Minneapolis, MN – On September 16, thousands of rush-hour commuters on Interstate 94 saw banners with slogans like “Free Palestine,” “End apartheid” and “End ethnic cleansing” hung from the Loring Park footbridge, amid a sea of Palestinian flags. Activists from American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota (AMP-MN), the Anti-War Committee (AWC) and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) then rallied in the park with chants and speeches.

The occasion was the anniversary of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila Massacre in Lebanon, when an invading Israeli army encouraged local right-wing militias to murder thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese Muslims over two nights. Activists highlighted the situation of Palestinian refugees in the present, whose right of return to Palestine continues to be denied by the Zionist occupation.

The activists also called attention to Israel’s settler-colonial policies that are creating new refugees. In May, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in east Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood sparked an unprecedented wave of protest around the world. The Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem has called for international pressure to stop Israel from expanding the so-called “evictions” and the land registration procedures it uses as a pretext to take Palestinian lands and homes. Israeli officials have stated they plan to implement the policy of title and registration in all of east Jerusalem, which would pave the way for citywide ethnic cleansing.

“After the world witnessed the human rights violations committed by Israeli forces in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, it is imperative that we keep that momentum going until all of Palestine is free – from the river to the sea,” Andrew Josefchak of the AWC told the rally.

This year’s Sabra and Shatila anniversary came on the heels of a dramatic prison break from Israel’s notorious Gilboa prison. On September 6, six Palestinian revolutionaries escaped through a tunnel they painstakingly dug using only their prison cookware. Although four were recaptured in the following days, the escape galvanized resistance across Palestine, with the spoon emerging as a new symbol of Palestinian liberation.

“The joy and the excitement that it brought to Palestinians and supporters of Palestine everywhere cannot be described. How can Israel destroy a people that dig tunnels with spoons?” asked Mariam El-Khatib of AMP-MN. “They brought humiliation to one of the strongest armies in the world.”

Sarah Martin of WAMM called for an end to US aid to Israel. “The massacre at Sabra and Shatila was a direct consequence of the impunity given to Israel by the U.S. and the international community. The U.S. aids and abets Israel, as administration after administration continue to give unconditional political support to Israel and at least $3.8 billion per year in aid, mostly used for weapons against Palestinians.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #AmericanMuslimsForPalestineAMPMN #MiddleEast

Minneapolis, MN – On May 11, around 1000 people turned out to protest at U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office in Minneapolis in response to Israeli attacks on Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem and air raids on Gaza. The protest was organized as an emergency response action by the Minnesota chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP-MN).

Recent weeks saw the Israeli regime move forward with attempts to evict and ethnically cleanse more than 70 Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, giving the homes to illegal Israeli settlers. With daily Palestinian protests growing in size, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) also attacked worshipers at Al-Aqsa, one of Islam’s holiest sites, with rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, during Ramadan festivities. Resistance across occupied Palestine grew even more pronounced on May 10 after IOF airstrikes killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in besieged Gaza, including at least ten children.

The crowd in Minneapolis was overwhelmingly young and Muslim, wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags. Mariam El-Khatib, an organizer with AMP-MN, opened the rally, saying, “The Palestinian people have shown us incredible dignity, bravery and steadfastness in the face of one of the most repressive and terrorizing apartheid systems in the world. The least we can do is stand in solidarity with them, to tell them: from Minnesota to Palestine, our hearts are with you! We support you and we support your right to live. And we support your right to reparations and your right to be on your land, where you’re free, where you’re safe, where your children are not getting bombed, and you don’t have to go through a checkpoint to get to your job.”

Protesters held signs and joined in chants declaring solidarity with those resisting the ethnic cleansing in the streets of Jerusalem and demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel. The crowd marched down Washington Avenue towards downtown. When protesters circled back towards the senator’s office, they took over the Washington Avenue bridge over Interstate 35W.

After the march, Meredith Aby-Keirstead, an organizer with the Anti-War Committee, spoke to the crowd. “We had about 1000 people turn out today! A thousand people sent a message to Amy Klobuchar that she should stop being silent about Palestine. She has said nothing this week about what’s happening in Jerusalem! Shame on her!”

Aby-Keirstead added, “You know who has also been silent this week? President Biden. The media is talking about how he feels uncomfortable this week with ‘the situation.’ Uncomfortable does not match the pain of a mother who has to bury her child.”

Protesters were encouraged to come to the next protest on Saturday, May 15 at 2 p.m. on the anniversary of Al-Nakba to protest the Israeli occupation and the current increase in attacks on Palestinians. The event will begin at the intersection of Central Avenue and 43rd Street in Columbia Heights, just north of Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #AmericanMuslimsForPalestineAMPMN #MiddleEast

Minneapolis, MN – On May 11, around 1000 people turned out to protest at U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office in Minneapolis in response to Israeli attacks on Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem and air raids on Gaza. The protest was organized as an emergency response action by the Minnesota chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP-MN).

Recent weeks saw the Israeli regime move forward with attempts to evict and ethnically cleanse more than 70 Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, giving the homes to illegal Israeli settlers. With daily Palestinian protests growing in size, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) also attacked worshipers at Al-Aqsa, one of Islam’s holiest sites, with rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, during Ramadan festivities. Resistance across occupied Palestine grew even more pronounced on May 10 after IOF airstrikes killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in besieged Gaza, including at least ten children.

The crowd in Minneapolis was overwhelmingly young and Muslim, wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags. Mariam El-Khatib, an organizer with AMP-MN, opened the rally, saying, “The Palestinian people have shown us incredible dignity, bravery and steadfastness in the face of one of the most repressive and terrorizing apartheid systems in the world. The least we can do is stand in solidarity with them, to tell them: from Minnesota to Palestine, our hearts are with you! We support you and we support your right to live. And we support your right to reparations and your right to be on your land, where you’re free, where you’re safe, where your children are not getting bombed, and you don’t have to go through a checkpoint to get to your job.”

Protesters held signs and joined in chants declaring solidarity with those resisting the ethnic cleansing in the streets of Jerusalem and demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel. The crowd marched down Washington Avenue towards downtown. When protesters circled back towards the senator’s office, they took over the Washington Avenue bridge over Interstate 35W.

After the march, Meredith Aby-Keirstead, an organizer with the Anti-War Committee, spoke to the crowd. “We had about 1000 people turn out today! A thousand people sent a message to Amy Klobuchar that she should stop being silent about Palestine. She has said nothing this week about what’s happening in Jerusalem! Shame on her!”

Aby-Keirstead added, “You know who has also been silent this week? President Biden. The media is talking about how he feels uncomfortable this week with ‘the situation.’ Uncomfortable does not match the pain of a mother who has to bury her child.”

Protesters were encouraged to come to the next protest on Saturday, May 15 at 2 p.m. on the anniversary of Al-Nakba to protest the Israeli occupation and the current increase in attacks on Palestinians. The event will begin at the intersection of Central Avenue and 43rd Street in Columbia Heights, just north of Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #AmericanMuslimsForPalestineAMPMN #MiddleEast