St. Paul, MN – More than 100 rallied here Nov. 16 to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza, which has been escalating since it began two days earlier. Protesters lined one of the busiest intersections in Saint Paul, at Summit and Snelling Avenues. The carried Palestinian flags and banners and signs in solidarity with Palestine and in opposition to U.S. support for Israel.
Chicago, IL – Hundreds gathered from across the country for the People’s Summit, united in their opposition to the NATO/G8 agenda of war and poverty. Organized jointly by the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANG8) and Occupy Chicago, the People’s Summit included 40 workshops and four plenary sessions. More than 50 attended a workshop featuring three Chicago leaders of the CANG8, speaking on, “The Strategic Aim in Opposing NATO in Chicago.”
Minneapolis, MN – About a dozen people from Occupy MN/Minneapolis interrupted a Hennepin County Commissioners Board meeting Dec. 13, demanding an end to county attacks on the Occupy movement and the People's Plaza.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement made by Jess Sundin, of the Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, at a Jan. 12 press conference on FBI infiltration of the peace movement. Sundin is one of the original 14 activists who was issued a subpoena during the FBI raids of Sept. 24, 2010. She was also one of the principal organizers of the 30,000 strong anti-war march at the Republican National Convention in 2008.
Minneapolis, MN – Morning rush hour drivers into downtown Minneapolis were greeted by several banners across the interstates reading, “Jobs not war” and “Recruiters lie people die.” This was the start of Zero Recruitment Day (ZRD), where more than 150 people protested at six military recruiting sites in Minnesota.
Minneapolis, MN – We have a social safety net that is nearly gone, and the politicians are stealing the last crumbs from the tables of our state's poorest families. Not only do they ignore our kids when they cut the budget, they try to hide the fact that children make up the majority of impoverished people in this country.
Raul Reyes, a leading member of the FARC – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – was killed by the U.S. backed Colombian government March 1. Fight Back! asked Jess Sundin, who traveled to Colombia and met with Raul Reyes, to give her impressions of him and to speak about the significance of his slaying. Sundin is a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and an important leader in Minnesota’s peace and justice movement.
El ataque sobre Irak empezó con un fallído golpe sorpresa. Minutos antes de que los bombarderos cruzaran la ciudad, las sirenas ululáron con fuerza para dar el aviso a un Baghdad adormecido. Eran las 5:30 a.m. del 20 de Marzo, 2003. La fuerza total militar mas grande del mundo empezó su guerra de terror, a la cual le dieron el nombre de “Shock and awe.” (impacto violento sin aviso y respeto por temor o miedo.)
The assault on Iraq began with a failed sneak attack. Minutes before bombers cruised over, sirens blasted a warning to the sleeping people of Baghdad. It was 5:30 a.m. on March 20. The full strength of the world’s largest military began a war of terror, which they called ‘shock and awe.’
Washington, D.C. – Jessica Sundin, of the Colombia Action Network, spoke at the Sept. 29 protest, “There are over 100 of us here from Minnesota, and we are the face of the anti-war movement. With us, we have Palestinians, Afghanis, Latinos and African Americans, and we are led by students. We've got to unite to fight against this war and end the racism here at home. The Colombia Action Network has been fighting for years to oppose the U.S. military aid to and involvement in a brutal regime in Colombia. It is one of the many crimes around the world for which the U.S. bears responsibility. Every year, thousands die in Colombia by U.S. paid-for weapons. In Palestine, hundreds of thousands are plowed down by U.S. paid-for tanks and machine guns. In Iraq every month 5,000 people die. This is the case around the world. While we grieve the loss of people in New York and D.C., we refuse to forget the deaths of our brothers and sisters around the world. From Colombia Action Network, we ask you to join us in saying, for Colombia, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, we demand justice, we demand peace!”