Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday, April 17, dozens of students and community members gathered on the University of Minnesota campus to rally against war with Iran. On Saturday, April 13, Iran launched a series of attacks on Israel in retaliation for the recent Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.

This emergency rally was organized by the UMN chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.

Gillian Rath, a member of UMN SDS, stated, “I want to emphasize the term 'retaliated.’ These are not unprovoked attacks. Israel and the U.S. have been launching attacks on Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Iran throughout this genocide.”

Also speaking at the rally was Sima Shaksari, an Iranian faculty member at the university and a leading member of Educators for Justice in Palestine. Shaksari expanded upon the truth of the attacks on April 13 and the reasoning behind them, stating, “I want us to be clear that when we talk about Iran’s attack on Israel, it was provocation by Israel, exactly because Israel would definitely profit from a regional war.”

UMN SDS and other student groups on campus have been organizing for Palestine and against U.S. intervention since the resistance of October 7. Pro-Palestinian forces on campus won a major victory when a student referendum calling for the University of Minnesota to divest from Israel passed with 75% of the student body voting in favor. Despite this resoundingly statement from the students opposing continued UMN investment in Israeli apartheid, university administration and the board of regents have made no statement about the referendum, nor have they met with the organizers behind it.

Despite attempts at political repression from the University of Minnesota, the anti-war and pro-Palestine forces on campus have not been deterred. The students of the University of Minnesota stand in solidarity with Iran and Palestine.

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