St. Paul, MN – More than 100 people marched here July 1, in the fourth and final march in a series of recurring demonstrations to pressure the city of Saint Paul to grant a permit for an anti-war march on Sept. 1, the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC). The event was organized by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Minneapolis, MN – The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War celebrated their new offices with an open house, June 20. The group is planning a massive anti-war protest for the first day of the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul in September.

Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN – Presidential candidate John McCain was met by 100 anti-war protesters and trade unionists at a fundraising event at the Minneapolis Hilton, June 19. The demonstration was organized by the Anti-War Committee.

Sami Rasouli in Chicago

Chicago, IL – Sami Rasouli is an Iraqi American. “When the U.S. invaded, I felt like I was attacking myself. I was the oppressed and the oppressor.” Rasouli emigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in 1976 and became a U.S. citizen in 2001. He moved back to his home in Najaf, Iraq in 2004 to help counter the U.S. occupation. Since then he has returned the U.S. each year to speak, explaining the disastrous impact of the occupation on the Iraqi people and to seek support for his efforts. Rasouli is in the U.S. now; he travels back to Iraq in July, but will be back in Saint Paul, Minnesota by Sept. 1 to join the protests at the Republican National Convention.

Minneapolis MN – Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union returned to federal court on the evening of June 9, on behalf of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. The Coalition is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the city of Saint Paul to issue adequate permits for the Sept. 1 anti-war march.

On Sept. 1, 2008 the Republican Party will hold its national convention at the Xcel Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They will be there to nominate John McCain for president, and justify the wars against – and occupations of – Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republicans will gather to celebrate economic policies that have brought riches to the few and foreclosures, homelessness and unemployment to the many. Republican delegates will cheer the anti-immigrant attacks as party leaders try to use racism to cement their reactionary supporters. We can also expect attacks from the podium on women’s rights to control our own bodies and attacks on gay marriage.

St. Paul, MN – Organizers of the massive anti-war march scheduled for Sept. 1, the opening day of the Republican National Convention, slammed the Saint Paul city council for turning down the permit appeal, May 21. By a six to one vote, the Council voted to uphold the unworkable permit that was issued for the protest on May 15.

Los Angeles, CA – On the April 17, a coalition of campus peace groups led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a protest against the U.S. war on Iraq. After a spirited rally at the site of the 1969 assassination of Black Panthers Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, the crowd marched through the campus, chanting the slogan, “Iraq for Iraqis! Troops out now!” before symbolically 'seizing' the student union building. Once inside, onlookers gawked in astonishment or gave the thumbs-up, as the deafening sound of anti-imperialist chanting, accompanied by the stomps, whistles, cheers and claps of the crowd, filled up the enclosed space. Finally, the protesters rallied in front of the building for more than hour, giving speeches, performances and thought-provoking materials to the passers-by before dispersing.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Action Alert from the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

Tuscaloosa, AL – Applause and cheers erupted in the courtroom at the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, May 2, when the judge threw out the charges against four anti-war protesters. “As I was waiting outside to give my testimony, I heard the roar of clapping from behind the door,” remembers Tom Keenan, a member of the Tuscaloosa chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). “A mass of people flooded out of the court room, saying ‘We won!’”