‘Defend Palestine Action’ was a major theme at the opening rally (Picture: Guy Smallman)
A mood of resistance filled the EartH nightclub in Hackney, east London, on Thursday night as over 1,000 people joined the opening rally of Marxism Festival 2025.
It marked the first day of the political festival, hosted by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) at Protein Studios in nearby Shoreditch.
Andrew Feinstein is a veteran of the fight against South African apartheid and leading figure in the Palestine solidarity movement in Britain.
He told the opening rally, “Today, a young Muslim woman has announced, that after 14 years, she has resigned from the Labour Party.
“That woman is Zarah Sultana. Jeremy Corbyn and she will be the interim co-leaders of a new political party.”
Speakers at Marxism include Rima Hassan, the Palestinian French MEP who was on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, Jeremy Corbyn and Yanis Varoufakis.
The opening rally followed a series of meetings during the day. Topics included The end of neoliberalism with James Meadway and Joseph Choonara and Trans rights under attack—how can we resist the Supreme Court ruling?
And in the Culture Tent, hosted by Bookmarks bookshop, people heard a meeting on A Rebel’s Guide to Fela Kuti.
The rally kicked off with chants of ‘Death, death to the IDF’ in support of Bob Vylan, who has been targeted by the state for speaking up for Palestine during his set at Glastonbury.
Samira Ali announced that over 3,000 tickets have been sold, making this one of the biggest Marxism festivals to date.
The opening rally came the day after MPs voted to ban Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act.
Franck Magennis, lawyer and supporter of Palestine Action, told the rally, “We need to urgently and collectively escalated for Palestine and the Palestinians.
“Zionism is dying—it is in a serious crisis. We must be sure we kick it to death.”
Franck said the anti-terrorism powers used against Kneecap and others were “pioneered for use against Irish people that didn’t want to be dominated by the British empire”.
“Palestine Action is being proscribed because they are winning—that is why the British state is taking this step.
“We cannot let the British empire push us around. Stay in solidarity with Palestine Action.”
The LA uprising against Donald Trump has shown the power of working class people to resist the state and racism.
Socialist Worker brought eyewitness reports last month from the city that rose up against Ice immigration raids.
Victor Fernandez, a migrant rights activist from LA, said, “Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill means tax cuts for the wealthy and cuts to Medicaid. The bill is in trouble.
The UK Supreme Court ruling has ramped up transphobia—and boosted every transphobic and sexist bigot.
But the assault has seen thousands of people take to the streets, and trade unionists organise to defend trans+ rights in workplaces.
Jenny Black, a trade unionist and trans woman, said “The battle that my community is fighting is not unique and it’s not new. It’s a battle any black person could tell you about, any Muslim, disabled person—anyone whose different.
“The political ideology that this government’s front bench subscribes to is toxic. As a trade union and equality activist, I fight it in my trade union. I will fight it, stand up and be counted.”
Marxism and the fight for liberation is a key theme at this year’s festival.
The opening rally of Marxism 2024 came on the night of the general election that saw Labour prime minister Keir Starmer win a landslide majority. The mainstream media predicted he would rule for a decade, but how the tables have turned in a year.
Only a couple of days ago Starmer was humiliated over plans to slash benefits for disabled people amid a Labour MPs’ rebellion.
Ellen Clifford from Disabled People Against Cuts (Dpac) told the rally that Labour’s bill cutting disabled people’s benefits was “in absolute tatters” by the end of this week’s debate.
“What is still left in the bill is still horrendous cuts—severely disabled people will lose £30,000 a year.” said Ellen.
“But we managed to get this far in fighting back. At the heart of what we do is a socialist analysis about how you fight back, it has to be the grassroots—you don’t wait for anyone in power.
“Through this we can possibly bring down Starmer.”
The benefit cuts vote hammers home the urgency of resistance on the streets and picket lines.
Steeven is one of the hundreds of bin workers on indefinite strike in Birmingham. They face a Labour council and government that has used the police, military and special powers to run a strike-breaking operation.
Steeven was welcomed with a chorus of ‘the workers united, will never be defeated.’
He said, “When we went all out, we began making an impact and we found ways to have impact, like slow walking in front of the wagons.
Meetings at Marxism will discuss how to overcome one of the main obstacles to a higher level of resistance—the trade union bureaucracy with its ties to Labour.
Lewis Nielsen, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) national secretary, said, “It clear to millions of people that mainstream politics is broken. All the crises we’ve heard to night didn’t fall from the sky—it because we live in a world where profit comes before people.
“If we are going to fight, we need to recognise that our true power doesn’t lie in the corridors of Westminster. It lies in the resistance in Gaza, solidarity, the uprising in LA and the strikes such as Birmingham.
“We need to channel that into a bigger fight against the system.”
But only action can make Labour deliver
And Houthis take control of Red Sea...
The first day saw debates on anti-fascism and anti-racism
Plus: far right outnumbered in Glasgow
