News and Views from the People's Struggle
New Orleans, LA – On the night of December 11, organizers and activists marched towards the Audubon Tea Room at the beginning of “FedFest 2024,” a fundraiser hosted by the Jewish Federation, an organization dedicated to supporting the apartheid state of Israel.
Detroit, MI – On December 7, 30 protesters marched on Theodore Levin Courthouse advocating a people’s agenda, an end to political repression and for the city to divest from institutions that benefit Israel.
By Elowyn Pfeiffer and Iemawn Chughtai
Saint Paul, MN – 110 members of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 (SPFE) gathered on Monday, November 25 for a member meeting in which a vote was held for the union local to sign on to a letter urging President Biden to enact an arms embargo on Israel and work towards a ceasefire in Gaza, and to put pressure on their national union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to do the same.
Minneapolis, MN – On December 3 and 5, activists from the Free Palestine Coalition and Students for a Democratic Society came together at the Public Service Center while the Minneapolis city council voted on a proposed resolution to stand in solidarity with the protesters arrested during the occupation of Morrill Hall – renamed Halimy Hall – at the University of Minnesota.
St. Paul, MN – On the morning of December 10, 80 members and supporters of the Minnesota Free Palestine Coalition rallied inside and outside the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) meeting. The rally came after the board’s decision to convert their quarterly open public meeting into a small hybrid in-person/online format, without live public testimony.
Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, December 8, the Minnesota Anti War Committee held their annual Human Rights Day action. 200 protesters gathered in Minneapolis’s Washburn Fair Oaks Park and marched down the busy Nicollet Avenue, shouting demands for human rights for all and calling on the Minnesota State Board of Investment to divest from apartheid Israel and weapons manufacturers.
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the ongoing U.S.-backed aggression against Syria. President Bashar Al-Assad has been forced to flee the country, and now sits in exile in Moscow. What is clear is that the Syrian government has collapsed. This blatant assault on Syrian sovereignty is part of a larger effort – by Western imperialists, Israel and reactionary forces in the region – to defeat the Axis of Resistance, which is fighting for the liberation of Palestine and to end U.S. control in the region.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following December 9 statement from the MN Anti-War Committee.
The government of Syria led by President Bashar al-Assad has collapsed. This upheaval has major implications for the struggle against U.S. imperialism and Israeli aggression in the region. Regardless of who leads Syria, the Anti-War Committee remains opposed to interference in Syria by the United States, Israel, and their imperialist allies.
Israel has occupied and illegally settled Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967, and is already using Syria’s instability to expand its so-called “buffer zone,” while continuing its bombing raids in Syria. Israel seeks to pressure Syria into accepting the theft of the Golan Heights and normalizing relations. It also may have its eye on expanding its occupation in Syria for future Zionist settlement.
As part of its support for Israel, the United States has been working to weaken and destabilize Syria for years. The U.S. has openly backed certain factions in Syria since at least 2012, with the now-declassified “Timber Sycamore” weapons smuggling operation led by the CIA, and the “Syrian Train and Equip” program led by the Pentagon. The U.S. has economically sanctioned Syria since 1979 when it first labeled the country as a “state sponsor of terrorism.” In 2020, brutal new U.S. sanctions devastated Syria’s financial, energy and construction sectors, severely limiting access to electricity and basic humanitarian goods for millions of Syrians, while harming reconstruction efforts. And since 2015, the U.S. military has directly had boots on the ground in Syria, notably occupying Syria’s oil fields.
Some are celebrating what they see as the fall of a repressive tyrant. Others are mourning the collapse of a bulwark of resistance to Israel, with Syria providing a crucial supply line for resistance groups in neighboring Lebanon as well as Gaza. In any case, we know Israel sees Assad’s downfall as a victory, and is already eagerly taking advantage of the situation with an unchecked onslaught of attacks on Syria.
Ultimately, it’s not yet clear what political forces will shape the new Syria. From our perspective of international solidarity against Israel’s expanding genocide in the Levant, we hope any new government that emerges is able to resist U.S./Israeli attacks, and continues Syria’s support for the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine.
We encourage our followers to remain committed to the principles of anti-imperialism, sovereignty and independence for all nations, and steadfast, united opposition to the U.S.-backed Zionist project.
Madison, WI – In a show of student power, nearly 50 protesters marched into the UW board of regents meeting Thursday, December 5, to put Palestine and divestment on the Finance Committee agenda.
This latest militant action comes after a large-scale administration failure to uphold the Madison and Milwaukee encampment agreements on disclosure and divestment from apartheid Israel.
St. Paul, MN – On December 5, 45 people protested outside of the Minnesota Senate Building in 15-degree weather to demand that members of the board vote to divest the state of Minnesota from investments in Israel. The protest, held ahead of the board’s December 10 meeting, was organized by the Free Palestine Coalition.