Morocco: Marxist ideas attract new layer of university students Morocco Share Tweet At the beginning of November, the Marxists in the Moroccan student union UNEM organised a political drive towards this year’s new intake of university students. Here you can read extracts of a remarkable report. Our “cultural week” welcoming new students began on Monday, October 29. The main theme was solidarity with the Palestinian and Venezuelan revolutions. On the first day we mobilised the students by intervening in courses and with a big stall of books and pamphlets at the campus. This stall was accessible every day of the week, during the morning and in the evening. Posters of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky decorated our stall. Twenty different pamphlets were on sale. In total we sold more than one hundred pamphlets and as many CDs with revolutionary songs. The speeches and explanations of our comrades were greeted with great interest by the new students- an illustration of the new wave of radicalisation amongst young people resulting from the more general radicalisation of the oppressed masses. On the second day we had a public debate on the subject of price increases, its causes and how to struggle against it. One of our comrades revealed the real reasons for the price hikes in Morocco and internationally. He explained how under capitalism production and distribution is not made for the satisfaction of human needs but for profit. Monopolies characterise this stage of development of capitalism. Worldwide, we also witness how agricultural production switches from food crops to crops destined to be transformed into biofuels. In our own country, the government hides behind the international situation. In reality the government is totally at the service of the capitalists in their unstoppable search for profits. By authorising price hikes and VAT increases on basic foodstuffs the government puts the whole brunt of the capitalist crisis on the backs of the poor masses. The masses are already suffering from low wages, generalised poverty, etc. So if we want to fight price hikes we need to combat the mechanics of the capitalist economy. Only the democratic workers’ control of the economy and a planned economy can save the exploited classes from misery. We need to put an end to the power of this parasitic minority which controls society. At the end, the comrade explained some transitional demands to combat the price increases and push the masses into action. He appealed to the unions and other left organisations and currents to form a united front to lead this struggle. The same needs to happen at the university. On Wednesday, a public debate was held on the state of the student movement and the tasks of the Marxist ‘rank and file tendency’ (tendance basiste de l’UNEM). One of the student leaders reviewed the history of the student movement, of l’UNEM, its struggle against the dictatorship, its martyrs, etc. Dealing with the current situation he listed the many attacks against the conquests of the students as well as the ongoing privatisations and the repression against the students. He explained that those attacks were the continuation of the attacks against the workers and the peasants. So the tasks of the Marxist students are to rebuild a democratic UNEM and to orientate the student movement towards the masses. All the oppressed should join forces in the struggle against capitalism. A document explaining who we are and what program we defend was also discussed by the students present. The next day we organised a meeting in favour of international solidarity with the revolution in Venezuela and Palestine. Two of our comrades spoke. One explained what was happening in Venezuela, how the revolution was evolving and the dangers ahead. He explained our responsibilities towards these revolutions. A comparison was made between the disastrous situation in Morocco and the social programs in Venezuela. When we dealt with the Palestinian question, we explained the ongoing impasse. All bourgeois “peace plans” have failed. Imperialism is utterly incapable of solving the national question. Petit bourgeois nationalism is also in crisis. Then we explained the Marxist point of view. Our attitude towards the confrontation between Hamas and Fatah was dealt with. At the end we explained the importance of the victory of the Venezuelan revolution for the struggle of the Palestinian masses. Solidarity actions will be necessary. Some 150 students attended this important meeting. We finished our very successful week on the next day with a musical night of revolutionary songs.
