The crushing of academic freedom has been a long-standing goal of the fascist movement that has amassed behind, and been accelerated by, Donald Trump. They want to see an end to the university as any kind of space for critical thinking, open debate and inquiry. The widespread protests on college campuses last spring against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza have become an excuse and cover for this repression.

With fascism rapidly accelerating, the attack on academic freedom AND the attack on the anti-genocide, pro-Palestine movement are closely intertwined. The protests of the past nearly two years are exactly the kind of thing the Trump regime wants to stamp out, as part of their overall assault. All this must be fought—and must involve people coming together from different perspectives and viewpoints behind the unifying demand: The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go—NOW!

The Trump regime is aiming to wipe out the movement in defense of the Palestinian people, and any movement that doesn't fully support American interests. Note well that Trump’s Director for Counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, argued recently that anyone protesting against Trump's mass deportation plan should be seen as "aiding and abetting" terrorism: “There’s a line that divides us. Do you love America, or do you hate America?” While Biden was all-in on backing and funding Israel, this has taken a leap with Trump who has called for, and approves of the full-out removal of Palestinians from Gaza.¹

The Trump regime wants anyone and everyone who would speak out against this to be terrified into silence: kidnapping international students for writing op-eds, defunding universities under the guise of ending anti-Semitism, putting whole academic departments under government oversight, and much more.

Some of this repression began before Trump was in power, with mass arrests of student protesters and a public inquisition of Ivy League presidents for not cracking down hard enough on demonstrations on their campuses. The fact that most of the Democrats went along with this attack, even if at times in more “moderate” form, shows how, for many, what they deem as core interests of U.S. imperialism will be ranked higher than opposition to fascism.

But this has taken a qualitative leap, and is now a battering ram for the larger fascist program.

The collaboration and capitulation to fascism on the part of university administrators must stop now. Too many administrators at the schools under attack have proven willing to throw pro-Palestinian students under the bus and, in particular, to sacrifice any green card or visa students who have been part of this movement, barely raising a peep of protest. This desperate bid to appease the fascist persecutors has been shameful. Whatever these administrators think of the content of what the pro-Palestinian students are fighting for—they should put themselves on the line for the space, and the academic freedom, to fight for it. It has also been shown that this appeasement will not work. The Trump/MAGA fascists have made clear that they are not stopping with half-measures, they are going for total control.

As the attack on the university and the attack on those who would speak out for the Palestinian people are intertwined, so must be our resistance.

What is needed now is a coming together. The university administrations and faculty must vigorously defend the space for scholars, teachers, researchers and students to work, to research, and to protest U.S.-Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and the systems in both countries. They must in particular do everything they can to defend those foreign students active around Palestine now being jailed and deported, allowing space once more for organizing and acting against the genocide and for the rights of the Palestinian people. 

At the same time, all the students and faculty who have put themselves on the line against the genocide in Gaza must speak out against the assault on the universities. Even if you disagree with what your university has done, what is at stake now is the extreme danger that a fascist America will mean to people here, and all over the world. While you continue to shine a light on, and protest against the genocidal terror and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, this should not be made a dividing line in the fight against fascism. To these students, professors and others who have set an example and refused to back down: bring the understanding that you have into this crucial battlefront as well.

All these strands of protest must come together in unity—while we debate and discuss our differences. 

In his recent social media message, "The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go—NOW—before it is too late!," Bob Avakian, the revolutionary leader who has brought forward the new communism, said:

This truly life-and-death fight against fascism requires, and needs to involve, rapidly increasing ranks of people, drawn from all parts of society and all walks of life—including Black people, immigrants, college students and other youth, professionals and government workers, women, LGBT people, and others—all who actually have a profound interest in defeating this fascism: people with a broad diversity of political views and perspectives, uniting all who can be united and overcoming all “divide and conquer” schemes, in order to bring forward the millions who can be the decisive force in driving out this fascist regime.

In The Name of Humanity, We Refuse To Accept A Fascist America!

The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go—NOW!