The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is holding a meeting in opposition to Macquarie University management’s anti-democratic ban on our club. Their refusal to affiliate our club despite our having met all requirements is blatant political censorship of the IYSSE’s anti-war, socialist perspective. We urge youth and students to attend the meeting and support the IYSSE against this attack.
Details:
Date: Thursday, 07 September
Time: 17:00
Room: 14SCO T5 Lecture Theatre, Macquarie University
Or join the online livestream via Zoom. Register at this link.
The IYSSE has completely refuted Macquarie University’s claim that our club shares “the same aims and purpose” as the Macquarie Socialists, a student club affiliated with the pseudo-left, pro-war Socialist Alternative. This bogus claim was the only grounds cited by management to justify its refusal.
The university is now stonewalling the IYSSE, demonstrating that the real basis for their rejection of our affiliation is political.
The IYSSE has taken a principled stand in opposition to the US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. This is not a war to defend little Ukraine against Russia. It is a war of the imperialist powers, led by the US, to dominate Russia and ultimately, the Eurasian landmass. This reckless militarism threatens a nuclear conflagration that could wipe out life on earth.
The end goal for US imperialism and its allies, including Australia, is conflict with China. There is a deepening of ties and a buildup of military force in the Asia Pacific to that end. This underscores the warning that the IYSSE has made: students are confronted with the looming threat of a world war.
As part of these war preparations, universities around the country are being incorporated into the military apparatus. They are establishing research and development ties with the world’s largest arms manufacturers and with the defense department, to directly prepare the weapons of war. Macquarie University is no exception. In December 2022, the university signed onto a $32 million research project to boost the military’s testing and engineering capabilities.
The IYSSE has faced censorship internationally. In a recent international meeting series held by our movement, the IYSSE came under attack from far-right Ukrainian nationalists and their collaborators for our principled fight against war, including in Germany, New Zealand, the US and Canada. This demonstrates the desperation of the ruling class and its allies around the world to prevent any alternative perspective to their own being heard.
The banning of the club at Macquarie University is a pre-emptive strike by management against the developing anti-war movement. The IYSSE fights for the only program that history demonstrates can end imperialist war: a unified movement of the international working class, directed against the source of conflict, the profit system itself.
Students must have the right to discuss this perspective! Students and staff should attend the meeting and promote it, as part of the fight to defend fundamental democratic and political rights on campus.