Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

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Transgender Day Of Visibility in Denver, Colorado. | Fight Back! News/staff

Denver, CO – Students organized by the Denver chapter of Students for a Democratic Society gathered on Auraria campus April 2 to solemnly commemorate Transgender Day Of Visibility. The candlelight event recalled the suffering and lives lost from violence and hatred aimed at the trans community. News publications and watchdog agencies, spurred on by trans activists, have noted a sharp uptick in hate crimes under the Biden administration, with a steady increase each year since the record numbers committed during the 2020 election year.

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Chicago students march for diversity. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago IL – On April 3, nearly 70 students rallied at the University of Illinois at Chicago to demand the university do more to support its diverse student body. This included increased funding to cultural centers, ethnic studies programs, diversity programs, increased Black enrollment and retention, and hiring more Black and Latino faculty. Despite freezing wind and rain the students marched and rallied for over an hour, chanting “We’re cold, we’re tired, we don’t like the admin!”

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Jacksonville rally follows arrest of killer cop.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville Community Action Committee along with other organizations rallied at City Hall on Wednesday, April 3, after two-time-killer cop and serial brutalizer and former JSO officer Josue Garriga was arrested by Clay County Sheriff’s office. Garriga was caught engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Josue Garriga had been involved in the death of FAMU student Jamee Johnson and most recently was involved in the brutal beating of Le’Keian Woods.

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Tampa SDS marches against diversity cutbacks.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Tampa, FL – On April 1, about 15 students from the University of South Florida and community members marched in support of diversity and in opposition to cutbacks.

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Members of the New People's Army \[NPA\]. | Fight Back! News/staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Mach 29 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today directed the New People’s Army (NPA) to mount tactical offensives that it is capable of winning as it wages a war of active defense to frustrate the brutal campaign of encirclement and suppression being waged by the US-Marcos regime, and shatter the reign of terror of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the countryside.

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 Tampa, Florida vigil organized by Students for a Democratic Society \[SDS\] demands justice for Nex Benedict. | Fight Back! News/staff

Tampa, FL – On March 29, around 20 students gathered in front of the University of South Florida library to participate in a vigil held by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to celebrate the life of, and demand justice for, Nex Benedict.

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Protest against Lockheed Martin's arming apartheid Israel.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Littleton, CO – On Wednesday, March 27, Denver Anti-War Action (DAWA) kicked off their new campaign against Lockheed Martin with a powerful all-day picket, bringing around 80 protesters to Lockheed’s Colorado headquarters campus.

With thousands of cars passing by throughout the day, the action gave a massive amount of visibility to DAWA’s message that Coloradans do not support Lockheed’s role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. If this action is a preview of events to come, the days of Lockheed hiding in the shadows outside of suburban Littleton are behind them, as it appears that the people have had enough of the company.

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Chicago marches for Palestine to commemorate Land Day. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago – On March 30, thousands of Palestinians, Arab Americans and others took to the streets of Chicago to protest the ongoing genocide in Palestine and to demand an end to all U.S. aid to Israel. Protesters rallied in the Federal Plaza and then marched to and occupied Michigan Avenue- a major street in downtown Chicago. This action was the 30th mass mobilization called by the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) since the Al-Aqsa Flood began on October 7.

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Palestine solidarity rally in Texas.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Fight Back! is circulating the following statement by two Dallas activist groups that stand with Palestine and are organizing to stop the U.S./Israeli campaign of genocide in Gaza.

The DFW Anti-War Committee and Jewish Voice for Peace DFW strongly condemn Texas Governor Abbott’s Racist and Islamophobic executive order GA-44 targeting Palestinian student organizations.

On March 27th, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed executive order GA-44, which directly calls for universities in Texas to “establish appropriate punishments, including expulsion from the institution” for students who engage in alleged “antisemitic speech and acts”. However, the order simultaneously demands that universities adopt the Zionist IHRA definition of antisemitism (via Texas Code Section 448.001), which inherently penalizes any speech supportive of Palestinians. The order also demands “that groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine are disciplined”.

This Anti-Palestinian executive order directly attacks Palestinian students and organizations by falsely labeling them as intrinsically antisemitic. This definition of antisemitism criminalizes any attempts by Palestinians to call for liberation or in calling out racist policies enacted by the Israeli Government. Further, it is in and of itself racist by declaring all Jewish Americans must have dual loyalties to the apartheid state of Israel. We condemn these attacks on Palestinian students, on First Amendment rights to free speech, and on concerned community members speaking out against the current U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza and the ongoing occupation of Palestine.

The DFW Anti-War Committee continues to stand strongly in support of Palestinian and allied organizations in Texas who are fighting for a Free Palestine. We will continue to support the Students for Justice in Palestine and Palestine Solidarity Committee chapters and members in their just struggle against Zionism, Anti-Arab Racism, and Islamophobia. We additionally will continue to stand strongly in support of Anti-Zionist Jewish and allied organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace as they continue to fight against the genuine scourge of antisemitic violence in this state. It must be made clear that antisemitism should not be redefined to include any criticisms of the racist policies of Israel.

The struggle of the Palestinian people is one marked by decades of steadfast resistance to occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. However, it is also marked by the resounding strength of commitment the Palestinian people have to preserving their culture, history, art forms, and communities in the face of such violent repression under Zionist occupation. We also recognize the long and ongoing role of our own government, both at the federal United States level and here locally in Texas. Whether it is the millions of dollars of Israeli war bonds Abbott has purchased, the bloody footprints of weapon manufacturer corporations littered across DFW, or the political cover the Biden regime is providing for the Israeli genocide on Gaza, we condemn these racist systems for their complicity in genocide and occupation and we reject their reframing of Palestinian organizing as antisemitic. We refuse to accept the moral high ground from an Abbott administration that has done nothing to support and protect Arab and Muslim communities amidst a rise in racist and Islamophobic violence, including the stabbing of a young Palestinian community member in Austin just miles from the governor’s mansion.

We stand steadfast in support of the liberation of all peoples from under the boot of imperialism and we recognize that imperialism will not fall until Palestine is free from the river to the sea. We will continue to struggle towards a just and lasting peace for all peoples and a world free of imperialist violence, genocide, apartheid, and occupation. From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the US war machine!

#DallasTX #TX #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #DAWC #JFW

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A young person wearing a black hoodie holds up a sign that says "Fuck the banditos" and a drawing of a skeleton wearing a sombrero and holding a gun.

East Los Angeles, CA – On March 23, 50 people gathered at the East LA Sheriff Station to demand justice for David Ordaz Jr. and commemorate his three-year angelversary. On March 14, 2021, Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies killed Ordaz outside his family home after his family called 911 to request support for him while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

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Neighborhood posters declaring victory over gentrification in Boyle Heights. | Fight Back! News/staff

Los Angeles, CA – On March 13, organized tenants from El Apetito-Finessa Colectivo, neighborhood council members, and concerned residents appeared before a hearing at Ramona Hall Community Center in Highland Park. They were supporting an appeal against a major corporate development in Boyle Heights.

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Protesters for Palestine outnumber cops and Democrats at Denver fundraiser. | Fight Back! News/staff

Denver, CO – On March 23, the Democratic party hosted “Demfest” at the Denver Performing Arts Center. In response, the Colorado Palestine Coalition held a protest and disruption of the event in response to the Democrats’ continuous support of Israel’s genocidal actions against the Palestinian people.

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Protesters at the U.S. State Department denounce the arrival of Israeli war criminal Yoav Gallant. | Fight Back! News/staff

Washington, DC – A crowd of 50 angry protesters gathered outside the U.S. State Department on Monday, March 25 to meet and denounce the arrival of Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.

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Tallahassee holds vigil to honor murdered trans Oklahoma teen. | Fight Back! News/staff

Tallahassee, FL – On the evening of March 24, 25 community members gathered to honor the life of Nex Benedict, an Oklahoma transgender teenager who was murdered. The vigil was held at Common Ground Books, a local LGBTQ bookstore.

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Vigil outside Northwestern Detention Center. | Fight Back! News/staff

Tacoma, WA – On March 20, approximately 50 people gathered in front of the Northwest Detention Center as part of the 24/7 vigil currently being led by La Resistencia and Tsuru for Solidarity.

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Activists gather in street. Some carry signs.

Tacoma, WA - On March 12, an encampment began outside Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center in response to the death of Charles Leo Daniel, who committed suicide after over two years of solitary confinement. This followed two subsequent suicide attempts inside the detention center. 

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Protestors congregate on the stairs in front of a Seattle Police Department Building. They have signs reading slogans like “Jail Killer Cops” and “Justice for Jaahavi”

Seattle, WA – On March 16, a crowd of around 40 activists, organizers and community members marched around the King County prosecutor’s office. In February, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion’s office declined to file charges against Seattle police officer Kevin Dave, who over a year ago struck and killed a student at a crosswalk with his car.

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Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 23 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The English translation appeared on the Resistance News Network on Telegram.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine denounced the actions of some Arab governments, especially in Morocco and Jordan, for pursuing, arresting, and prosecuting a number of political and human rights activists leading the popular mobilization in support of Gaza and condemning the ongoing zionist genocide, rejecting normalization, and protesting against these governments' weak positions on the aggression.

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NYC home attendants rally at city hall demanding an end to 24-hour workdays. | Fight Back! News/staff

New York, New York – A crowd of 100 demonstrators rallied in front of New York City Hall on Friday, March 22, to support home health aides on a hunger strike to end the inhumane 24-hour workdays that home attendants in New York City are forced to endure.

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Tacoma  high school students rally for Rafah. | Fight Back! News/staff

Tacoma, WA – On March 20, about 50 people gathered in Tollefson Plaza for a protest in solidarity with Rafah organized by School Of The Arts Students For A Democratic Society (SOTA SDS). Through this action, the protesters stood in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and demanded an end of U.S. aid to Israel.

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