Students at George Washington University have formed a new club on campus that will seek to educate and inform students about left-wing radicalism.
The Internationalist Students Front first started to take form approximately three weeks ago at GW. According to the GW Hatchet, the organization “aims to oppose nationalism across the world and contest popular narratives about U.S. foreign policy.”
The organization has also indicated that they will seek to promote a policy of internationalism, a type of socialism that advocates the involvement of all people from all countries working together to promote common ideals.
According to Sheng Zhang, a sophomore who is a member of the organization, the group will seek to encourage students to reject a nationalistic view of both domestic and foreign policy, encouraging students to stand in solidarity with all who are oppressed.
“A nationalist approach is very common on campus, and people somehow regard foreign policy as a chess game about ‘how do we outrun Russia, and how do we outsmart China,’” Zhang said. “Internationalism means that we stand in solidarity with every single struggle against oppression in the world.”
However, the organization recently issued a Facebook post honoring the brutal dictator Fidel Castro on the anniversary of his death, claiming that millions of Cubans and revolutionaries around the globe were celebrating the dictator.
“As internationalists, we must commemorate his fight against oppression in Cuba, and his contributions to anti-imperialism and international struggles against oppression,” the post reads.
Nowhere in their post does the group mention the estimated 73,000 victims that have died under Castro’s communist regime since he seized power in 1959.
The group’s Facebook page has also shared posts from the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at GW that condemn the recent actions by the Trump administration to designate Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel. In their post, Students for Justice in Palestine at GW refers to the United States as a “settler government” who is “advancing the Zionist assault on Palestine.” Additionally, the group refers to Israel as the “Zionist entity,” a pejorative term often used by those who oppose the state of Israel.
These early actions draw a clear indication towards what GW students can expect from the group come the spring semester.
The Internationalist Students Front did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.