News and Views from the People's Struggle
Minneapolis, MN – On November 29, over 300 students, staff and faculty members at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities skipped class and work to participate in several events throughout the day as part of the Shut It Down for Palestine International Day of Solidarity.
These actions were called and led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and several faculty members such as Sima Shakhsari of the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies department.
St. Paul, MN – On Wednesday, November 29, Palestine solidarity activists spoke at the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI)’s quarterly meeting, demanding divestment of state-managed pension funds and other public monies from Israeli weapons manufacturers, banks and bonds, and other entities complicit in Israel’s apartheid system in Palestine.
Los Angeles, CA – A full auditorium at East LA Garfield High School (GHS) greeted Los Lobos for their 50th anniversary concert celebration. The legendary East LA band gave a tremendous concert to the packed auditorium in the new auditorium. Band members include David Hidalgo on accordion and lead guitar, Cesar Rosas vocals and guitar, Louie Perez guitar and Conrado Terrazas on bass. Los Lobos are GHS alumni.
Dallas, TX – Residents of Dallas gathered at NorthPark Mall on Black Friday, November 24, as at least 200 community members showed up for three simultaneous actions for Palestine, including a die-in inside the mall, a banner-drop off of Highway 75, and a picket outside of the main entrance to the mall.
Organizers handed out flyers and held signs to spread awareness of both the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign, as well as flyers promoting an online petition calling on the Dallas City Council to pass a resolution condemning the occupation and genocide in Palestine, and demanding direct U.S. humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine.
Dallas, TX – The Legalization for All Network is asking all to express their anger December 1 against the racist Texas Senate Bill 4.
SB 4 would make it a state crime to cross into Texas from Mexico without proper documentation, allowing Texas law enforcement to arrest anyone they think might be undocumented. The U.S. Supreme Court’s case 2012 Arizona v. The United States however, ruled that only the federal government can enforce immigration laws, not police, sheriff’s deputies, or state troopers. Therefore constitutionally, law enforcement does not have the power to racially profile or deport. Nobody has to prove citizenship status or provide any immigration documents to a law enforcement officer.
St. Paul, MN – During the early morning hours of November 20, 50 pro-Palestine protesters gathered at the site of Lockheed Martin’s new microelectronics subsidiary, ForwardEdge ASIC, in Saint Paul. They unfurled long banners, one reading, “MN, divest from Lockheed,” and blocked the driveway entrances to the facility for almost eight hours.
Police arrived shortly after the activists occupied the space and made their presence throughout the day, but no arrests were made. Due to the protesters’ presence, no employees of ForwardEdge ASIC were able to enter the facility and go to work that morning. The parking lot remained empty save for a lone security guard’s vehicle.
Chicago, IL – As the bombardment of Gaza entered its seventh week, 5000 protesters seized Chicago's DuSable Lake Shore Drive, November 18, demanding an immediate end to the Israeli genocide. The latest in a series of protests held across the city and beyond, this act of mass civil disobedience marked the first such shutdown of this important and iconic thoroughfare since the outset of the Iraq War two decades before.
New Orleans, LA – At noon on November 16, over 100 protesters gathered at Lafayette Square to protest the Port of New Orleans’ support of Israel. The activists demanded an end to all aid to Israel, including a technological trade agreement called the “innovation embassy.”
Fight Back! is circulating this statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the US Palestinian Community Network
On November 15, three FBI agents came to the Chicago home of an international solidarity activist in Chicago who had traveled to Venezuela. The activist wasn’t home, but the agent in charge gave the landlord his card. He asked to be let into the building, but the landlord refused and instead reported the visit to the tenant.
The Palestinian resistance is dealing a heavy blow to the Israeli apartheid state. The decades of oppression, humiliation and callous cruelty by the occupiers of Palestine are being answered in the only language oppressors truly understand.