches from Sheffield University are fully booked up for the demo next Wednesday. If this is representative Nov 10th will be the biggest anti-cuts demo yet. The uprising starts here and with the students...send me photos of your protests today so I can tell the government!

Fees to rise to £9k, 100% cut to Arts & Humanities funding and much worse.

This is the beginning of the proverbial nail in the coffin.

We need huge response from students today.

As you may know, I've been invited to Nick Cleggs office today. I need msgs from students and unions by 1-2pm about what your response is.

Hold a flash protest or more at 1pm today, email, twitter, Facebook, leaflet if poss etc to get as many people out on the streets, shout at something, make some visuals, a3 paper makes a simple placard!

Dress up in funeral black. Paint messages on your hands/face/Walls and anything visual.

Send photos/videos to me atc.Solomon@ulu.lon.ac.uk by 1-2pmand/or by text on both 07850177637 and07535629289 so I can inform media at Parliament. Spread the news.

Sent from my iPhone

t 07850 177 637

w www.ulucampaigner.wordpress.com

w www.counterfire.org

SOAS motions on Msex Phil campaign and Censure of Wes Streeting, NUS president

Two motions at SOAS UGM this Friday.

2. Save Middlesex Philosophy

Proposed by: Alexej Ulbricht
Seconded: Shanti Ulfsbjorninn

This union notes:

    2.1    That on April 26th Middlesex University executive decided to close its Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), and in the course cut all philosophy programmes, undergraduate, postgraduate, and MPhil/PhD;

    2.2    That CRMEP is one of the most important centres for the study of modern European philosophy in the English-speaking world, and is well known for its social and political engagement;

    2.3    That philosophy is the highest research-rated subject at Middlesex, with the RAE rating 65% of its research as either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’;

    2.4    That the MA programme in philosophy is the largest of its kind in the country, with 42 students admitted in 2009;

    2.5    That as such, the department also generates a substantial amount of revenue for the University, currently contributing close to half of its total income to the University's central administration;

    2.6    That despite all this the Dean for Arts and Humanities, Edward Esche, has stated that the reasons for closure where simply financial, and that the department made no ‘measurable’ contribution to the university;

    2.7    That a ‘Save Middlesex Philosophy’ campaign has been formed to oppose the closure;

    2.8    That this news follows a whole string of announced cuts around the country: at UCL, at Kings, at Westminster, and elsewhere;
 
 --

This Union Believes:

    2.1    That there is nothing to justify the closure of CRMEP;

    2.2    That this is a foreboding sign of the kind of pressures that are going to hit Arts and Humanities subjects, if even a university’s most prestigious department faces the axe;

    2.3    That taking action against these measures is fundamental to defend the quality of Higher Education not only at Middlesex, but nationwide;

    2.4    That allowing a precedent of this kind paves the way for further cuts to be implemented in other institutions;

    2.5    That the SOAS academic tradition has always been at the forefront in Arts and Humanities, and is as such incompatible with cuts of this kind;
 
 --

This Union Resolves:

    2.1    To formally support the Save Middlesex Philosophy campaign;

    2.2    To support every form of action that students at Middlesex are going to take against the announced measures;

    2.3    To send a letter to Dean Esche, voicing our opposition to these plans;

    2.4    To circulate the petition to save Middlesex philosophy in the next Union email;

2.5 To mandate the Students' Union executive to lobby the School to express its opposition to the damaging measures taken by Middlesex management.

==============
5. Condemn Censure at National NUS Conference

Proposed By: Elly Badcock
Seconded By: Symeon Brown

 --

This Union Notes

5.1  That Durham University Union Society planned, in March 2010, to invite the British National Party to a formal debate.

5.2  That the National Union of Student’s LGBT Officer and Black Student’s Officer wrote a letter to Durham Student Union requesting that they cancel the debate due to both the danger posed by inviting fascists onto campus, especially to black, LGBT, disabled and women students, and the NUS No Platform policy which they are mandated to campaign for within Student Unions. They stated in the letter that if the debate was not cancelled then they would organise a protest alongside Unite Against Fascism

5.3  That Durham Union Society cancelled the debate.

5.4  That Durham Union Society argued that the letter was threatening because of the line “if students are hurt around the event, responsibility will lie with you”.

5.5  That the signatories pointed out that this line was in reference to the statistically proven link between the BNP organising in an area and the rise in hate crime and violence.

5.6  That, subsequently, a campaign was staged at Durham to disaffiliate from the NUS, with a referendum voting narrowly for disaffiliation.

5.7  That at NUS National Conference 2010, a motion of censure was brought against both the Black Student’s Officer and the LGBT Officer, and was passed only against the Black Student’s Officer.

5.8  That Wes Streeting, current NUS President, as well as six other NEC members voted for this censure, and that the censure passed by exactly seven votes.

 --
 
This Union Believes

5.1  That wherever fascists organise in an area, hate crime and violence rises.

5.2  That fascists threaten the very right of black, LGBT and disabled students to exist and are extremely misogynistic.

5.3  That the BNP are a fascist organisation seeking a veneer of respectability, but that their comments belie their true fascist nature. Speaking about the Holocaust, their leader Nick Griffin stated: “I have reached the conclusion that the‘extermination’ tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter [day] witch hysteria.” On the subject of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, he said: ““Everyone down there knows he was notorious for taxing kids for their dinner money and he was a drug dealer. According to many people within the Metropolitan police, he was killed by another black – not a white racist attack at all.”

5.4  That fascists are not welcome in our Student’s Union.

5.5  That the Black Student’s and LGBT officers were right to request the cancellation of the debate, and to organise a protest.

5.6  That censuring a Liberation Officer for anti-fascist work sends out an extremely dangerous message that will be seized by the BNP as evidence that they are a legitimate party.

5.7  That censuring a black woman and not a white man for the same actions is disturbing at best.

5.8  That the censure of the Black Students’ Officer and attempted censure of the LGBT Officer gives the false impression that the NUS and (therefore NEC) does not support our liberation campaigns and their officers.

5.9  That these false impressions, if not corrected, have the potential to damage the organisation further, up to and including discouraging participation from Black and LGBT students and constituent members like ourselves who represent a high proportion of students from these campaigns.

5.10 That the Liberation Campaigns (Black students, Women, LGBT and Disabled students) are autonomous and should be mandated by and answerable to their members.
5.11 That it is shameful for seven NEC members to vote for this censure.

5.12 That the NUS must take a strong, anti-fascist stance and actively defend the case for No Platform.

 --

This Union Resolves

5.1 That we have no confidence in Wes Streeting and the NEC members who voted for the censure.

5.2 To pass a motion of censure from SOAS Union against Wes Streeting and said NEC members.

5.3 To call on the NEC to release a statement which re-affirms its support for the No Platform policy of the NUS

5.4 To call on the NEC to further include in this statement a re-affirmation of its support for both the Black Students’ Campaign, LGBT Campaign and all liberation campaigns

5.5 To affiliate to and continue our work with Unite Against Fascism

5.6 To implement a No Platform for fascists policy in SOAS Union

Me, Maham Ian won the ULU election

Hi all, thank you so much again. Sorry I haven't been able to reply to all of you individually...

The results are as follows:

I was elected as President, Ian Drummond as Vice President and Maham Hashmi as student trustee! Unfortunately our good friend and campaigner Hilary Aked was closely pipped at the post but we are sure that she will continue her hard work.

See the great report at our Counterfire website

So, the united fight against cuts begins here...

We would like to thank everyone who helped out in whatever way they did. It all helped to make the campaign a success.

We will have a planning meeting in the next month or so to get started and hit the ground running. There is going to be so much to do.

SO KEEP YOUR EYE ON THIS BLOG OR JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP IF YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED...I will send the invite out on here.

Once again, thanks for all your help-WE DID IT.

Speak soon, Clare

(who is the cheeky monkey at second 13 in this video?!)
--

In solidarity Clare Solomon
http://solomonsmindfield.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/solomonsmfield

My election results and results drinks....

Well, as you can imagine we are all exhausted. And it's still not over yet...The lady is about to start singing tho :-)

I have had positive feedback from every campus so if nothing else we have created a good network of activists to build out of.

*Drinks tonight*: 5.30pm ULU, Malet St. The results are due to be announced at 6pm unless there any complaints. I don't know exactly which room but go to the Duck and Dive on 1st and I will put up posters if we move to another room. Please do try to make it and feel free to bring friends!!

==========================================

For those that cant make it we will send a msg at about 6.15 if it is announced on time. Please spread the news on facebook etc.

I can't wait to get out of this election frenzy-it takes over ones life!

Speak later. Clare

Swine flu is rubbish

I have just heard that the University of East Anglia has decided to stop office-based recycling in an effort to 'limit the spread of potential cases of H1N1 (Swine Flu)'.

I'm no scientist but this seems a tad over the top to me. My guess is that they want to get rid of that pesky recycling malarky and save a few pennies. Does anyone know whether there is any weight behind their reasoning?

In the meantime, here is a great article cutting through the spin that we get from the mainstream media.

Swine Flu: the real dangerous swine wear suits

Feature by Mike Davis, May 2009

With deaths mounting in Mexico authorities warn of a swine flu pandemic. Mike Davis argues that governments, pharmaceutical companies and agribusiness create the conditions for these health crises.

Read the rest HERE at Socialist Review

Press release: Students in Solidarity with Gaza

Contact: Kat Sullivan

Mobile Cairo: 019.264.1283

On Monday May 25th, a group of students from Cairo attempted to enter the Gaza border to deliver aid. Thus far, all efforts to enter have been stopped by Egyptian authorities.

The student delegation from Cairo is planning to meet with numerous other delegations from around the globe. Each group has medical aid and supplies, sports equipment for children and monetary donations. The Egyptian authorities have been completely aware of everyone attending and everything that we are carrying. All members attending were told that they were given full clearance to enter Gaza. However, now at the border, they suddenly refuse. We are being either blocked from entering or even turned back at checkpoints before the border

itself.

Knowing that our efforts are supported worldwide, we are compelled to reach out to all media outlets within and without Cairo, Egypt.

For more information

twitter.com/studentsforgaza

Croatian occupation-Money for Education not for the army

Cross posted from infinite thØught blog. Thanks for the great report.

Invited to give a paper at the occupied Philosophy faculty, we arrived on day 31 of the protest. The first striking thing about the occupation, to protest against the introduction of tuition fees, is its sheer size. Unlike Philosophy departments in the UK, often small addenda to larger Humanities or Social Science schools, here Philosophy is truly the Queen of the Sciences. As such, Philosophy at Zagreb includes all humanities and most social science subjects, and the faculty is made up of somewhere between 6000-7000 students. The occupation is not only huge in terms of the size of the buildings, but also in terms of the number of students still there, even after a month. The protests started after the government proposal was discussed and an occupation was proposed by a Capital reading group (although there is some dispute as to whether this is where the original idea came from - no matter, it happened). The occupation has received widespread media coverage.

Read more HERE

$2,500 Daniel Singer Essay prize

Daniel Singer Essay prize, originally uploaded by solomonsmfield.

Click image to enlarge

Videos of Wednesday's student demo

Comrade Mark makes a fabulous speech

SOAS representing at London Demo against marketisation of education

Cairo Uni protest over fees and police repression

جامعة القاهرة تحت حصار قوات الامن المركزي, originally uploaded by أحمد عبد الفتاح1.

أقتحام البوابة, originally uploaded by أحمد عبد الفتاح1.

Hampshire College becomes first college in U.S. to divest from Israeli Occupation!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Although the college has also divested from other companies, it is pertinent that these 6 businesses are explicitly named...as the first college to divest from South Africa 32 years ago, this divestment sends out a clear signal for a way forward.
======

Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, has become the first of any college or university in the U.S. to divest from companies on the grounds of their involvement in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

This landmark move is a direct result of a two-year intensive campaign by the campus group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The group pressured Hampshire College's Board of Trustees to divest from six specific companies due to human rights concerns in occupied Palestine. Over 800 students, professors, and alumni have signed SJP's "institutional statement" calling for the divestment.

The proposal put forth by SJP was approved on Saturday, 7 Feb 2009 by the Board. By divesting from these companies, SJP believes that Hampshire has distanced itself from complicity in the illegal occupation and war crimes of Israel.

Meeting minutes from a committee of Hampshire's Board of Trustees confirm that "President Hexter acknowledged that it was the good work of SJP that brought this issue to the attention of the committee." This groundbreaking decision follows in Hampshire's history of being the first college in the country to divest from apartheid South Africa thirty-two years ago, a decision based on similar human rights concerns. This divestment was also a direct result of student pressure.

The divestment has so far been endorsed by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Rashid Khalidi, Vice President of the EU Parliament Luisa Morganitini, Cynthia McKinney, former member of the African National Congress Ronnie Kasrils, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, John Berger, Tariq Ali, Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, among others.

The six corporations, all of which provide the Israeli military with equipment and services in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza are: Caterpillar, United Technologies, General Electric, ITT Corporation, Motorola, and Terex (see attached info sheet for more information on these corporations.) Furthermore, our policy prevents the reinvestment in any company involved in the illegal occupation.

SJP is responding to a call from Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) as a way of bringing non-violent pressure to bear on the state of Israel to end its violations of international law. SJP is following in the footsteps of many noted groups and institutions such as the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education in the UK, the Israeli group Gush Shalom, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and the American Friends Service Committee.

As well as voicing our opposition to the illegal occupation and the consistent human rights violations of the Palestinian people, we as members of an institute of higher education see it as our moral responsibility to express our solidarity with Palestinian students whose access to education is severely inhibited by the Israeli occupation.

SJP has proven that student groups can organize, rally and pressure their schools to divest from the illegal occupation. The group hopes that this decision will pave the way for other institutions of higher learning in the U.S. to take similar stands.

Public SWSS mtg on palestine-all welcome

Public SWSS mtg on palestine-all welcome, originally uploaded by solomonsmfield.

The Gaza Strip is effectively the world’s largest prison camp.

Zionist terror gangs drove its population from their homes during the creation of Israel in 1948.

That event – known in Arabic as the Nakba (catastrophe) – saw 750,000 Palestinians ethnically cleansed. They fled to the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and to other countries.

Come to hear Palestinian activist speak on the roots and causes of today's situation in Gaza. Questions and contributions welcome.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy recalls the student uprising in Paris in May 1968. warned his fellow rulers of a “European 1968”.

http://euobserver.com/851/27330

Organised Students are  a vital element of resistance writes Chris Harman

Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland. The last two months have seen a new upsurge of student struggles, leading French president Nicolas Sarkozy to recall the student uprising in Paris in May 1968. He warned his fellow rulers of a “European 1968”.

In Britain students were central to the huge demonstrations against the Iraq war six years ago and they have been a vital component of the protests against the Israeli slaughter in Gaza.

The role of students will be no less vital in the period ahead. The “war on terror” still means the bombing of peasant villages in Afghanistan and North West Pakistan.

The instability that leads to these wars will only be increased by the development of the most serious economic crisis since the 1930s.

Read the rest HERE

The following should be read alongside this article: 
» Victory to the movement
» Occupations spread across Britain
» Fighting for a better world
» Resist the 'war on terror'

Chris Harman is editor of International Socialism journal» www.isj.org.uk

---

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A fellow Israeli student: 'I don't know what to believe any more - my history has been taken away from me.'

Analysis of UK University Occupations.

The Fearless Theorillas | 24.01.2009 01:37 | Free Spaces | Palestine | Workers' Movements

Initial response to the wave of occupations in a dozen universities across the country in solidarity with Gaza. The Theorillas [Theory-Guerillas] are an affinity group throwing theory at the movement.

thefearlesstheorillas@riseup.net

Initial Response to the UK Occupations.
Gaza / Occupation / Recession

The demands being made by UK students are directed not at some anonymous government figure head, or drudging up notions of rights and responsibilities.

Instead, they are calling for their universities themselves to actively respond to the situation, rather than passively remain a silent partner. The demands include scholarships for Palestinian students, equipment to be sent to students in Gaza, and for the universities to condemn Israel's actions. There are also calls for disinvestment from companies which support the Israeli war machine.

What these demands do is not only prove that our student body is a thinking, articulate collective, but also that there is a wide spread linking up of our systems of authority. An Israeli student I spoke with after a planning meeting for one of these occupations said: 'I don't know what to believe any more - my history has been taken away from me.' She has been radicalised by the recent conflicts - not because it has appealed to her on any particular level of identity, but because her notions of authority are being challenged.

As the recession hits deeper, and as the G20 hits London, more and more these questions of authority and legitimacy will be raised. Universities, as institutions privileged with cultural authority, are being forced to play out the ends of their own logic.

Imperialism is a method of capitalism and authority, and right now that is what is being challenged on our campuses. At SOAS the security guards brought in to deal with the protesters had their logic flipped back on them, being described as the real occupation on campus. And perhaps this is the exact kind of argument we need right now, demanding that our so-called leaders act up to their rhetoric, and then watch as they fail.

To those students yet to occupy:
Why occupy universities? Because there the system of authority is visible and normally accepted. Our acknowledged systems of authority must be challenged first, and after this the concealed schisms reveal themselves. So students, occupy. Warm up the room for the rest.

To those students in universities where the demands have been met:
They're counting on you to stop there. They're counting on you to think that you all behaved maturely and moderately, and came to a sensible conclusion. Which is great. Because it means that the next time you occupy, you can push your demands further.
The Fearless Theorillas