‘These cuts would kill’

St. Paul, MN – Tombstones and bodies filled the halls outside the Governor’s office here, March 23, as participants in a ‘die-in’ demonstrated against the effects of Governor Pawlenty’s proposed cuts in health and human services. Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout, along with other social justice groups, joined the protest.

Minneapolis, MN – Over 600 people joined a Minneapolis anti-war march and rally on Saturday, March 20, to mark the seventh anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Iraq with a call for an end to the wars and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Chicago, IL – Approximately 20 protestors marched at 7am, March 3, outside the Palmer House Hilton, in opposition to an official Sister Cities relationship between the City of Chicago and the municipality of Petach Tikva in Israel. The event was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago (PSG) in response to the Annual International Business Breakfast keynoted by Mayor Daley.

Fight Back! interviewed Jess Sundin, an important organizer of the anti-war movement, about the upcoming March 20 protests against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Sundin was a key leader of the massive march on the 2008 Republican National Convention. She is also a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement of solidarity from student groups in the Philippines with the participants in the March 4 day of action.

Minneapolis, MN – 50 people gathered here March 7, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event, organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), included speeches, a showing of the film The Eyes of the Rainbow - a documentary about Assata Shakur – and brief toasts from trade union, anti-war, student and welfare rights organizers.

Selma, AL – Thousands gathered here, Sunday, March 7, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 1965 Bloody Sunday civil rights march – during which women and children crossed over the Edmund Pettus bridge and were brutally attacked by police.

Fight Back New Service is circulating the following statement from the Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society.

Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, urgently requests, “Help and aid from Americans, Colombians, and the international community to stop a crime.” Professor Palmera is being put on trial in Colombia while held in solitary confinement in the U.S. He is being forced to wear prison clothes, shackled at the hands and feet and then chained together around the waist, with the ever-present threat of electrical shock if he moves too quickly. This ‘trial’ is a violation of Professor Palmera’s dignity and his rights as a prisoner of war. Tom Burke says, “There is nothing fair or just about the trials and imprisonment of this brave Colombian freedom fighter Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera should be set free.”

Minneapolis, MN – About 500 union members, students, and faculty, came together for a spirited rally and march here, March 4. Organized by the Chop From The Top Coalition and the Save Our School Campaign, protesters first gathered at the central administration building, Morrill Hall, where Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME Local 3800 was among those who addressed the crowd.

Chicago, IL – There was a forceful protest of over 250 people at the University of Illinois-Chicago who came out to defend education and to fight for fair contracts, March 4. Chanting, “Chop from the top!” and “Whose university? Our university!” students, members of SEIU Local 73, the Graduate Employees Organization and faculty joined in unison against the administration placing the budget crisis on their backs. Earlier in the day, there was a forum by several professors speaking on the budget crisis, followed by a rally and march through the campus to the administrators’ building. The day closed with a soup kitchen provided by SEIU to demonstrate for a fair contract.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Out of Afghanistan now

Minneapolis, MN – About 75 people gathered here at the offices of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Feb. 18, to protest a new escalation of the war in Afghanistan. U.S. and NATO forces have launched an attack on the city of Marjah, a city with over 80,000 residents. Following the dispatch of thousands of additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the attack on Marjah represents a new and bloody escalation.

St. Paul, MN – A bill that places a moratorium on home foreclosures and brings a halt to the eviction of tenants from foreclosed buildings got through the Minnesota State House of Representatives Housing Policy and Finance and Public Health Finance Division, Feb. 9. The moratorium bill will now proceed to the House Commerce Committee. It is expected that Senate hearings on the bill will be announced in coming days.

Fight Back New Service is circulating the following statement from the Workers Party of Belgium (WPB) on the dramatic victory won by Belgian workers at Anhauser-Busch InBev, who defeated a restructuring plan that would have resulted in layoffs.

St. Paul, MN – About 100 people gathered here Feb. 4 on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol for a protest that coincided with the opening of the Minnesota State Legislature. The Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout organized the protest. Standing at the top of a giant banner reading, “Tax the rich, no cuts to poor and working people,” Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee led the chant, “Hey politicians, here’s the fix – tax the rich! Tax the rich!”

St. Paul, MN – The battle is under way to put a moratorium on home forecloses in Minnesota. The first legislative hearing on an bill to put a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions began with a joint hearing by State Senate Economic Development and Housing Budget Division and Health and Housing and Family Security Committee, Jan. 27 at the Minnesota state capitol.