The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) has won three seats in the elections to the Student Parliament (StuPa) at Berlin’s Humboldt University (HU), meaning all its candidates will take up mandates. The IYSSE was the only list to stand on a socialist programme, opposing the genocide in Gaza, the escalation of war and the militarisation of universities. With this platform, it secured 74 votes—just under 5 percent.

Shortly before the StuPa election, the NATO powers agreed to increase military spending to 5 percent of GDP at their summit in The Hague. The German government then adopted a gigantic war budget, further fueling the war in Ukraine against Russia.

In its election statement, the IYSSE warned of the danger of a nuclear catastrophe. The struggle against war was at the heart of the campaign, which is why the IYSSE candidates came under fire from the university administration. The university initially tried to ban three IYSSE election events, claiming they were not purely “university political”—in other words, while a genocide was taking place and the federal government was rearming on a scale reminiscent of the Nazis, students were forbidden to even discuss these questions.

The IYSSE immediately publicised the censorship, sparking widespread discussion across the campus. Within just a few days, the university administration was forced to reverse the ban and allow the events to proceed. That same evening, the HU Student Parliament unanimously passed a resolution tabled by the IYSSE condemning the censorship.

The authorised events held by the IYSSE as part of its election campaign at HU, and later published on YouTube, put the key political issues front and centre.

At the first event—The Iran War, Genocide, World War: A Socialist Perspective Against “War Readiness”—the chairman of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP), Christoph Vandreier, spoke against the rearmament mania of the Merz government and addressed the various fronts of the emerging world war, above all, in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He emphasised that a struggle against war required a struggle against its root cause—capitalism.

At the second event—How the Left Party Supports the Merz Government’s War Policy—Johannes Stern, editor-in-chief of the German edition of the World Socialist Web Site, spoke on the Left Party’s support for German imperialism and highlighted how a genuine socialist perspective fundamentally differs from this.

At the third event—80 Years After the End of the War: The Return of German Militarism and the Trivialisation of Nazi Crimes at HU—IYSSE spokesperson Katja Rippert demonstrated how this war policy is being ideologically prepared at universities, especially at Humboldt.

The fact that the IYSSE put the question of war at the centre of its campaign met with a strong response among many students. Several bought copies of Scholarship or War Propaganda? to learn more about the IYSSE’s work at HU and David North’s book The Logic of Zionism, which analyses the political causes of the genocide in Gaza.

At the science campus in Adlershof, a student who had read the IYSSE flyer approached us and said: “I agree with this 100 percent. That’s why I’m voting for you.” He expressed deep concern about the escalating war and was glad that the IYSSE was taking a stand against it.

Outside the seminar building on Dorotheenstrasse, two teaching students particularly agreed with the IYSSE’s assessment of the Left Party. One said, “They do exactly the same as the others—They support the war too. Now they’re making a bit of noise about Gaza, but that’s just hypocrisy.”

Other students, however, still had illusions in the Left Party, which received significant support from young people in Berlin in the last federal election. We discussed with them why the Left Party is a pro-capitalist party that voted for rearmament in the Bundesrat (upper house of parliament) and, in the state governments in which it has participated, has deported refugees and implemented social cuts.

A history student was especially interested in the IYSSE’s 10-year-long struggle against the ideological preparations for war at HU. “I also see this connection between the escalation of war and the falsification of history here,” he said and bought a copy of Scholorship or War Propaganda?

Many thanked the IYSSE for unequivocally condemning the genocide in Gaza in its election statement. The IYSSE was the only slate to mention Gaza at all in its appeal. One student approached the IYSSE and explained: “Our group researched what each list says about Gaza, and we concluded that you are the only list worth voting for.”

She was impressed that the foreword to The Logic of Zionism—in the statement by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) of October 9, 2023—had condemned the Netanyahu government’s genocide so early and so clearly. She said, “Now everyone is saying something about it, but the fact that you took such a clear stand from the start is very impressive.”

The IYSSE will use its strong result to continue the fight against war and genocide at Humboldt University. We call on all our voters and supporters to join this struggle and help build the IYSSE.