News and Views from the People's Struggle
New Orleans, LA – On March 21, the morning of Mahmoud Khalil’s court hearing, community organizations gathered outside of the Federal Court of Appeals in New Orleans to protest his detainment. Their demands were simple – release Mahmoud Khalil, reinstate his green card, and cease all illegal detainments.
Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, March 22, over 200 community members gathered to protest the genocide carried out by Israel after it violated the ceasefire on March 18. Community members protested in the town center, on one of Jacksonville’s busiest streets, to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel and call for the Jacksonville Port Authority to end its contracts with two shipping companies, Maersk and ZIM.
St. Paul, MN – On Friday, March 21, the otherwise obscure Minnesota Retirement Systems building was guarded by dozens of state troopers who blocked entrances to the parking lot. More troopers manned the building entrance, screening bags and limiting entry to only a few dozen members of the public. Inside the small conference room where the State Board of Investment (SBI)’s quarterly meeting was to be held, more troopers along with plainclothes security lined the entire perimeter.
Chicago, IL – On Friday morning, March 21, over 50 protesters gathered outside the Illinois State Board of Investments (ISBI) office in downtown Chicago. They came to demand that ISBI and Vice Chair Michael Frerichs, who currently sits as the Illinois state treasurer, divest from Israeli genocide, apartheid and occupation.
Richardson, TX – On March 18, community members gathered to protest in front of the Raytheon company’s building in response to Raytheon’s complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine. The Dallas chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement called the emergency protest after Israel broke the recent ceasefire agreement and continued bombing the Gaza strip.
Raytheon, second to Lockheed Martin, is one of the world largest weapons manufacturers, and has been targeted by anti-war activists in north Texas. Aside from Raytheon, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has seen protests and actions against local Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics plants.
Denver, CO – On Wednesday, March 19, hundreds of Coloradans rallied on the Auraria Campus in Denver to protest Trump’s attacks on free speech and the politically motivated detainment of activists.
Allendale, MI — On Saturday, March 15, Grand Valley State University students and community members took part in a demonstration protesting the illegal ICE abductions of Mahmoud Khalil and Leqaa Kordia. They also demanded that Grand Valley take action to protect its student body from the increased repression of the Trump administration.
Jacksonville, FL – After hearing about the abduction of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate from Columbia University who was a legal permanent resident, organizations in Jacksonville sprung to action. The Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network, the Jacksonville Immigrants’ Rights Alliance, and the Jacksonville chapter of Students for a Democratic Society coalesced forces to rally on the morning of Saturday, March 15, with chants of “Free Mahmoud Khalil!” echoing through Jacksonville’s downtown.
San Jose, CA – On March 19, a crowd of 100 people gathered in front of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in the heart of downtown to protest the bombing of Gaza and the strikes on Yemen that have killed at least 400 Palestinians and 50 Yemenis.
Minneapolis, MN – On March 18, over 300 people gathered at the Minneapolis Federal Building for an emergency protest to show their collective outrage at Israel’s latest violation of the ceasefire in Gaza and the Trump administration’s complicity in the attack.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the International League of Peoples’ Struggle.
ILPS militantly condemns the continuation of indiscriminate airstrikes by the U.S.-Zionist entity and the deliberate engineering of the end of the Gaza ceasefire. This is part of the war of extermination against the Palestinian people that the U.S.-Zionist entity has continuously pursued to advance its expansionist settler-colonial project. The Palestinian people and its unified resistance continue to stand strong in the face of genocide and will continue to resist until the Zionist occupation has ceased to exist.
San Jose, CA – On March 14, a crowd of 100 people braved the March winds to speak out in defense of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the Palestine solidarity movement at New York’s Columbia University who faces deportation on the grounds of his political work. Khalil has not been charged with any crime.
Seattle, WA – On March 12, around 50 students and workers gathered to confront the University of Washington Board of Regents and demand no ICE on campus, divestment from Israel, and the protection of transgender students. The board had cancelled its original full meeting but kept a scheduled committee meeting at the same time, which included a vote on divestment from Israel.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The Popular Front condemns the brutal American aggression against Yemen and emphasizes that Yemen will remain a thorn in the eye of the aggressors.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine strongly condemns the extensive American aggression against Yemen and stresses that this crime is an extension of the war crimes and genocide that imperialism and Zionism have committed against the Arab people.
Minneapolis, MN – On March 15 the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) hosted a panel at the New City Center about U.S.-China relations and where President Donald Trump likely intends to take them. The event featured speakers from MPAC, Asians 4 Palestine, Nodutdal and Minnesota Workers United.
Minneapolis, MN – A second Palestinian student protester at Columbia University, Leqaa Kordia, has been detained by Department of Homeland Security agents. She is an international student on a student visa and comes from the Palestinian West Bank.
Similar to Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian student detained last week despite having a permanent legal status, she played a role in the pro-Palestine student protests at Columbia, including the Hind's Hall building occupation.
Tampa, FL – On March 12, Tampa Bay’s Students for a Democratic Society led a protest to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, who is under the threat of deportation as the U.S. pushes to revoke his green card.
Grand Prairie, TX – Members of the DFW Anti-War Committee on did a banner drop March 1 in front of the local Lockheed Martin Fire and Missile Control Center to protest against Lockheed’s annual coding competition, Code Quest.
Grand Rapids, MI – On March 5, outside of Corewell Health, the largest employer in Grand Rapids, 30 people rallied outside of the healthcare giant demanding their immediate divestment from Israeli companies and bonds.
Early this month, Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids launched its “Corewell Health Divest!” campaign in response to the horrific destruction of Palestine’s healthcare system and the company’s connection to the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator – a nonprofit which proudly states itself to be “the only landing zone in the U.S. dedicated to supporting the growth of Israeli companies” and having “hosted 100+ Israeli companies in Michigan.”
San Jose, CA – During this week’s city council meeting, March 11, dozens of community members made public comments to demand that the city divest over $50 million from corporations with direct ties to Israel's genocide against Palestine.
Drusie Kazanova, a member of San Jose Against War, stated, “It is clear that the diverse and multicultural community of San Jose refuses to be complicit in genocide,” citing a divestment petition with over 1500 signatures, and endorsements from over 50 local businesses and community organizations. “I call on you to exercise your leadership and stand with your constituents by divesting all city funds from Israel's genocide against Palestine,” said Kazanova.
Philip Nguyen, a SEIU 521 steward, stated, “Divestment was effective in helping stop apartheid in South Africa, and it will be effective now.” San Jose adopted its “South Africa-free investment policy” in 1985 after a protracted struggle for divestment from apartheid, setting a clear precedent for today's divestment demand.
Uriel Magdaleno, a community organizer with Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, asked, “What is preventing the city council from divesting from genocide? We should focus more on prioritizing what benefits our entire community. I want to commend the city council for recently passing a resolution to reaffirm the city’s status as a sanctuary city. We also further funded the Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network,” referring to a local network that mobilizes when ICE activity is reported in the region.
“We need to prioritize expanding capacity of free legal services here for our immigrant community,” continued Magdaleno.
Public comment sparked further discussion from the city council. Councilmember Peter Ortiz, representing San Jose’s District 5, called on Maria Öberg, the city’s finance director, to speak on the city's current policy on social responsibility as it relates to investment and contracting. Öberg noted that the current investment policy has a social responsibility clause, meaning “if [the city] evaluates two investments that have the same generic terms and interest rates, we would favor buying a green bond for example.” Ortiz then asked Öberg to investigate any concerns in regards to entities that the city is invested in.
Councilmember Ortiz finished by thanking the community members for speaking, saying, “Thank you people for coming, I think it’s timely to have this conversation – not just on this issue, there's a lot of things corporations are doing right now that are impacting our community. For example, a lot of these companies are investing in measures to come after our immigrant population, in the east side – a conversation is warranted. Thank you so much.”