Minneapolis, MN – On December 14, a freezing cold Sunday, over 100 activists, protesters and community members gathered for an indoor rally at Salem Lutheran Church on Lyndale Avenue to commemorate International Human Rights Day in Minneapolis.

Historically this event has been a protest or march organized by the MN Anti-War Committee, but unfortunately the weather this year, nearly 0 degrees, made being outdoors nearly impossible so event organizers made the last-minute decision to hold it indoors.

The program featured speakers from a wide range of human rights and social justice movements including immigrant rights, anti-police brutality, Palestine solidarity, gender rights, climate justice and more. With ten speakers and two emcees the event featured a full and dynamic program. Many people in the audience held signs standing up for their Somali and immigrant neighbors. It was clear, immigrant rights and Palestine were at the front of people’s minds this year.

The first speaker was Allison Gunderson of the MN Anti-War Committee who had just returned from a recent delegation trip to Venezuela with the Anti-War Action Network. Gunderson told the excited crowd “We went to stand in solidarity with Venezuela in defiance of Trump' s no fly zone and recent escalations. Just one of the many ways the U.S. has been violating Venezuelan human rights! This escalation and quite frankly, act of war on Venezuela, is a disgusting attempt at fear mongering and an attack on Venezuelan sovereignty! While we were in Caracas on December 10, the U.S. seized an oil tanker on the coast, under the facade that it was transporting sanctioned oil to Iran.”

Gunderson continued, “There is no evidence to support this claim. Before the U.S. blockade on Venezuela, they used to send one million gallons of oil for free a year to 200 Native American tribes, one of many examples of how Venezuela serves the people while the U.S. only exploits. The delegation I was in was able to see Maduro speak on this, and he said this seizure was an act of robbery. The U.S. will steal this oil and keep it for themselves to profit off of!”

The next speaker to take the stage was Nadiyah Saladeh, a leader in the MN chapter of the US Palestinian Community Network. Saladeh gave a fiery speech saying, “It seems to me that, before we fight for our human rights, we have to – again and again and again – assert our humanity. Because, to have human rights, Palestinians first have to be seen as humans. Maybe that’s why the same year the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established – 1948 – was the year that the UN established the so-called state of Israel. When murdered Palestinian children are called terrorists, that is stripping them of their humanity. When our martyred journalists are simply called ‘Hamas’, their humanness, the fact that they have family, friends, children, is being shattered. When Palestinian freedom fighters are martyred and their deaths are reported as numbers, the fact that they are humans fighting for their land and our collective freedom is ignored.”

Next was Aizar Cabrera of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee , who told the crowd, “Today the horrors and atrocities have become evidently clear, we see them every day, on every street, on every single block, we see them every hour 24-7. It is not a secret that the Trump administration has declared a war against immigrants. Specifically nonwhite immigrants. What they don’t say is that we're the ones cleaning their houses. Building their houses. Just like any other human being we are just trying to make a living. As ICE attacks escalate our movement grows, we'll keep fighting for each other, we'll keep protecting our neighbors and well keep holding our leaders accountable. Immigrant rights are human rights!”

Michael Wood of the Climate Justice Committee stated, “There won’t be human rights to demand if we don’t have a planet. There won’t be human rights to demand if all the air and water and land are sold to billionaires. The climate crisis has been wreaking havoc and right now the Trump administration is doing everything to accelerate it. Trump is selling off our planet’s resources just as he strips us of our democratic rights. This administration is selling us the dream of paying for clean air and water on a subscription plan. Is that acceptable? Hell no!”

This event was held in conjunction with a national week of action for Human Rights Day initiated by the Anti-War Action Network.

At the end of the rally protesters were encouraged to go to the MN Peace Action Coalition’s protest on Saturday, December 20 at 3:30 in front of Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.

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