Minneapolis, MN – On September 26, 200 protesters demonstrated to demand an end to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza. The protest started with a lot of energy as Students for Justice in Palestine marched from the University Minnesota Student Union and across the Mississippi River to the West Bank campus to join the community solidarity action. Protesters filled the plaza in front of Mayday Books to chant and wave Palestinian and Lebanese flags. The emergency action was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee as a part of a wave of protests nationally in solidarity with Lebanon.

On September 17-18, Israel detonated thousands of communication devices in Lebanon. This act indiscriminately killed and wounded civilians, including many children. It ran against all war conventions and was unprecedented in cruelty. This week, Israeli airstrikes have killed over 600, including at least 50 children, wounding 1800 and displacing hundreds of thousands.

Anna Madison, a member of the newly-formed Families Against Military Madness, was the first speaker and addressed the recent attacks, “There is nine-year-old Fatima and 11-year-old Bilal who were murdered by Israel using exploding pagers. There are the 50 children murdered earlier this week during the single deadliest day in Lebanon in decades. The reality is I could spend hours listing the dates and times that Israel murders children with impunity. We can talk about 1978, 1982, 1993, 2006, 2024. I can no longer keep track because every time I look at my phone, I see that more children have been murdered. This cannot be normalized. And look, I’m saying this knowing full well that this country doesn’t care about terrorizing and murdering children.”

Israel’s violence in Lebanon has a long history. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, triggering a large-scale conflict that killed tens of thousands. After occupying nearly 10% of Lebanon's territory, Israel withdrew in 2000 from its “security zone” following years of Lebanese resistance. Israel attempted another invasion of Lebanon in 2006 but quickly withdrew, killing hundreds in the process.

Many speakers showed solidarity with both Palestine and Lebanon as well as support for resistance to Israel. Lina Jebara, a Lebanese American member of the MN Anti-War Committee, told the crowd, “The struggle against U.S. imperialism and Zionist occupation in the Middle East has never been a struggle belonging to a single nation.”

Jebara continued, “Ironically, and inevitably, Israel’s attempts to turn the Lebanese people against the resistance through unabashed acts of terrorism has failed tremendously. The defiance in the face of brutal occupation has continued to shine effervescently among the resistance, and among the civilians of those countries continuing to resist, united in their cause, now, more than ever before.”

Mick Kelly, the political secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, has traveled to Lebanon and addressed the crowd, “We know for a fact that the Zionists cannot win. And we also know for a fact that the Lebanese resistance is powerful, and it is strong, and it is determined. Hezbollah has at the top of its agenda the liberation of Palestine and the defense of Lebanon.”

Kelly continued, “In Washington DC there’s a group of politicians in the White House and Pentagon who are facilitating a genocide. It is something we cannot and will not ever accept! We absolutely will not rest while it’s taking place.”

Other speakers included Jae Yates from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice and Mnar Adly, the Palestinian American editor of Mint Press News.

The closing speech was from Shahd Abouhekel, an organizer from Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota, who told the crowd that the students would continue to fight for Palestine and for Lebanon regardless of the repression from U of MN administration.

Wyatt Miller from the Anti-War Committee closed out the protest by encouraging everyone to come out on October 6 to march a year of resistance to genocide at the Free Palestine Coalition march, which will start at 1:30 p.m. at Hennepin and Washington Avenues in downtown Minneapolis.

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