In Defence of Marxism

Some 180 students gathered in December at the University of Tetouan in the north of Morocco for the first ever meeting in solidarity with Venezuela. This historic initiative in Morocco and in the Arab world was taken by the left-wing students of the TAWAJOH AL KAAIDI, the young activists of the ‘rank-and-file’ tendency (‘tendance basistes’). This activity was part of a whole week of debates and discussions at the university about the right to education and the right to work.

During this meeting messages of support from the Spanish Sindicato de Estudiantes and from the Venezuelan Juventud Socialista Revolucionaria and the Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria were read before an enthusiastic assembly (click for a bigger picture). Those messages made it abundantly clear that the struggle against capitalism and oppression was an international fight that could only be won through a socialist revolution. At the same time the solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people was put forward.

An impressive stall with Marxist literature was also at the disposal of the many students interested in theory and analysis to change the existing world. The stall was decorated with banners and revolutionary slogans, red flags with the hammer and sickle and Che Guevara posters.

There was also an exhibition of photos of Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Abdelkrim and many young martyrs of the students’ struggle against the dictatorship together with posters from the Spanish students’ union.

Thanks to this tremendous and pioneering initiative the left-wing students of Morocco have succeeded in putting solidarity with the revolution in Venezuela on the agenda.

January 2006