Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Kosta Harlan

By Kosta Harlan

As the news of [Osama Bin Laden’s killing by U.S. forces inside Pakistan](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?hp) reverberates across the world, it is a good time to take stock of the ‘war on terror’ and what it has brought to the world.

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By Kosta Harlan

Durham, NC – A little over 24 hours after their initial arrests, the undocumented youth who blocked traffic in a civil disobedience action are declaring a victory after they were released from the Atlanta Corrections Detention Center April 7.

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By Kosta Harlan

Undocumented youth protest in Atlanta, Georgia on April 5

(April 7 update: The detained youth have been released)

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By Kosta Harlan

Tom Burke (right) speaking at the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) conference

Asheville, NC – On April 2, about 80 people attended a workshop on the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids and grand jury repression of anti-war and solidarity activists at the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) southern regional conference here. In addition to NLG members from across the South, over two dozen community members from Asheville’s peace and justice movements came to learn about the case and to show their support for the targeted activists.

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By Kosta Harlan

Protest sign from March 19: U.S. hands off the Arab revolution!

With missiles from French fighter jets and cruise missiles from U.S. naval forces stationed off the coast of Libya, the large scale foreign intervention aimed at overthrowing the Libyan government began on Saturday March 19 – exactly eight years after the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq began.

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By Kosta Harlan

Conference unites over 100 activists from across the South

Speakers on the second panel

Chapel Hill, NC – Over 100 activists from across the South gathered at the University of North Carolina School of Law Feb. 19 for a conference against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists. The conference was one of four regional conferences organized by the national Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR). Activists came from as far as Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia.

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By Kosta Harlan

'Forward together, not one step back'

HKonJ protest in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, NC – Over 4000 people marched in downtown Raleigh on Feb. 12 for the 5th annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) protest, organized by the NAACP and the HKonJ Coalition, which is composed of 107 civil rights, religious and social justice organizations. Buses and caravans converged from across the state of North Carolina for the annual protest which centers on a 14-point political program [http://hkonj.com/] for economic justice and civil rights.

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By Kosta Harlan

Demand Education Rights for Immigrant Youth

Vigil in Raleigh for immigrant rights.

Raleigh, NC – Over 80 people gathered here, Feb. 1, outside the North Carolina General Assembly to voice strong opposition to HB11. Undocumented students are already faced with the burden of paying out-of-state tuition. This bill, proposed by Rep. George Cleveland, would go further in barring undocumented students from having access to any community colleges and universities in the state. Because of North Carolina's new Republican-majority legislature, the bill is likely to pass.

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By Kosta Harlan

Chicago protest in solidarity with people of Egypt

History is unfolding before our eyes in Egypt this week, as millions of Egyptians take to the streets to demand the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and fundamental democratic reforms. The future is unwritten, but there is no doubt that the Jan. 25 movement marks a turning point in the struggle for national liberation in the Middle East. For what the Egyptian people are proving as they march through the streets demanding justice and pushing back against police forces wielding tear gas and live ammunition, is that the people are stronger than their oppressors.

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By Kosta Harlan

_Afghan and U.S. peoples say “No” _

Photo credit: Kenny Holston 21 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kennyholston/).

In an interview Jan. 2 on NBC’s Meet the Press, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham called for a permanent U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

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By Kosta Harlan

March organized by CGE Local 6069 confronts OSU administration

CGE Local 6069 VP of Organizing Michelle Zellers speaks at rally.

Corvallis, OR – Chants rang out across the steps of Memorial Union on the campus of Oregon State University (OSU) Sept. 8, as 100 graduate workers, staff, professors and students rallied in support of a fair contract for the graduate employees. “Who does the work? We do! Who are we? C-G-E! What do we want? Contract!”

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By Kosta Harlan

Protest raises pressure on Senator Kay Hagan

Fifty people marched in Greensboro, NC to protest the federal 'tax and deport'

Greensboro, NC – Fifty people marched through downtown Greensboro on Aug. 27, past the offices of the Internal Revenue Service, to protest the federal policy of ‘tax and deport.’

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By Kosta Harlan

Protesters against Arizona's SB1070.

Raleigh, NC – About 250 immigrant workers, youth and their allies marched on the State Capitol building here, on July 29, in protest of Arizona's SB1070. Protesters chanted and held colorful signs reading, “Stop deportations,” “No to SB1070” and “No more racism!”

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By Kosta Harlan

Viridiana, Loida, and Rosario on hunger strike to pressure Senator Kay Hagan to

Raleigh, NC – Three young immigrant women are on day six of a hunger strike to demand that North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (Democrat) support the DREAM Act. The women, Viridiana, Loida and Rosario, of central North Carolina, have vowed to continue their hunger strike until Senator Hagan publicly endorses the DREAM Act.

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By Kosta Harlan

Raleigh, NC – On June 18, two Raleigh students ended a hunger strike that was aimed at raising pressure on NC Senator Kay Hagan to support the DREAM Act. The hunger strike lasted 1.5 million seconds (17 days), symbolic of the 1.5 million undocumented immigrant students who would benefit from passage of the DREAM Act.

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By Kosta Harlan

Raleigh, NC – Four activists were arrested during a Wake County Board of Education meeting, June 15, as the struggle to stop the resegregation of Wake County schools intensifies. The civil disobedience action was carried out to protest a 5-4 vote by Wake County's majority conservative board to end Wake's busing program. The demonstrators locked arms and sang We Shall Overcome during the meeting. They were arrested when they did not stop.

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By Kosta Harlan

Deadliest day on record this year for U.S./NATO occupation

U.S. troops prepare to exit the area after a raid

Ten NATO occupation soldiers were killed by Afghan resistance forces on June 7, marking the deadliest day on record for the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Seven of those killed were U.S. soldiers. NATO reported that five troops were killed in an insurgent attack against a police training center, two soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing attack and one in a small arms attack. One day earlier, June 6, five NATO troops were killed in small arms fire attacks, a roadside bombing and a car crash. It is unclear if the car crash was related to a resistance attack.

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By Kosta Harlan

Half of the 52 killed by the banned cluster munitions were women and children

Map of Yemen in the MIddle East

A report by the human rights group Amnesty International linked the U.S. military to a missile attack in south Yemen on Dec. 17, 2009. The cruise missile attack resulted in the deaths of 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children, according to an investigation by a Yemeni parliamentary committee. The committee has called for the perpetrators of the crime to be brought to justice.

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By Kosta Harlan

Protest at Oregon State University led by MEChA

Corvallis, OR – Over 300 students, campus workers, professors and community members rallied at Oregon State University on May 12, to protest the racist SB 1070 law in Arizona. Chanting “The people of Arizona are under attack, what do we do, stand up fight back!” the demonstrators marched from the Centro Cultural César Chávez to the center of campus, with banners and brightly-colored signs denouncing SB 1070, as well as another racist bill, HB 2281, which bans schools in Arizona from teaching ethnic studies.

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By Kosta Harlan

Chapel Hill, NC – At a press conference here on April 21, students expressed their outrage that the racist ex-congressperson, Tom Tancredo, has been invited to return to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus for a speaking event on April 26, hosted by a right-wing youth organization.

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