Dallas, TX – Approximately 3000 people marched through the streets of downtown Dallas n Sunday, October 15, chanting, “Free Palestine!” and “End the siege on Gaza now!” These are the largest protests Dallas has seen since the George Floyd marches in the summer of 2020.

The march was coordinated by local Palestinian organizations, including the Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas Chapter. The protest is a response to the deadly siege and bombardment of Gaza by the U.S.-backed Israeli military, with over 2300 Palestinians killed since the current attacks on Gaza began.

The march began and ended at the Dallas City Hall in opposition to the city council resolution of “unequivocal support of Israel” passed earlier in the week. Speakers denounced the resolution as thousands of attendees filled the City Hall plaza.

One representative of the local Black Lives Matter movement spoke. They connected the state sanctioned killing of Palestinians at the hand of the Israeli occupation forces, and the police murders of local Black community members, including Botham Jean and Atatiana Jefferson.

The crowd consisted of many families, including strollers with young children alongside adults of all ages. Many held Palestinian flags and signs in support of Gaza, Palestine. There was also a group carrying Filipino flags and signs, “Filipinos for Palestine.”

During the speeches, Jo Hargis of the Dallas Anti-War Committee said, “We stand with Palestine to say there will not be another Nakba or expulsion into Egypt – never to return. We stand with Palestine to reject this impossible one-day evacuation.”

#DallasTX #FreePalestine #AlAqsaFlood #PYM #DallasAntiWarCommittee

Chants present at the rally include “Never again, never again! Never again to martial law!” and “The people united will never be defeated!”

Nap Pempeña of Malaya Texas stated, “What we're up against in the next few years, what is imminent, is a threat to democracy, the merging of the most vile, corrupt, heinous families in Philippines society.”

Several people who lived in the Philippines in the martial law period of the Marcos dictatorship spoke about their experiences, including a clergyman whose fellow priests had been persecuted by Marcos, and a woman whose brothers were imprisoned and tortured.

Cassandra Swart of the Dallas Anti-War Committee stated, “Just as the United States had done in Indonesia in 1965, or Chile in 1973, the United States had thousands of people killed in the Philippines in the name of anti-communism which was interlinked with the interests of American corporations worldwide.”

Swart continued, “The struggle waged by the Filipino people against a Marcos-Duterte presidency is a direct fight against U.S. imperialism. The Dallas Anti-War Committee extends its solidarity to everyone here and in the Philippines opposing Marcos, Duterte and U.S. imperialism.”

Josh Rudd of the Dallas Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines gave a speech criticizing American imperialism and discussed an ongoing campaign against Lockheed Martin, which provides weapons to Duterte to persecute activists and workers. “A lot of this military aid that goes to the Philippines comes from companies that are based and headquartered here in Dallas, here in Fort Worth, here in Grand Prairie. Those bombs that go to the Philippines and bomb the island of Mindanao, some of those are produced here. Those F-35 jets that go and patrol over the Visayas are produced here in Fort Worth,” stated Rudd.

Jhad Villena of Malaya Texas discussed their experience as a Filipino American and compared the state of politics in the Philippines and United States. “So here in 2022, how many elections have been marketed to us as this is the most important election in our life. How many times? We can barely keep count, because it's not just in the United States, it's in France, it's in Brazil, it's in the Philippines. There's a broader economic structure that ties all of these conditions together. The reason why no matter how many progressive administrations or candidates are elected or come to power, why does fascism keep coming back? There's a reason for all this, and it's not just central to the Philippines, it's central to the United States, it's a shared system,” stated Villena.

The rally was called by Malaya Texas, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns Texas, the Dallas Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Texas for Leni-Kiko, with support from the Dallas Anti-War Committee, the Palestinian Youth Movement. and the Democratic Socialists of America. The protest was one of several protests going on simultaneously across Texas, including in Houston and Austin.

#DallasTX #Philippines #Duterte #DallasAntiWarCommittee #Asia

Dallas, TX – On February 5, a crowd gathered at the Grassy Knoll in downtown Dallas to protest threats of war by the United States and NATO against Russia. The protest was organized by the Dallas Anti-War Committee, CODEPINK Greater Dallas, Dallas Peace and Justice Center, Party for Socialism and Liberation Dallas-Fort Worth, and Veterans for Peace North Texas. The rally was a part of a national day of action in which over 50 cities participated.

The protest called for total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe, an end to weapons sales to the reactionary government of Ukraine, and for the disbandment of NATO.

Cassandra Swart of the Dallas Anti-War Committee gave a speech criticizing the expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe as blatant aggression against Russia.

Swart condemned the U.S. support to Ukraine through arms shipments and sending American troops, and demanded an end to U.S. military presence in Europe. “The U.S. sent weapons to the Ukrainian military to commit massacres against Russians, Roma, Jews, trade unionists, and LGBT rights activists,” stated Swart, “We must say no to NATO's aggression against Russia and call for a withdrawal of all American troops in Europe!”

#DallasTX #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Russia #Ukraine #DallasAntiWarCommittee

Dallas, TX – About 30 protesters from the Dallas Anti War Committee assembled in downtown Dallas on March 6, to denounce President Joe Biden's strikes on allegedly Iran-backed groups in Syria and demand no war on Iran. Protesters set up on the Akard Street Bridge over Interstate 30, holding signs and a large banner that read “No war on Iran.” The Dallas Anti War Committee (DAWC) called the event, and protesters were mostly from DAWC-affiliated groups, including Democratic Socialists of America, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Dallas Peace and Justice Center.

The protesters first assembled in the parking lot behind Dallas City Hall. Dariel Hernandez, from DAWC and PSL, led them in chants such as “Who's the biggest danger in the world today? Joe Biden and the USA.” Dan Sullivan, from DAWC, talked about the importance of recognizing that a life is a life, regardless of nationality, and the way that the dehumanization of Arabs underlies U.S. foreign policy and allows the U.S. government to get public consent for murdering human beings for economic profit.

The protesters then marched together to the freeway bridge. Police followed and tried to convince them it was illegal to hold a banner while on a freeway bridge. Police showed protesters an outdated version of a city ordinance prohibiting protests on freeway overpasses. However, one of the protesters, Leslie Harris, had been involved in a court case where the ordinance was ruled to be invalid.

Traffic on I-30 was fairly heavy. May drivers honked, waved, or lifted clenched fists in solidarity, though a handful flipped the protesters off.

Saturday's action followed a small banner drop carried out by a handful of DAWC members on the Northpark Boulevard Bridge over Central Expressway on March 4 during rush hour.

#DallasTX #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #DallasAntiWarCommittee

Dan Sullivan, on behalf of the Dallas Anti-War Committee, spoke of the success of Black Lives Matter movement in disrupting daily life in many American cities and said that the anti-war movement would need to learn to imitate that in order to have an impact. Hadi Jawad, executive director of the Dallas Peace and Justice Center, spoke of the need to pressure our elected representatives. Ramon Mejia, a well-known veteran and anti-war activist, spoke of his own involvement in the U.S. war in Iraq and said that, while he could not undo what he had done, he would dedicate his life to ending this type of war.

#DallasTX #AntiwarMovement #Iran #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #DonaldTrump #DallasAntiWarCommittee