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   Vol.65/No.39            October 15, 2001 
 
 
YS members speak at forums, on college campuses
(Young Socialists Around the World column)
 
BY KRISTOFFER SCHULTZ, JOHAN NILSSON AND JENNY SUSI  
STOCKHOLM, Sweden--"It was a victory for working people and youth that the 15th World Festival of Youth and Students was held," said Claudio Burgos at a Militant Labor Forum here September 8. "The anti-imperialist character of the festival attracted young people engaged in struggles in different parts of the world and we should celebrate the outcome of this international political gathering."

Burgos and Daniel Ahl, both members of the Young Socialists in Sweden, were part of the Swedish delegation at the festival in Algiers, Algeria, in August. Together with YS members from Australia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, they took an active part in the festival, discussing politics, selling Pathfinder books, and seeking to learn from other youth involved in struggles around the world. "We were able to discuss with many other young people how to advance the worldwide struggle against imperialism," Burgos said.

Ahl spoke about a two-day solidarity tour of the refugee camps of the Sahrawi people that he and 13 others joined after the festival. The visit was hosted by Ujsario, the youth organization of the Polisario Front, which leads the struggle for independence of Western Sahara from Morocco. After the forum discussion continued over dinner with the youth who attended the meeting.

Young Socialists members traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden, September 13–16 to help staff a Pathfinder booth at the annual book fair in that city. There was intense interest among young people who saw books and pamphlets about Malcolm X, the Palestinian struggle, and the imperialists' war preparations in Central Asia. The sales turned out to be the best ever in all the years that Pathfinder has been represented at the book fair.

YS members arranged an evening event to talk with young people who expressed interest in learning more about socialism and the struggle against imperialism today. The experiences of one YS member, who had traveled to Northern Ireland to learn about the fight against British imperialism and for a united Ireland, were of interest to youth who came to the meeting. The YS member described a march he participated in to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of 10 hunger strikers, led by Irish freedom fighter Bobby Sands, in the Long Kesh prison in 1981.
 

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BY ANDY HARRIS  
CHICAGO--During a three-day visit to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in early September, followed by a trip to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, participants in the Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange and the 15th World Festival of Youth and Students in Algeria spoke to youth, students, and workers about the Cuban Revolution and the worldwide struggle against imperialism.

After a Militant Labor Forum in St. Paul titled, "Youth and the Fight Against Imperialism" two young women, a high school teacher, and a fighter against police brutality, invited the Young Socialists to speak at their classes.

Arrin Hawkins, a member of the Young Socialists and a meat packer in Chicago, spoke to around 15 students in a women's studies class at Loren Nicollet High School. Students asked questions about the role of women and youth organizations in Western Sahara, socialism, and the gains of the Cuban Revolution. One student said she liked the presentation and explained how young people in the United States are told lies about Cuba. She said she would like to travel to Cuba and learn more about its socialist revolution where workers took power in 1959. Several students expressed interest in learning more about the Young Socialists and participating in classes on the communist movement together with YS members.

On September 11 two hijacked airplanes flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and another flew into the Pentagon. Later that afternoon, Jack Willey and Arrin Hawkins were scheduled to speak to a Political Science class at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Before the class, the professor asked if the two socialists still wanted to give the talk on the fight against imperialism, given the events of the day. They insisted they should.

After their talks on the internationalism of the Cuban Revolution and the anti-imperialist struggles represented at the festival, several students and the professor asked about the fight to get the U.S. Navy out of the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques, what books to read on socialism and the communist movement, and the campaigns of the Young Socialists.

Later the professor took over the class and discussed the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A few students said that retaliation, including massive attacks on Afghanistan and the Mideast, were necessary to "end terrorism." Others stated that the U.S. rulers directly and indirectly organize military invasions and wars all the time, which often go unnoticed. They stated that such a symbolic attack on U.S. power is not surprising.

When the class finished, students came and talked with both Hawkins and Willey, bought a few copies of the Militant and signed up for more information on the Young Socialists.

Hawkins was also able to speak at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The Young Socialists table, with signs reading "U.S. Hands off the Mideast and Afghanistan" and featuring a wide array of Pathfinder titles and a tall stack of Militants, was a focus of attention throughout the day. Some students and campus workers who came to the table disagreed with the position put forth by the YS members and several said that it was "bad timing" to put up a table against the war drive just days after the attack on New York and Washington. One woman who was hostile to the stance of the YS members complained to other students at a class that morning. After the class, one student came to check out the table and appreciated the fact that the Young Socialists was campaigning against Washington's imperialist war drive and that she "was not alone" in her ideas. Later she came to the afternoon meeting, signed up for more information on the Young Socialists, and said she is interested in linking up with other youth to build a Young Socialists chapter on campus.  
 
 
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