Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

AntiWarMovement

By Merlin Van Alstine

Minneapolis, MN – In the evening of September 5, 100 students, staff, faculty and community members, led by the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, gathered at McNamara plaza to demand the University of Minnesota divest from Israel and all entities complicit in war crimes and human rights violations.

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By staff

Aisha Ezgi.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The English translation and photo appeared on the Resistance News Network on Telegram.

The martyrdom of the Turkish-American activist, Aisha Noor Ezgi, after being shot in the head by occupation forces near Mount Sbeih in the town of Beita, south of occupied Nablus, is yet another Zionist crime added to the occupation’s black record of targeting foreign activists in solidarity with our people.

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By Vince Olson

Dr. Nadia Ahmad.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Chicago, IL – On Monday, August 19, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) came to Chicago. As the Coalition to March on the DNC was marching with tens of thousands of protesters in the streets surrounding the United Center, Dr. Nadia Ahmad was being attacked inside.

An elected delegate from Florida, Dr. Ahmad was assaulted for unfurling a banner. The banner read, “Stop arming Israel,” the same demand on the signs and banners carried by the protesters in the streets throughout the week of the convention.

Dr. Ahmad is also a Florida delegation Democratic National Committee Interfaith Council co-chair and Women's Caucus executive committee member.

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By Kim DeFranco

Cuba solidarity action at Minnesota State Fair.  | Kim DeFranco/Fight Back! News

Falcon Heights, MN – On Sunday, September 1, Cuban solidarity activists bannered at the Minnesota State Fair demanding the United States government remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list and to end the 62-year blockade against the country.

Fairgoers heading toward the main gate of the “Great Minnesota Get Together” could see the Cuban flag propped up and waving in the wind. Closer to the main gate, they were greeted by three banners demanding: “U.S.A. people say, Cuba sí, bloqueo no!, No U.S. blockade of Cuba, U.S. out of Guantanamo,” and two banners in English and Spanish, “Take Cuba off the U.S. Terrorist List/Llevar a Cuba de la lista de terroristas.”

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By staff

Chicago student protest demands hands off Lebanon.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Chicago, IL – On Thursday, August 29, New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) started the week strong with a demonstration on campus, with about 90 students, demanding U.S. hands off Lebanon, an end of U.S. aid to Israel and to stand strong with Palestine.

Speakers from other progressive student organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UIC, and Anakbayan at UIC, also spoke. The rally strengthened the students’ message of funding for education – such as cultural centers and student resources – not for genocide, war and occupation in Palestine.

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By Merlin Van Alstine

University of Minnesota students continue to press for divestment from apartheid Israel.  | Annie R-P. /Fight Back! News

Minneapolis, MN – On August 30, 150 University of Minnesota students, staff, faculty and community members rallied and marched from Morrill Hall to McNamara Plaza in response to the Board of Regents vote that happened earlier this week.

The Board voted on a resolution that would impose political and institutional neutrality on the university’s endowment fund. This vote was pushed by new University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham. It effectively makes any sort of divestment from Israel, or weapon manufacturers and other entities complicit in war crimes and human rights violations, impossible. It takes away any accountability that administration has to its students, to its staff, or to its faculty.

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By staff

Utah student activists launch divestment campaign for Palestine.  | Quasar Smith/Fight Back! News

Salt Lake City, UT – Over a dozen students and youth gathered on August 30 to launch a campaign against the University of Utah’s affiliation with the University of Haifa, an Israeli university with deep ties to the Israeli military and the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Utah Students for a Democratic Society hosted the event, which was itself a victory in the aftermath of arrests, intimidation and repression of the student and Palestinian movement in Utah during the last academic year.

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By staff

Dever pro-Palestine protest challenges Representative Brittany Pettersen's support for genocide.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Lakewood, CO – Around 10 a.m., August 26, Denver Anti-War Action (DAWA) rallied outside Representative Brittany Pettersen’s Lakewood District office on Wadsworth. Around 35 protesters showed up from various Colorado Palestine Coalition organizations in a continuation of DAWA's fight against Israel’s genocide, Lockheed Martin and war profiteering politicians.

Pettersen, the U.S. representative from Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, is beyond complicit in the Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. Indeed, she actively profits from and endorses it.

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By staff

Portland protest against company that makes weapons for apartheid Israel.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Portland, OR – On Monday, August 26, the organization Portland for Palestine (P4P) held a protest at the Leupold and Stevens manufacturing facility in Beaverton, Oregon. About a dozen protesters showed up to expose Leupold’s involvement in supplying the Israeli occupation with rifle scopes and other telescopic technology.

The protesters were met with hostility. Beaverton police department vehicles were spotted making the rounds. Leupold stationed armed private security guards at both driveways leading to their main facility.

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By staff

Pro-Palestine rally at NYU Tandon.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Brooklyn, NY – The NYU Students for a Democratic Society held a pro-Palestine rally on August 26, during welcome week for the incoming freshman class at New York University Tandon School of Engineering (NYU Tandon).

The goal of the rally was to make sure the incoming freshman class was aware of the ties that NYU Tandon had to the ongoing genocide in Gaza through the school’s partnerships, sponsorships, research funding, and investments with military companies and companies aiding apartheid Israel.

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