A teacher, and member of National Education Union (NEU) and Socialist Party, prepared this speech for an event opposing the eviction of the Queen Mary student encampment, against the war on Gaza.
The dedication, resilience, and steadfastness of the students, during their 59 days of encampment, has set an example that extends beyond our community, and sends a clear message to those in power that we are not giving up.
Educators and students have been part of the struggle to bring the reality of the crisis in Gaza and the West Bank into conversations in our schools, colleges, and universities.
Victory
In my workplace, a primary school in Hackney, the calls of individuals to open up conversation to oppose the silence from leadership, was turned into action, through mobilisation within our trade union. Through the dedicated work of union members, we have been able to open up conversations in the classroom, and organise fundraising events in our school.
Many of us have experienced the consequences of divide-and-rule tactics in our workplaces from those in power.
We are seeing the ‘Prevent’ scheme weaponised to silence children and families in our schools, an ever-increasing police presence on demonstrations, and for Queen Mary, legal action taken against students who are calling for an end to their university’s complicity in genocide.
The decision to evict the student encampment gives further evidence to what we already know.
Liberation will not be obtained under a capitalist system, where the rich and elite dictate whose lives are worth saving. The working class must continue in unity to organise for a socialist intifada, and organise against abhorrent policies decided by war criminals.
We have seen the back of 14 years of Tory rule. But Keir Starmer’s Labour government will not bring about the change that we so desperately need.
In Bethnal Green and Stepney, we had independent Ajmal Masroor standing. He opposes war, and came a close second, less than 1,700 votes from the big-business Labour Party candidate Rushanara Ali. Socialists around the country also stood to link opposition to the war to the need to reverse austerity.
Our demands
This community is demanding that the people in power advocate for justice for Palestinians, as well as protecting our communities against privatisation and austerity. The election results show that there is mass opposition to Israeli occupation, particularly in working-class areas. We must use this to build socialist opposition, based on trade union struggle.
As we transition to a Labour government, it is imperative that we continue to build a working-class alternative through our trade unions, and by standing and supporting candidates who represent the masses.
If the ruling class were not afraid of the organised masses, it would not be using every resource at its disposal to silence, arrest and evict us.
Thank you Queen Mary students, we take your struggle as a lesson in our steadfast fight for freedom for all.