Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Michela

By Michela

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New York, NY – Around 65 people attended the Hands Off Syria Coalition panel discussion called, “What’s Ahead for the War on Syria?” on Dec. 2.

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By Michela

New York City protest stands with Standing Rock

New York, NY – Around 800 people gathered at Foley Square, in lower Manhattan, Nov. 15, to stand in solidarity with Standing Rock and protest against the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

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By Michela

New York protest demands release of freedom fighter Georges Abdallah

New York, New York – A group of activists gathered in front of the French Consulate on Oct. 21, to stand in solidarity with Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a Lebanese Arab freedom fighter for Palestine, and demand his immediate release.

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By Michela

New York, NY – The struggle is building to get justice for long time Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh as her defense attorneys and supports push back against new legal attacks.Odeh’s case began on Oct. 17, 2013 when federal agents arrested her on a trumped-up immigration charge, alleging she failed to disclose her arrest 40-plus years ago in Israel. When Odeh and her defense team headed to trial in November 2014, they presented the presiding federal judge, Gershwin A. Drain, with solid evidence that Odeh didn’t disclose her arrest on the 20-year-old immigration form because she was suffering from PTSD as a direct result of torture by the hands of the Israeli military. However, Judge Drain deemed the evidence inadmissible and Odeh was convicted on these charges.Odeh and her legal team didn’t give up. They pushed for an appeal and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Judge Drain should have accepted the expert testimony concerning Odeh’s mental state.This Nov. 29, Judge Drain will assess arguments on whether Dr. Mary Fabri’s expert testimony is valid and scientifically sound to accept for the case. Dr. Fabri is a renowned psychologist who has worked closely with torture survivors.Prosecutors are making motions to “examine” Odeh before the Nov. 29 hearing. This move is an attempt to intimidate Odeh. A statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee notes, “Such an examination is irrelevant as to whether Dr. Fabri’s testimony is reliable and applicable. Nothing asked of Rasmea would change Dr. Fabri’s credentials as an internationally recognized expert on PTSD, or her ability to opine on how Rasmea’s PTSD affected her mental state during any of the dates in question.”The Rasmea Defense Committee is carrying out a major mobilization for the Nov. 29 hearing which will take place at the courthouse at 231 W. Lafayette Boulevard, in downtown Detroit, Michigan,

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By Michela

New York activists demand freedom for Leonard Peltier.

New York, NY – On Sept. 24, around 50 activist gathered in a Chinatown loft to organize, stand in solidarity and celebrate Chippewa activist and political prisoner, Leonard Peltier.

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By Michela

NYC rally against the Jewish National Fund.

New York, NY – On Sept. 18, around 40 activists and community members gathered in front of the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue to rally against the Jewish National Fund.

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By Michela

NYC activists raise their fist in solidarity with Bilal Kayed

New York, NY – On Aug. 23, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and NYC Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a panel called “Frontlines of resistance: Bilal Kayed and the struggle for Palestine”, regarding the state of occupied Palestine and the fight that political prisoners are currently waging against their Israeli jailers.

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By Michela

NYC action in solidarity with Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed

New York, NY – On Aug. 19, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network held a picket in front of the G4S office in off of Fifth Avenue. Samidoun has been holding weekly protests to stand in solidarity and demand the freedom of Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian man who is being wrongly detained in the Israeli prisons.

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By Michela

Protesters take the streets in 99 degree heat to protest Hillary Clinton

Philadelphia, PA – On July 25, thousands gathered and protested at the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

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By Michela

NYC protest against police terror

New York, NY – Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered at Union Square at 5 p.m., July 7, to demand justice for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The call to action was made by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.

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By Michela

NYC rally against repression in Mexico

New York, NY – On June 22, about 150 people rallied and marched in solidarity with the teachers of Oaxaca, Mexico. Facing the Mexican Consulate, protesters gave speeches and chanted to decry the Mexican government’s response to protests in Oaxaca, Mexico.

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By Michela

New York vigil for Orlando victims

New York, NY – On June 12, at 6 p.m., over 600 people gathered at the steps of the historic Stonewall Inn to mourn the lives lost in the Orlando Massacre that happened earlier that day.

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By Michela

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New York, New York – Every year in New York, leftists gather for the Left Forum. This year, the Left Forum took place May 20-22 and included several hundred workshops on an array of topics – from Venezuela to the current electoral climate.

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By Michela

Participants at NYC May Day march

New York, NY – On May 1, workers, immigrants and community activists gathered at Union Square Park to celebrate International Workers Day. Despite the cold and rain, over 300 people listened to speeches, chanted and then marched throughout lower Manhattan. The action was headed by the May 1st Coalition.

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By Michela

Tampa protest demands justice for Rasmea Odeh

Tampa. FL – Around 20 activists gathered in front of the Sam M. Gibbons Federal courthouse, Oct. 15 carrying a Palestinian flag and holding signs reading, “Justice for Rasmea.”

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By Michela

Tampa, FL – The Committee to Stop FBI Repression-Tampa will hold a live stream legal update event on the case of Palestinian activist, Rasmea Odeh, June 11. Activists from around Tampa Bay will gather at 7:30 pm for the national live stream to hear Odeh and her lawyer, Michael Deutsch, speak on the appeal of her November 2014 conviction.

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By Michela

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Gainesville, FL- 350 people, mostly students, marched from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in downtown Gainesville to the intersection of University Avenue and 13th Street. In a dramatic action on Dec. 8, they marched through busy streets and then shut down the important intersection for 11 minutes in solidarity with Eric Garner.

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By Michela

Eric Brown, a lead organizer of Gainesville SDS, speaking

Gainesville, FL – 100 students and community members protested the Ferguson grand jury decision, the failure to indict police officer Darren Wilson. Gathering at the Alachua County Court House in Gainesville at on Nov. 25, the protesters, wearing raincoats and holding umbrellas, stood in solidarity as the rain fell.

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By Michela

Florida students oppose militarization of police.

Gainesville, FL, – On Nov. 19, University of Florida Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally against police militarization in Turlington Plaza. Nearly three dozen students gathered at this busy spot where crowds of students walk by between classes. The student activists held signs saying, “Opt out of the 1033 program,” and “Schools don’t need soldiers.”

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By Michela

SDS workshop on militarization of police

Gainesville, FL – On Nov. 5, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Florida (UF SDS) conducted a workshop on history and growing militarization of police in the U.S., titled “The War at Home.” 25 students participated in the workshop. The University of Florida is where graduate student Kofi Adu-Brempong was shot by campus police with an assault rifle on March 2, 2010. Adu-Brempong, from Ghana in Africa, was in his apartment when police broke down the door and Officer Keith Smith shot him in the face. The university eventually fired Lt. Stacey Ettel who was in charge at the scene.

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