LOS ANGELES — “Books by revolutionary working-class leaders” read the banner over the Pathfinder Books booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books held over the April 20-21 weekend on the University of Southern California campus. The booth was staffed by supporters of the Socialist Workers Party election campaign of Rachele Fruit for U.S. president.
The booth also displayed a blowup of the cover of the new book The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class. The book has articles by six leaders of the communist movement going back to V.I. Lenin, the central leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
At the heart of many of the discussions was the need to oppose Jew-hatred and defend Israel’s right to exist as a refuge for Jews.
Other discussions took up the key place for working people of defense of constitutional freedoms, the big vote for the United Auto Workers union at Volkswagen, the working-class road to women’s emancipation, and the need for working people to break from the capitalist parties and form our own party, a labor party.
“I am happy to see progressive people supporting Israel’s right to exist and giving solidarity,” said Jannis Deisinger, 28 years old and a worker in the music industry who is originally from Germany. “It’s sad that many in the young generation get fooled and support Hamas, which attacks women and gay rights.” He bought the new book and a subscription to the Militant.
Some didn’t agree. Others had mixed opinions, but wanted to talk. “I believe Israel should continue to exist,” said Nikolas Schwerber. But he thought there was “a strong moral case against the way they have responded to Oct. 7. I know people on both extremes.” After more discussion he bought two books, The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and The Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation by Abram Leon.
Overall, fairgoers bought 218 books at the booth and 53 subscriptions to the Militant. That includes 33 copies of The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch; 16 copies each of The Low Point of Labor Resistance Is Behind Us: The Socialist Workers Party Looks Forward and Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? and 15 copies of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power by Socialist Workers Party National Secretary Jack Barnes. At least 14 titles were sold about the example of the Cuban Revolution.