Fort Lauderdale, FL – On Sunday, April 15, about 25 members of the South Florida activist community joined together outside of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale to protest the latest U.S. attacks on Syria. The event was in reaction to the attack Friday night by U.S. and its accomplices, in which they illegally bombed three government-controlled sites in and around heavily populated areas in Syria.

Protesters held several “Hands off Syria!” signs and a large hand-painted banner that read, “Stop the endless war! U.S out of the Middle East!” As cars drove by along the busy downtown roads, the spirited group of protesters chanted slogans such as, “Hey, hey Donald J, how many bombs did you drop today?”

After about one hour of chanting and sign-waving, the group formed a circle to hear the organizers of the event speak about why protesting these endless wars is imperative.

Lifetime anti-war activist Ray del Papa, of Pax Christi, addressed the crowd by reminding them of the lies told by the media and the politicians in the months leading up to the Iraq War. He warned that the U.S. is playing a world-ending game against Russia in Syria, and that the stakes are high.

Conor Munro, an organizer with People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), also addressed the crowd, stating, “We know it’s not going to be Trump junior or senators’ sons that are going to fight and die in war against the people of Syria. It’s the 99% that will have to fight, and all to line the pockets of the big corporations.”

Munro continued, “While Donald Trump was out bombing Syria, we could have used that money to fix the poisoned water in Flint, or give health care to all Americans, or to provide free college for millions of students. And don’t let the news media fool you into thinking this is a humanitarian war. Do we really think that Donald Trump is a humanitarian?”

To show the hypocrisy in American ‘humanitarian intervention,’ Munro mentioned the desperate humanitarian crisis in Yemen caused by Saudi Arabia, the slaughter of dozens of Palestinians in recent weeks by Israel, and the millions of Iraqis killed in the U.S. ‘War on Terror,’ all acts committed by or assisted by the U.S.

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