The Issaquah Student League (ISL) is a self-described Maoist “revolutionary mass organization” based in Issaquah, Washington and whose membership primarily consists of high-school students. 1
The ISL has no website but operates an Instagram account. 2
Background
The Issaquah Student League (ISL) was founded in 2023 by members of the Tribune of the People and the Puget Sound Revolutionary Study Group. ISL later became a local chapter of the national Revolutionary Student Union. 1
According to ISL’s leadership, the group was initially intended as a “socialist club” but evolved into a supposed “revolutionary mass organization.” 1
The ISL has previously worked with left-of-center and far-left organizations including Anakbayan, the Puget Sound Tenants Union, and the Progressive Student Union.” 1
The ISL has attended protests organized by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle and the Puget Sound Revolutionary Study Group. 1
Ideology
The Issaquah Student League (ISL) has previously advocated radical-left ideologies such as elements of communism, Marxism, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, and “Black Liberation.” ISL claims to not be “explicitly” Maoist but was founded by Maoists while claiming, “We seek to build a stronger, more militant and Maoist led youth movement.” 1 2
The ISL claims to oppose left-of-center political ideologies, parties, and activism while criticizing “apathetic liberals” and accusing “liberal activism” as “performative in nature.” In June 2025, ISL opposed the No Kings protests launched against President Donald Trump. 1 1
The ISL opposes identity politics, which it claims thwarts Marxist class analysis. 3
The ISL opposes the State of Israel and refers to its war against Hamas in Gaza as “genocide.” 4
The ISL opposes the possession and use of nuclear weapons. The organization participated in No More Nukes, a Washington state-wide protest organized by Washington Against Nuclear Weapons, that concluded with a march on the office of U.S. Representative Kim Schrier (D-WA). 1
The ISL has spoken favorably of the Shining Path, a revolutionary communist terrorist group in Peru, as well as other similar violent revolutionary groups around the world. 5 1
Controversy
In June 2025, right-of-center watchdog group Defending Education published a research report on the Issaquah Student League (ISL). According to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Defending Education with the Issaquah School District, ISL organized a walkout of students from a local high school to commemorate the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel which killed almost 1,200 civilians. School administrators claimed to not have been aware of the planned protests, since ISL was not an official school organization, but were alleged to have been aware of recruiting and advertising of the protests by ISL and to have decided against punishment when it was found that only seven students participated. 6
Leadership
Most of the membership of the Issaquah Student League is not publicly known, with the exception of co-founder Jayden Watts, a winner of the $1,000 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award. 7
In Instagram posts of the group, members conceal their faces. The organization is believed to have over 20 consistent members. The group states that membership is open to all young people except “devout reactionaries, chauvinists, and wreckers.” 8 1
References
- Comrade Abel. “Building A Revolutionary Students Movement: Lessons from the Issaquah Students League.” The Masses. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://the-masses.org/2023/10/06/building-a-revolutionary-students-movement-lessons-from-the-issaquah-students-league/.
- “issaquahstudentsleague.” Instagram. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/issaquahstudentsleague/?hl=en.
- “The Marxist Approach to Women’s Emancipation.” Instagram. March 21, 2025. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DIMxuqfzrSx/?hl=en.
- “ISL DISRUPTS KIM.” Instagram. April 5, 2025. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DIMxuqfzrSx/?hl=en.
- “Move Night.” Instagram. April 8, 2024. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DIMxuqfzrSx/?hl=en.
- “Issaquah School District administrators didn’t know about anti-Israel club on campus, club organized Palestine walkout on October 7.” Defending Education. May 22, 2025. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://defendinged.org/incidents/issaquah-school-district-administrators-didnt-know-about-anti-israel-club-on-campus-club-organized-palestine-walkout-on-october-7/.
- “Announcing the 2024 Black Education Matters Student Activist Award winners: Jayden Watts and Anya Souza-Ponce.” I Am An Educator. July 27, 2024. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://iamaneducator.com/2024/07/17/announcing-the-2024-black-education-matters-student-activist-award-winners-jayden-watts-and-anya-souza-ponce/.
- “issaquahstudentsleague and pugetsoundrsu.” Instagram. April 27, 2025. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DI9TBSqPQmm/?hl=en.