News and Views from the People's Struggle
New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, February 24, students and community members gathered outside of Loyola University New Orleans to protest a pro-Israel event occuring on campus.
Tampa, FL – On Monday, February 19, around 15 students gathered in front of the University of South Florida Library to participate in an emergency protest in response to the recent Israeli ground assault in Rafah.
Tacoma, WA – On Wednesday, February 21, over 100 students and community members gathered to protest a lecture by a Washington state representative, Derek Kilmer, hosted by the University of Puget Sound. Kilmer was originally scheduled to speak at 7 p.m., however, he never got the opportunity after protesters flooded the auditorium and took the stage.
Minneapolis, Mn – On Monday February 19, University of Minnesota’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society gathered outside the U of M student union along with about 70 students, staff and faculty for a rally to demand divestment.
SDS’s main campaign right now is for the University of Minnesota to completely divest from Israel in terms of defense companies, recruiters, study abroad programs and weapons manufacturer companies. SDS also demands that all students, staff and faculty have the right to protest on campus without being repressed.
Tampa, FL – On Wednesday February 14, as part of National Students for a Democratic Society’s Day of Action against Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s attacks on immigrants, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society held a banner drop in the University of South Florida’s Student Center.
Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, February 15, the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, in collaboration with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, held a panel in Nicholson Hall on the UMN campus discussing Marxist-Leninist perspectives on Palestinian liberation. Thirty people, both students and community members, were in attendance.
Seattle, WA – A crowd gathered around Seattle's World Trade Center for a February 9 protest against the U.S.-backed genocide in Palestine.
Chants of “Not another nickel! Not another dime! No more money for Israel's crimes!” could be heard not only from and within the building, but for blocks around. The protest called attention to the continued support of Israel's genocidal campaign by the U.S.
Milwaukee, WI – On Friday, February 9, students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee staged a sit-in at the UWM administrative building, Chapman Hall.
Led by Students for a Democratic Society, the event began with a rally in front of the Zionist-named Golda Meir Library, followed by a march to Chapman Hall, where students entered the building and occupied it for six hours.
Denver, CO – On February 6, the Denver Students for a Democratic society hosted a Teach-In Against Genocide in the North Building on the Denver Auraria campus. Students asked questions, and heard the perspective of Dr. Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, a Palestinian American born and raised in Nablus, who graciously called in remotely to speak about her academic and lived experiences as they relate to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the history of Palestine, and other fights against injustice across the world.
Chicago, IL – On January 24, over 60 people crowded the Latino Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to join a discussion with Juan González of the Great Cities Institute and David Ramirez of the Cuban Embassy around the current immigrant crisis and its root causes. The discussion was co-hosted by two campus groups: New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UIC and Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) at UIC.
Tampa, FL – On Monday, February 5, around 35 students gathered in front of the University of South Florida’s Marshall Student Center to participate in a protest held by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) for the National Week of Action in solidarity with Palestine.
Minneapolis, MN – As students came up the escalator for the College of Science and Engineering job fair on Tuesday, February 6, they could look upon the great values that the University of Minnesota holds itself to. Courage, pride, equity and “Weapon companies off campus!”
New Orleans, LA– On January 29, students, faculty, staff and community members attended a vigil for Palestine at Loyola University to mourn over 27,000 Palestinian martyrs.
After months of back-and-forth struggle with the Loyola University New Orleans administration, students were finally able to hold a vigil honoring all of the martyrs in Palestine since October 7. The vigil allowed attendees an opportunity to hear from Palestinian voices and other perspectives, and allowed them the space to stand together, mourn together, pray together and cry together.
Denver, CO – On Monday, January 29, the Auraria campus was disgraced by the presence of Yoseph Haddad. Haddad is a wounded member of the Israeli occupation forces who now serves as a “defender of Israel” on social media and in publicity stunts to provide cover for the Zionist occupation and its genocide.
Haddad came to speak on campus and present a showing of an occupation forces’ “documentary” about the events of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
The event was held in the Tivoli Student Union building in the Tivoli Turnhalle, a venue that costs outside vendors $1950 to rent. At $40 a ticket, this event certainly didn’t cover all the barricades and dozens of police present to protect Haddad. Instead, this cost was paid by the students who attend Auraria campus and get little to no say in how the campus is used.
There are Palestinian students on Auraria campus who have lost more than 120 members of their family to the genocide that Haddad speaks in favor of. The welcome mat that Auraria Campus rolled out for him constitutes a deeply discriminatory and dangerous decision on the part of campus administration.
Haddad is charged with going on public relations damage control for the occupation, as universities and colleges across the country are increasingly organizing marches, protests, sit-ins, call-ins, and a variety of other actions in solidarity with the cause of Palestinian liberation. His lies are intended to freeze and silence the Pro-Palestinian movement with accusations of antisemitism, and by mischaracterizing the genocide of Palestinians as some righteous battle for the defense of Israel.
An SDS member who had been planted on the inside noted that Haddad’s speech was made up of thoroughly debunked Zionist talking points in what has become a fool’s toolkit of fakes and falsehoods. The more than 60 students and community members demonstrating outside the event weren’t buying any of it.
The action was a long one. Starting at 4 p.m. and ending at 7:30, the Denver chapter of Students for a Democratic Society joined forces with the Colorado Palestine Coalition and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization to show opposition to genocide-washing events.
A banner that read “End the aid, end the trade: No more funds for genocide!” was prominently displayed on the sidewalk outside the Turnhalle. Members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization held up a banner painting of a Palestinian resistance fighter holding a book and a gun and the slogan “Victory to the Palestinian resistance!”
Speeches by local organizers were interrupted by Haddad himself, who slinked up to the metal barricades that had been set up to keep the students out of the Tivoli Student Union building. Haddad tried first shouting over the speakers but was thoroughly drowned out by a rising chant of “Get this fascist, off our campus!” before he retreated inside to continue his misinformation spree.
Those protesting continued, with renewed vigor, taking to a picket-style march just outside the film screening, audible to all those inside. Towards the end of the event the march proceeded around the Student Union.
The Denver SDS and a growing coalition of student organizations on Auraria are waging a Palestine solidarity campaign to get the University of Colorado to divest from the corporations arming and enabling the U.S./Israeli genocide. It is this mounting pressure and rising level of consciousness amongst the youth on issues like Palestine that threaten U.S. aid to Israel and motivate Haddad to speak at schools here in the U.S. – thousands of miles from the genocidal project he so obediently serves.
#DenverCO #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #FRSO
Appleton, WI – On the evening of January 27, a group of protesters gathered near Houdini Plaza to further demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against Israeli apartheid.
Minneapolis, MN – On January 29, 500 Minneapolis public school students participated in a student-organized walkout for Palestine.
Students marched from downtown’s Gold Medal Park to Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office, chanting, “Louder, louder, say it more; not a conflict; not a war” and “No more hiding, no more fear; this genocide is crystal clear.” The students’ demands included calls for an end to Israel’s siege on Gaza and for U.S. divestment from Israel, both of which have been vehemently echoed across the nation.
Chicago, IL – On Friday, January 26, over 50 people gathered on the University of Illinois at Chicago’s campus to protest the racist and discriminatory practices of the UIC police department. The protest was called jointly by Students for Justice in Palestine and Students for a Democratic Society in response to two separate instances of racist policing and discrimination at the University.
Tallahassee, FL – On January 25, about 80 students and activists from various organizations rallied outside Florida State University’s student union building, where the Board of Governors meeting voted to approve new guidelines that prohibit schools from using government funds for DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and to remove sociology from the list of classes that fulfill required general education credits.
Allendale, MI – Pro-Palestine groups demonstrated the campus of Grand Valley State University on Friday, January 19.
About 50 students and community members gathered around GVSU’s Cook Carillon Clocktower for the “All Out for Palestine'' rally. Undeterred by cold and snowy weather, demonstrators stood in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and condemned the United States’ strikes on Yemen.
Before the rally, a sign-making event was organized by students in GVSU’s Calder Arts Center. Attendees of the rally grasped the signs they had made, waved Palestinian flags and held banner reading “Free free Palestine” and “No war on Yemen, victory to Palestine!”
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), in collaboration with GVSU’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Ferris State SDS and Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, organized the rally.
Members of the campus community were drawn towards the clocktower after hearing chants such as “Money for schools, not for war; U.S. out of Yemeni shores” and “Palestine is our demand, no peace on stolen land.” Many students on their way to classes expressed solidarity by raising their fists and vocalizing their support of the effort.
“Even as I speak, children and families are being systematically wiped out by weapons paid for by the Michigan government; Yemen is being bombed by U.S. and British forces,” stated a member of Grand Valley’s SJP. “The U.S. war machine holds no sympathy for those who are suffering.”
A series of short speeches by members of GVSU SDS and SJP called upon the Grand Valley President Philomena Mantella and GVSU faculty to agree to a statement that recognizes the liberation and self-determination of the Palestinian people. In October 2023, Mantella turned a blind eye towards genocide by releasing a statement that condemned the Palestinian resistance.
“We call upon GVSU, President Mantella, our faculty, Michigan as a whole and the world to support the Gazan people in whatever way we can and to free Palestine now,” said Grand Valley’s SDS president.
Demonstrators then weaved their way throughout campus, passing administration offices, dorm buildings and GVSU’s Starbucks location. While students marched, people driving through campus honked their car horns in a display of support. Students again took turns chanting, denouncing the U.S. war machine and expressing solidarity with oppressed peoples across the globe.
#AllendaleMI #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #SJP
New Orleans, LA – On January 16, a group of students and other activists gathered in freezing temperatures outside the federal building to rally against the recent U.S./UK intervention in Yemen.
Islam Elrabieey, an Egyptian speaker representing NOLA Freedom Forums, painted a picture of Gaza, describing “men sleeping on concrete, women and children with the luxury of a tent to protect against wind.”