Lil Barto interviews Midhat – student organiser fighting against militarism and towards global liberation at the University of New South Wales.
How did you come to be involved in organising? What’s your activist origin story? And what do you feel like it’s taught you so far?
I’ve been involved in organising through Solidarity Australia’s Sydney branch since January. As a Shia Muslim who grew up surrounded by stories of resistance, of standing up against injustice, emulating the mission of Imam Hussain – the grandson of the prophet who was killed in Karbala, Iraq fighting for justice – I knew I had to also make that my fight. I have to leave this world better than I found it. My interest in political theory early on in my teenage years helped guide my decision on my degree at UNSW, which is a bachelor of politics, philosophy and economics. My socialist politics were able to develop as I challenged my ideas through debate and essay. In saying that, I hadn’t had the opportunity to materialise my political theory into praxis. Hanging out with the Solidarity comrades helped direct my political conclusions, which grew and changed and I got more involved in activism.
One example of this was when there were plans for an all-in-loosely-dubbed ‘direct action only’ group that was beginning to form in the wake of October 7, and a few months into the re-invigoration of the Palestine movement in Sydney. One of the debates central to the group’s tentative formation was how the leadership should be structured, considering this was an collation of many existing Palestine and activist groups. One camp was for a Palestinian and Muslim leadership council that guided the decisions of the group and had veto power to reject decision. The other camp was for an open democratic environment where decisions aren’t directed by misguided identity politics—the Palestine movement is a call for a movement that can challenge imperialism and capitalism, systems that affect everyone. Despite being a staunch materialist and pretty well versed in socialist politics and Marxist theories, it wasn’t until I had to confront this situation and choose a camp that I realised there is still much to learn. Because of course we need open democratic organising! With the clarity of hindsight, this seems like an obvious conclusion but the fact that it wasn’t meant I still has much ahead of me- and boy was that a realisation to reckon with.
So can you tell me about what’s been going on at UNSW lately?
After I became an official Solidarity member and began building Palestine actions, me and a few comrades opened UNSW Students Against War as a group on UNSW Kensington campus. Our first action was rallying outside of where UNSW had shamefully invited the Minster for the Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, to inaugurate a ‘nuclear innovation hub’ –
funded by the $380 Billion AUKUS deal. Pat Conroy himself was at the table in Washington when the details were being discussed and finalised. UNSW has ties with weapons companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Quickstep, involving students in the process of developing IP and research to sell to Israel. The funding of these projects, which allowed for the opening of facilities like the Nuclear Innovation Hub in February this year, comes from the $380 billion AUKUS deal, and its associated militarisation of universities. UNSW also has academic partnerships with Israeli universities, like the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which by way of their ‘Havazalot Program’ hosts training sessions for IDF soldiers on stolen Palestinian land.
My activity was centralised at UNSW, stalling every day amidst the short UNSW semesters, sectarianism we faced from other groups and a chronically de-politicised campus. We soldiered on – pushing for why we need students involved in the Palestine movement, why workers who have the potential to seize control of production should care about Palestine. I saw that come to fruition as my comrades got arrested at the ZIM rallies in Port Botany, the repression we faced from security at USYD and UNSW, having our posters torn down and thrown threats of suspension (two which actually carried through and my comrades were banned from campus), during the encampment the smears of mainstream media, threats from management, internal sectarianism and so much more.
And, beyond the obvious connection to the genocide in Palestine, what do you think the broader implications of a militarised education system are?
I think it would be a mistake to think that militarisation is new; it’s built into the makeup of universities as bourgeoisie institutions who serve the interests of capital. It’s through this apparatus that they normalise internships at Thales, or promoting joining weapons research by plastering 5 year old children with adverts, promising a life of prosperity and innovation. It’s a signal of capitalism falling into further crisis and the rise of fascism. No one wants to sing up to the military so let’s push weapons development. Let’s put tax payer money into furthering ourselves in the nuclear industry and not towards public housing or actual education or healthcare amidst the housing and cost of living crisis. We understand this sort of imperialism, so it’s our job to push that argument to workers and students.
It’s been fabulous talking to you Midhat, I’ll give you the last word – how would you like to sign off?
It’s been demanding work but it’s a fight we must continue, if ever want to see a free Palestine – if we ever want to free ourselves.
From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada!
