Minneapolis, MN – As students came up the escalator for the College of Science and Engineering job fair on Tuesday, February 6, they could look upon the great values that the University of Minnesota holds itself to. Courage, pride, equity and “Weapon companies off campus!”

One of these is not like the other, as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) burst onto the scene to disrupt this networking royale. ForwardEdge ASICS was a wolf in sheep’s clothing at the day’s gathering because this company is directly supplying the technology that makes Israel’s genocide of Palestine possible.

While all corporations present at the fair were complicit in soliciting new workers alongside these weapons manufacturers, it is without a doubt the responsibility of University of Minnesota’s administration to vet any proprietors they would allow to set up on campus. This event was sanctioned by the University and was pushed on all College of Science and Engineering students.

Perhaps this would have been fine if there was a designated war criminal portion of the fair for genocide supporting companies to set up in, but ForwardEdge ASICS was allowed to stand side by side with the state government departments, agriculture producers and pharmaceutical researchers as though they were producing the same product.

Responding to this event, SDS deployed two banners. The aforementioned escalator banner drop and one on the bleachers opposite the weapons manufacturers, reading, “No recruiting on our campus while you bomb theirs!”

This banner drop was part of the national week of action called by National SDS, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), and the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). Activists all around the country, with many in the Twin Cities, have mobilized to demand an end to the United States’ involvement in the genocide of Gaza and the decades-long deadly occupation of Palestine.

This is just another step in the student-led campaign against the University of Minnesota’s direct support of Israel’s unending attack against the Gaza Strip. We all need to keep an eye on our local political scene to make sure that no support is being given to Israel and condemnation is screamed until the attacks stop.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiWarMovement #StudentMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #SDS