News and Views from the People's Struggle
Fullerton, CA – Over 30 people, including families impacted by police killings, protested against police brutality at the Fullerton Transit Center on Friday, July 5. The protest was spurred by the March killing of Alejandro Campos Rios by the Fullerton Police Department. Rios was homeless and experiencing a mental health crisis when police killed him.
Irvine, CA – At least 20 police departments besieged the University of California, Irvine Gaza solidarity encampment on May 15, as student protesters marked the anniversary of the 1948 Nakba. Earlier that morning, protesters reclaimed UCI Physical Sciences Lecture Hall and renamed it in honor of Alex Odeh, a Palestinian American activist who was assassinated in Santa Ana, California in 1985 by three members of the Jewish Defense League.
Irvine, CA – “We demand amnesty for student protesters!” said a Palestinian student organizer at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Gaza solidarity encampment. “We’ve made it clear that we are not leaving until all of our demands are met. If anything, the student suspensions have only made us more determined to stay and hold our ground, because this fight is bigger than us. It’s a fight against genocide and our tuition money going towards the weapons that are murdering Palestinians by the Israeli government!”
Irvine, CA – On Monday, April 29, a gathering of about 70 students and faculty swelled to over 200 people to demand that the University of California, Irvine (UCI) divest completely from Israel.
Fullerton, CA – On March 6, Fullerton Police Department (FPD) killed Alejandro Campos Rios with bean bag projectiles and a taser. Age 50 and homeless, Rios was dancing and apparently under the influence but not posing any threat. One officer fired a taser while another shot five bean bag shotgun rounds at Rios, who collapsed bleeding and clutching his body. Rios was pronounced dead after arriving at a hospital.
Anaheim, CA – “You join the heroes who stood up and said, ‘War? Not in our name! Death? Not in our name! Money toward genocide? Not in our name!’” declared Kareem Youssef, member of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), to a crowd of over 20 protesters in front of a Super King Market on March 3.
The action was part of the larger “Boycott Sadaf” campaign, whose goal is to remove Sadaf Food products from grocery stores. Sadaf Foods is a Zionist company that sources its products in occupied Palestine and tries to normalize the state of Israel.
Activists took the parking lot chanting, “Super King, hear our voice! Zionist food is not a choice!” and “Not another nickel, not another dime! No more money for Israel’s crimes!”
They were confronted by security guards who tried to intimidate them into moving out of the parking lot, but Youssef and others asserted their right to protest Super King market for shelving Sadaf Food products. As seven police SUVs and one motorcycle officer poured into the lot, another organizer from USPCN said he had spoken with the manager of Super King before staging this action, and the manager sent him to customer service. “How ridiculous! They want us to go through a bureaucracy when we tell them to stop funding genocide, when we tell them that you’re profiting off of the stolen food while our people are starving in Gaza, while children are starving! And instead, they call the cops on us. Shame on Super King! Shame on Sadaf! Boycott Sadaf!”
Diana Terreros, member of Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated that “CSO stands in unequivocal solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against the occupation of Israel, who is committing a genocide and has been dispossessing Palestinians for 75 years.” She also spoke on the recent victory of the Boycott Sadaf campaign in Garden Grove, where an action forced Harvest Fresh market to deshelve its Sadaf products just 30 minutes into the rally. Terreros stated, “We will keep fighting against these Zionist corporations! Our struggles as Chicanos and Palestinians may be different, but we are united against the common enemy of U.S. imperialism, and together we can win.”
Even as the police tried to violate protesters’ First Amendment rights, activists urged customers to boycott Super King until the manager made a contractual agreement to deshelve its Sadaf Food products. Some customers even joined the ranks of activists, taking up signs and shouting back at police and security. The police were forced to stand and watch.
Palestinian flags waved in the lot as Youssef closed the boycott action by warning, “We will be checking on different stores seeking Sadaf across Southern California until every single one of these Southern California stores removes Sadaf Foods from their shelves! Because this is what we can do to make an impact and to address Zionism ourselves, and show them that people power, just us, is enough to cost Sadaf millions!”
The boycott was organized by USPCN, and it included activists from Free Democratic Movement for Palestine, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the Palestinian American Women’s Association, Community Service Organization Orange County, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).
#AnaheimCA #International #AntiWarMovement #MiddleEast #Palestine #BDS #USPCN #AlAwda #PAWA #CSOOC #FRSO
Santa Ana, CA – On Wednesday, October 25, chants of “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!” and “Not another nickel! Not another dollar! No more money for Israel’s slaughter!” filled the streets of Santa Ana as over 50 people rallied outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building to protest Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Trabuco Canyon, CA – John Snowling, a retired sergeant from Ventura Police Department, shot and killed three people in Trabuco Canyon, Orange County on Wednesday August 23, wounding six others. He was targeting his ex-wife, Marie Snowling, who he shot in the jaw but who survived the injury. The 69-year-old ex-sergeant brought two handguns and a shotgun into Cook’s Corner biker bar that Wednesday, where his recently divorced wife, Marie, was attending a weekly spaghetti night. Snowling shot nine people in the bar and then turned his guns on police, who shot and killed him.
Los Angeles, CA – For the eighth year in a row, Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) held their May Day march and rally in Boyle Heights. Over 50 people gathered to commemorate International Workers Day and to uplift the demands of legalization for all the undocumented, protecting public education, and community control of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. The event was emceed by David Pulido of Orange County CSO and Juliana Castellón of Centro CSO.