The Partisan is excited to share the second edition of the ongoing Revolutionary Student Union weekly bulletin produced in collaboration with our editorial board. We hope that this series will serve to provide an overview of current events with a class-conscious perspective, and discuss topics and events which we may not have covered in our articles.
New York: Zohran Mamdani and the Role of “Progressive” Politics
NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani positions himself as the progressive alternative to Cuomo. Despite this, his agenda isn’t about fighting capitalism but rather managing it. Mamdani offers reforms that stabilize exploitation, not challenge it. He pushes for a negotiated peace between landlords and tenants, between bosses and workers, and between police and protesters, all while the ruling class remains unscathed.
That is the purpose of liberal politics: to channel working-class anger back into the system, rather than to fight against it. We must build up the class-conscious youth, neighborhood, and workers’ movements to be able to fight for political power, rather than simply concede it to the capitalists.
Arizona & Texas: Military Border Zones Signal Increased Repression
The Pentagon is establishing two new “border zones” in Arizona and Texas for the purpose of tightening surveillance, expanding coordination with local law enforcement, and preparing for broader repression across the southwestern region. These zones on the US-Mexico border are used for army operations, intelligence/surveillance collection, and border patrols, and extend 250 miles out from the border itself.
The universities in this region are not separate from this process. Many are directly tied to military and tech research that supports the development of border infrastructure, policing software, and surveillance tools. Their funding itself comes from such industries, and their aim is to train up new generations to join the capitalist class and its agents of repression such as police, military, defense/security manufacturing, and more. It is our duty to stand against such expansions and to ensure that universities serve the people rather than the other way around.
Washington, D.C.: The Supreme Court Is an Engine of Class Rule
The US Supreme Court is preparing to rule on cases involving abortion access, student debt, homelessness, and gun laws. These choice to issue these rulings are not neutral or based in the needs of the people , but rather reflect the political interests of the class the court serves—the capitalists.
Student debt “relief” is structured to preserve financial control, not to end it. Decisions around homelessness aren’t about ensuring the people have housing, but rather about clearing poor people from public space. Gun laws seek to take arms and self defense away from poor and working class people, while the police and military remain fully armed. The Supreme Court’s job is to protect the capitalist system and ensure it continues to run smoothly, including overturning laws if need be.
National: U.S. War Policy Has Nothing to Do With Facts
On June 25, President Trump openly admitted that the US had “inconclusive” intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program, but still praised the attacks on sites in Fordow and Natanz as a success. That should tell you everything about the government’s modus operandi: it doesn’t need evidence to act, it just needs a target to destroy.
This isn’t new. The same pattern played out in Iraq, Libya, and Gaza. What matters to U.S. officials isn’t proof, it’s the ability to act without the consent and approval of the broad masses of this country. Universities are part of this system producing the weapons, research, and political narratives that keep these wars going. As students our task is to uphold proletarian internationalism by supporting and participating in working-class struggles in our universities, neighborhoods, and workplaces. We must combat imperialist aggression directly.
California: ICE Raids—Crops Rot, Workers Disappear
In Ventura County, CA, ICE raids have scared off about 70% of farmworkers, leaving fruits and vegetables rotting in the fields. With such a large scale vacuum of labor, non-migrant workers have not taken up these jobs. As a result, the workers are terrorized, farms face crop/harvest failures, and food supply chains are destabilized. This highlights the pressing need for a class-conscious labor movement among all sectors of the multinational US proletariat. It is this way only that the working class can organize for victory, defend itself against ICE raids, and build up power of its own.
Panama: Workers and Students Build Barricades Against Corruption
On June 23 in Panama City, large sections of the working class took to the streets, setting up barricades and directly clashing with police. These coordinated actions were in response to economic crisis, corruption, and violent repression in the country.
Protesters faced down riot squads using tear gas and rubber bullets. These demonstrations are part of a growing trend in Latin America: when all legal and traditional channels fail, and when the institutions close ranks around capital and corruption, the people turn to the streets and fight.
Students in the U.S. should learn from events like this. These uprisings didn’t begin with street clashes, but were built through patient organizing in neighborhoods, schools, and unions. It is with this basic organizing that the basis of power is built, and it is there where we must start.
Paris: Georges Abdallah Calls for International Solidarity With Prisoners and Resistance
On June 14, thousands demonstrated in Paris in support of political prisoners, Palestinian resistance, and the broader fight against imperialism. Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese communist held by the French State for over 40 years, released a statement to the marchers.
In his message, Abdallah proclaimed: “May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in favor of Palestine and its heroic resistance! Solidarity, all solidarity with the fighters of the resistance in Zionist prisons and in isolation cells in Morocco, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines, and other parts of the world! Solidarity, all solidarity with the fighting proletarians! Honor to the Martyrs and to the popular masses in struggle! Down with imperialism and its Zionist guard dogs and other Arab reactionaries! Capitalism is nothing but barbarism; honor to all who oppose its various expressions Together, comrades, and only together will we prevail To all of you, comrades and friends, my communist salute. Your comrade, Georges Abdallah.”
Supporting political prisoners like Abdallah means defending and upholding their politics, not just their protesting their conditions.
Kenya: One Year After the Uprising, the Struggle Continues
On June 25, thousands across Kenya marched in memory of last year’s mass uprising, when protesters stormed parliament in Nairobi over tax hikes, repression, and the killing of youth by police. This year’s mobilizations were again met with lethal force: at least 16 people were killed by police, with many more injured or disappeared.
The state claims to investigate these issues, but nothing has changed. Protesters are being charged, police are being promoted, and the economic crisis has only gotten worse. What is happening in Kenya is part of a global pattern where governments protect profits, not people. When youth fight back, they are treated as enemies of the State. The anniversary protests were a continuation of an ongoing struggle between the masses and the capitalist class that rules through violence.
US and European universities often have partnerships with African universities and NGOs that carry out similar state development agendas. Our solidarity must be political: connect with Kenyan students, investigate your own school’s role, and reject all forms of collaboration with these governments. Through concrete political action we can build up true proletarian internationalism in practice.
Palestine: Israeli Analysts Admit Gaza Strategy Is Failing
Michael Milstein, an Israeli analyst, recently condemned their government’s approach to the war in Gaza, calling it strategically weak and politically desperate. According to the report, Israel believed it could crush Palestinian resistance quickly, but has instead triggered stronger popular support for resistance and exposed deep contradictions inside its own forces.
The most important point is not that an Israeli admitted failure, but rather that Palestinian resistance continues to develop under siege. Through armed struggle, underground organization, and civilian coordination, the people of Gaza are not just surviving, they are adjusting and sharpening their strategy of militant resistance to colonialism and genocide.
This matters for students everywhere. The job of students in the US is not to mourn Gaza in the abstract from afar, but to support its resistance by disrupting the war machine here by organizing for socialist revolution with particular focus on the labor question.
