Damascus, Syria – On Wednesday, May 26, election day in Syria, crowds flocked to polling places to cast their votes. A delegation of observers from the U.S., South Africa, France and Palestine visited polling locations east of Damascus in the war-torn Ghouta region to witness the voting and celebrations taking place. Occupied by U.S. and Saudi-backed contras for over six years, civilians there were unable to vote in the last presidential election, and many more have only recently returned to finally rebuild their homes. Within Ghouta, the delegation observed voting in the town of Arbin and the city of Douma.

The morning of election day, an antique store owner in Damascus told Fight Back! “I am going to vote as soon as I close the store. It's my right and there are polling places everywhere.” He pointed to the place he planned to vote, a few blocks away from the souq (market) in which his store is located.

Election officials reported that Douma, a city with 70,000 residents, had 20 polling sites. The election boasted a total of 12,000 voting stations around the country and in Syrian embassies that are still open.

In spite of the abundance of voting stations, officials had trouble with the sheer number of voters. The polls were originally set to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the large crowds forced officials to keep the polls open until midnight. An observer in Douma from the office of opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah said more than 1500 people had voted at that site by 2 p.m. This location was also where incumbent president Bashar al Assad had cast his vote that morning.

Hundreds of Syrians, including many young people, rallied outside every polling site. Crowds waved Syrian flags and raised pictures of Assad while chanting “Allah! Souriya! Bashar ou bas!” (God! Syria! Bashar! Nothing else!) among other chants in favor of the incumbent. A man celebrating outside a Douma voting station said in English, “We want Dr. Bashar because there are no more terrorists!”

The man continued in Arabic, “It was miserable during the occupation. There was no food, water or electricity. People were killed for smoking. Women were killed for not covering up.” His town was occupied by Saudi-backed terrorist organization Jaish al Islam from 2012 until 2018, when it was liberated by the Syrian Arab Army.

Young people showed off the ink on their fingers, the mark used to indicate that they had already voted, preventing people from voting more than once. An 18-year-old casting his vote for the first time said of himself and his friends, “We want to be doctors and engineers so we can help rebuild Syria.”

Yara Saleh, a Syrian reporter who was kidnapped by terrorists for six days in 2012, stressed the importance of this election for the youth. “The young people grew up during the war,” she said, adding that the youth deserve safety and stability that they were denied for so long. “Every Syrian family has a story like mine,” Saleh added.

The following night, tens of thousands of people gathered in and around Umayyad Square in central Damascus to await and celebrate the results. 19-year-old Aya Jamal Abbas danced with her friends in the crowd, a Syrian flag painted on her face.

“I'm very happy that we're all together. We voted for Bashar and we're waiting for the results,” Abbas said. “This is our victory. We won this war.”

Her sentiment was echoed by people of all ages and diverse backgrounds. Abeer Ali Naif, a Palestinian woman who Fight Back! spoke to outside her home in the war-torn Yarmouk refugee camp, invited the delegation to celebrate the results in her home with her family the morning after the election. “Bashar is a great man,” Naif added.

Many people in Umayyad Square described their feelings of joy. “Damascus deserves joy for all the people who are no longer with us today,” said Aasma Rahme, 27, a lawyer.

“There is joy in Syria,” said Ahmed al Ali, 42. “Everyone around is happy. It's infectious. Congratulate the Syrian people for this joy.”

Deafening cheers erupted throughout the square when the results were announced. Fireworks lit up the sky and celebratory gunshots went off all over Damascus.

Mpho Masemola, member of the delegation and secretary general of the South African Ex Political Prisoners Association, likened the celebrations to those that happened during the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela.

President Assad was re-elected with an overwhelming 95.1% of the vote. Reportedly, 14.2 million people voted out of 18.1 million eligible citizens in Syria and internationally.

The 78.6% voter turnout might have been higher if all Syrians were able to vote where they live. Some areas of Syria are still under occupation by U.S. and Turkish troops and various mercenaries they support. Many Syrians living internationally could not vote due to the Syrian embassies in their countries of residence being closed.

One such Syrian is Johnny Achi, who has lived in the United States for over 30 years. Achi voted in Douma, where he said, “As long as the Syrian embassy in the U.S. is closed, I will travel here to exercise my right and duty as a Syrian citizen.”

Tamer al Jadoua, 33, told Fight Back! in Umayyad Square that he traveled from Kuwait to cast his vote. Al Jadoua and al Ali were celebrating together and responded to questions about the claims in U.S. and allied media that the election was fake and celebrators were forced.

“We are the ones who voted for Bashar because we like him,” al-Ali said. “No one forced all these people to be here. Many came from very far away.”

“When you see all the people come here voluntarily, you see the people of Syria say, 'Bashar is our choice,’” Husam Ayazra said in English. “We don't need anyone to impose anything on us. We want just Bashar. No one else.”

A group of men initially refused to be interviewed by this U.S. based Fight Back! reporter. “You will go back and tell lies about us,” one man said. After some discussion, the man said, “All these people are not being forced to be here. They're here because they support Bashar with their blood and soul.”

The man used phrasing from the ubiquitous chant: “Bi ruh, bi dam, nafiq ya Bashar!” (With blood, with the soul, we are with you Bashar!) The man continued, “These are not just words to us. You have to say them with your soul.”

Accusations of a faked election are another in a long list of slander against Syria in the U.S., UK, Israeli, Qatari and other imperialist-aligned media. Earlier in the day, Naif cited those same governments as being responsible for the destruction of her home in Yarmouk, as well as the ongoing occupation of the land from which her family was forcefully removed in 1948.

When asked what message she has for America, Naif replied, “Leave us alone.”

In response to the same question, Ayazra implored Americans and other people of the world to watch out for misinformation in the media. “I want every journalist to be honest,” Ayazra said. “Ask yourself if you want another country to destroy your country. Why do they do that to us? There is democracy in Syria. They want to destroy it with lies.”

One of the men, who did not want to be named, told Fight Back!, “Tell the truth about what you saw here. And make Joe Biden lift the sanctions.”

The man was referring to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Syria through the Caesar Civilian Protection Act of 2019. The Caesar Act put a chokehold on the Syrian economy, causing a currency collapse that inflated the price of basic goods and restricting access to medicine and the construction materials needed to rebuild Syria after the war, among other vital resources.

The man added that it is the responsibility of the American people to fight against their government when it attacks other countries.

The election marks a victory of the Syrian people against imperialism, but imperialism is still detrimental to their lives and the lives of people around the world. The system of imperialism will stay alive until the people living under imperialism rise up and kill it.

#DamascusSyria #Damascus #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #Assad #HandsOffSyria

New York, New York – About 50 protesters gathered at the U.S. Military Recruiting Center at the heart of Times Square, April 14. The protest was an emergency response to Donald Trump’s escalation of the war on war on Afghanistan. On April 13, a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed the “mother of all bombs,” was dropped on what is purported to be “ISIS targets” in Afghanistan. This is a continuation of a conflict started by the U.S. and NATO 16 years ago, the longest imperialist war the U.S. has ever been in. The dropping of the MOAB on the Achin district has death counts estimated to reach up to 94 people, and a blast radius estimated at one mile.

In response to the attacks on Afghanistan, which show Trump is willing to use weapons of mass destruction, the International League of People’s Struggles (ILPS) made an emergency call to action to protest. The action was attended by NYC Students for Justice in Palestine (NYSJP), Anak Bayan New York, the Committee to Stop Repression, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner’s Network and SPARC. The protesters planted themselves in front of the U.S. Military Recruiting Center, calling for an end to imperialist occupation and shouting anti-war chants. Among these chants were “We demand justice! We demand peace! U.S. out of the Middle East!” “Donald Trump what do you say? How many bombs did you drop today?” and “Money for jobs and education! Not for war and occupation!”

Michela Martinazzi of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and ILPS had this to say, “Yesterday a 21,000-pound bomb was dropped in Afghanistan. Last week 59 tomahawk missiles were launched into Syria. We have a fleet encroaching on North Korea, and we just put troops in Somalia after 20 years. Donald Trump is beating his war drum and we have to demand an end to all U.S. wars. Demand an end to the U.S. war machine! Demand money to be spent here for jobs, healthcare and education!”

Ann Wright, of Veterans for Peace, a former member of the U.S. military and noted anti-war activist, also attended and spoke. She stated, “I’ve been protesting the war since I resigned from the military and the U.S. government 15 years ago. If I could resign today, I would.”

The dropping of the bomb is just another example of Donald Trump furthering the U.S. imperialist agenda. With his posturing directed at Russia, the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Trump contradicts everything his campaign claimed about “non-intervention.”

Trump is simply another warmonger intent on destabilizing oppressed nations in the interests of capitalism. Trump’s actions do not simply mirror the harmful U.S. actions in places like Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Vietnam and countless other nations; they are a direct and aggressive escalation. On April 7, Trump launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Al Shayrat Airfield in Syria, a direct act of aggression against the popular government of President Bashar Al-Assad. Rather than condemning an action Trump had himself once warned against, the neoliberal politicians in both the Democratic and Republican parties praised Trump’s actions.

#NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #US #MiddleEast #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #DonaldTrump

Minneapolis, MN – 75 people protested in front of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W in Minneapolis to denounce Trump’s increasing attacks on Syria, Iraq, and the threats against North Korea. The protest came days after the Trump administration launched air strikes against Syrian military air base.

The protest occurred after a group of organizers met with two aides from Senator Klobuchar’s office. Marie Braun, representing the Twin Cities Peace Campaign, told the crowd about their efforts to pressure the senator, “The aides said that the senator is against the appropriation of a $54 billion increase to the military budget. She agrees that this money should be spent on human needs instead. She does not support the proposed cuts. However, she supports the strike on Syria. She believes that the strike was proportional.” The crowd booed loudly and Braun continued, “She believes it was Assad who used the chemical weapons. She says that they have proof and of course they always claim they have proof. So we raised the question about investigating this. The worst thing we could do is to go to war over a false flag operation like we have done so often in the past.”

Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-American currently living in Iraq, reported to the crowd about his concerns that Americans are being fed another pretext as a justification for war. Rasouli said, “They needed lies when they sent Colin Powell to the UN to make his case which was a false flag operation. He justified the invasion and of course you know what the outcome was. The U.S. is dismantling the Middle East. The U.S. is playing the major role and keeps killing innocent people including children. These wars of destruction are launched by lies. So we have work to do to end these wars in the Middle East.”

Mary Beaudoin, a member of Women Against Military Madness, told Fight Back!, “There is a lot of terrible propaganda about Syria. People believe that this was actually a chemical weapons attack by [Syrian President] Assad. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s illogical. Previous claims, like the one in 2013, have been disproved. Syria has removed their chemical weapons. The U.S. has been trying to increase its intervention in Syria for years.”

Austin Jensen, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, agreed, “It’s disgusting that Trump has decided to bomb a region that has been impacted by civil war for the last six years. U.S. involvement is not going to help in any way! We are also really concerned by the hostility with North Korea right now. This could be easily avoided by not trying to intimidate them.”

The protest was initiated by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC).

#MinneapolisMN #International #AntiwarMovement #Korea #US #MiddleEast #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalitionMPAC #DonaldTrump

Jacksonville, FL – On Friday, April 7, a Peace for Syria demonstration was brutally disrupted by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) in downtown Jacksonville. Community members and activists have wondered about a connection between Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams and Gary Snow, the right-wing counter protester seen in several videos harassing and assaulting the five activists, now known as the Jax5, who were beaten and arrested by JSO despite committing no crime. Gary Snow was not interfered with in any way and was filmed sitting on a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office car after the event.

Two important photos have now surfaced. The first photo depicts Sheriff Mike Williams and Gary Snow posing for a photo at a Donald Trump rally in Jacksonville like old friends. The second photo, a screenshot taken before recent changes to individual Facebook profiles, depicts Mike Williams having a prominent seat on Gary Snow’s “Top Facebook Friends.”

This all comes after Sheriff Mike Williams gave a press conference denying any link to Gary Snow.

When asked about connections to Snow on Tuesday April 11, Sheriff Mike Williams responded that there are “None that I know of. I don’t think – I haven’t heard Gary Snow’s name until Saturday. I don’t think he has any real connection to police officers.”

It seems that there is more to this story than meets the eye. It appears that the JSO used Gary Snow as a resource, allowing him to run amok and disrupt the peace demo, before savagely beating and arresting the demonstrators and allowing Gary Snow to go free.

The answer is clear – the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office must be held accountable for their brutality and misconduct the evening of April 7, and all of the charges against the Jax5 must be dropped immediately. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will not be able to hide behind Gary Snow and his actions, despite anything the JSO tries to accomplish along those lines.

Readers are encouraged to call the office of State Attorney Melissa Nelson at 904-255-2500 and demand she drop the charges against the Jax5. More information can be found on Facebook: Justice for the Jax5.

#JacksonvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #Syria #Florida #HandsOffSyria #Jax5 #FreeJax5 #GarySnow

Milwaukee, WI – 40 demonstrators marched through downtown Milwaukee, April 9, in opposition to Trump’s missile attack against Syria.

The action was organized by the Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump. Demonstrators from a variety of groups rallied outside of Grand Avenue mall before marching through downtown to the federal courthouse building.

Some speakers called for an end to military spending and for money to be spent instead on refugee resettlement, health care and education. Others doubted the justification for the latest bombing against Syria, saying the claim of a gas attack against Syrian civilians by the Syrian army without a shred of proof. “Ever since the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964,” Brian Verdin, an anti-war and civil rights activist said, “I have not believed a single thing my government tells me.”

Attendees left the event ready to mobilize if aggressions against Syria or any other nation continues. “There was a common theme in all of our speakers today,” said Maricela Aguilar, co-chair of the Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump. “U.S. intervention in this world is a cancer that brings nothing good to this planet or its people and it must be eradicated.”

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #DonaldTrump

Tampa, FL – On the morning of April 7, President Trump ordered the U.S. military to attack Syria, firing over 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syrian government targets near Homs, Syria’s third largest city. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that only 23 of 59 missiles struck intended targets, with the majority assaulting nearby villages. Syrian media sources are reporting at least nine civilians died in the attack, including four children.

At $1.59 million per missile, the attack cost the U.S. government $93.81 million. But it also instantly added nearly $5 billion to the collective stock value of big American corporations that make missiles and weapons, including Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The Trump administration’s bloated military budget is money robbed from crucial social programs such as education and healthcare, which face significant cutbacks. Trump’s racist attacks on the Syrian people are therefore also an attack on the rights of workers and oppressed people here, and only benefit the wealthiest 1% of corporate owners.

Trump’s attacks are a dangerous escalation of the six-year-long U.S. war on Syria, as it is the first time that Washington is openly announcing military strikes aimed at the Syrian government. Such attacks could create a deadly confrontation between two nuclear powers: the U.S. and Russia. Russia has been assisting the Syrian government against U.S.-funded proxies dominated by al-Qaeda. For years, the U.S. government has spent over $1 billion per year funding and arming right-wing proxy forces that have ripped the country apart, creating millions of refugees. In 2016 alone, the U.S. military dropped 12,192 bombs on Syria, destroying the country's infrastructure and killing thousands. Economic sanctions have strangled the Syrian economy, resulting in massive inflation and poverty. The Syrian health service, one of the best in the Middle East before the U.S. intervention, is now close to collapse.

Bomb first, investigate later: U.S. policy in the Middle East

The U.S. government claims their vicious attack against a sovereign country in the Middle East was punishment for a recent poison gas explosion in the town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed 70 people, which U.S. blamed on the Syrian army. In Hillary Clinton’s first interview since her presidential election defeat, she eagerly united with Trump’s plan, encouraging the U.S. to bomb Syrian airfields mere hours before the attacks started.

The corporate-owned media immediately began parroting these war-hungry claims, without any independent investigation, even though the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice just two months ago publicly boasted on NPR, “We were able to get the Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile [in 2014].” This is the same racist media that demonize Black and Latino youth as ‘criminals’ in order to justify mass incarceration in for-profit prisons and police murders.

In 2003, the U.S. government used fabricated ‘proof’ of weapons of mass destruction owned by the Iraqi government to publicly defend their invasion and occupation of Iraq. No such weapons even existed, yet the war raged on. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died, tens of thousands of American troops suffered life-changing injuries or were killed, and al-Qaeda (a right-wing fundamentalist group, founded by Osama bin Laden and other forces that were funded and trained by the U.S. government in the 1980s to overthrow Afghanistan’s left-wing secular government) in Iraq became ISIS.

U.S. government confirms, ISIS empowered by U.S.-led ‘war on terror’

A recently declassified Defense Intelligence Agency document written in 2012 exposed plans by Western powers and their regional allies to facilitate the rise of ISIS in order to “isolate the Syrian [state].” The document is confirmation from the highest level of U.S. intelligence that they see ISIS as a tool for overthrowing the Syrian government, and it acknowledges that al-Qaeda dominates the anti-government forces in Syria. Trump’s recent attack targeted a Syrian army base at odds with ISIS, allowing ISIS to launch an offensive on Syrian troops in the area.

It has long been the strategy of the U.S. government to fund right-wing proxy groups to weaken or overthrow governments which do not fully align with U.S. corporate interests. The ‘war on terror’ is effectively a war on the nations and liberation movements that oppose the foreign domination of their country’s land, labor and resources.

Hypocritical lies pave the way for endless U.S. wars

The U.S. government itself is guilty of the same crime against the Syrian people, as well as the Iraqi people, which they claim that the Syrian government committed. In Iraq, the U.S. military has littered the environment with thousands of tons of munitions made from depleted uranium, a toxic and radioactive nuclear waste product. As a result, more than half of babies born in Fallujah from 2007-2010 were born with birth defects. Under the Obama administration, the U.S. military fired thousands of rounds containing depleted uranium in Syria, after they vowed not to. According to weapons experts, the use of depleted uranium is a war crime and an act of genocide, because the civilian population’s exposure to it causes cancer, birth defects, immune system damage and other serious health problems.

During the 2003 U.S. war on Iraq, American soldiers and their contractors also sodomized Iraqi prisoners with broom handles and chemical lights. Furthermore, wherever the U.S. military and their bases are, it is well documented that massive prostitution and sex trafficking follow.

No ban! No bombs! No sanctions!

The U.S. war on Syria is not about ‘democracy’ or ‘humanitarianism,’ especially not after the Trump administration closed its doors to Syrian refugees and enacted two Muslim bans. Rather, it is about the imposition of an economic and political order which protects the interests of Western powers and their regional allies. Syria is a passageway of important oil and gas pipelines, while the U.S.-backed state of Israel perceives the Syrian government as a threat due to its support for resistance against the Israeli occupation of Arab lands across the Levant. Trump’s attacks have allowed Israel to accelerate its drilling of oil and gas from the Golan Heights in Syria, an area which has been under Israeli military occupation for the past 50 years.

It is the duty of all freedom-loving people in the U.S. to organize and mobilize the broadest number of people against all U.S wars. To defend the interests of workers and oppressed people in the U.S. is to demand the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Syria, as well as an end to the bombings and killer sanctions on the Syrian people.

#TampaFL #AntiwarMovement #CapitalismAndEconomy #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #AntiSyriaIntervention #DumpTrump #DonaldTrump

Jacksonville, FL – Five protesters were finally released on bail from Jacksonville jail on Saturday evening, April 8. The protesters were arrested and several were beaten at a “No War in Syria” rally held on April 7, where police allowed a right-wing provocateur with a Trump flag to enter the protest and physically assault speakers and organizers of the rally.

Instead of stopping the provocateur, the police descended upon Connell Crooms, a deaf Black man, who the provocateur had assaulted. The police savagely beat, kicked and tased Crooms – who is a well-known union activist and Black Lives Matter leader in Jacksonville – until he was unconscious and had to be taken to the hospital. The police also beat and arrested a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran, Willie Wilder; the leader of the Jacksonville Coalition for Consent Christina Kittle; and a transgender activist Toma Beckwith. Finally, the police arrested prominent union leader and activist Dave Schneider and charged him with “felony inciting a riot” for organizing the protest. Police did not arrest the provocateur who assaulted protest participants.

The Jacksonville community quickly rallied to the defense of their beloved community leaders and activists. On April 8, over 200 people, including leaders in the labor movement, Black community, and progressive groups assembled to demand that all the charges against the Jacksonville 5 be dropped. Supporters chanted “Drop the charges” and the mother of Connell Crooms gave a tearful testament to Connell's character. Community leaders called for a full independent investigation into the police misconduct on April 7, and an investigation into the police spying program on progressive activists in Jacksonville. Just weeks earlier, Jacksonville's Florida Times Union reported that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) had been spying on protesters, amongst them, Dave Schneider, Connell Crooms and Christina Kittle.

Police issued a trumped-up press release claiming that the protesters had “incited a riot” and they attempted to demonize the arrested activists. However, dozens of people took video of the police brutality and the actions of the provocateur whose social media pages contains ties to white supremacy groups.

The JSO then prevented family members from seeing loved ones at the hospital and arbitrarily changed rules at the jail to close off the first appearance hearings. Some family members drove from out of state to be present at these hearings and were at first told the rules of the court. Officials then informed friends and family that only family with the same last name would be allowed. This was again changed to only “parents” were allowed in until they finally settled on shutting off the courtroom entirely and kicking attendees out of the waiting area.

To add insult to injury, the total bail amount issued by the court for all five arrestees came out to over $157,000. Despite this outrageous amount, activists and families were quickly able to mobilize national support and raised the money necessary for bonds in a matter of hours.

There is a continuing fight to drop the charges and investigation into abuses by the JSO. Supporters will soon be able to donate to the legal defense fund.

#JacksonvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #HandsOffSyria #Jax5 #FreeJax5

New York, NY – Hundreds of protesters gathered at Union Square, April 7, to protest the bombing of Syria. On Thursday, April 6, President Trump launched 59 Tomahawk Missiles into Syria that killed nine people, including four children.

Protesters gathered on the back steps of Union Square behind a banner demanding “Hands off Syria” and signs declaring opposition to the U.S. war machine.

A round of speakers from different organizations, including the International Action Center and NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, opened the rally.

Sara Flounders, from International Action Center, said, “Does anyone here really think that that bombing yesterday had anything to do with protecting lives in Syria? Everyone here knows that this is another war based on lies. Whether it’s Trump, or Clinton or Obama it doesn’t matter who is in the White House. The U.S. military and corporations are the ones who want the wars and wage the wars and they don’t care about anyone here.”

Michela Martinazzi, from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “President Trump you can't claim to care about Syrian children when you bomb their country and then ban them at our airports. President Trump you can't claim you care when your airstrikes murdered 200 people last month. There is no justice in U.S. intervention. There is no freedom in U.S. bombings. We must demand hands off Syria!”

The closing speeches included those by Nerdeen Kiswani and Noura Farouq from NYC SJP. They brought up the hypocrisy of the response to Syria, when in 2014 Israel ruthlessly bombed Palestine and killed approximately 2000 Palestinians.

At around 8 p.m., the Union Square crowd was joined by another protest that had started at Trump Tower earlier that day. The earlier protest was organized by ANSWER Coalition.

Close to 1000 protesters began marching and taking the streets alternating chants from “U.S. imperialist! Number one terrorist,” “Hands off Syria!” and “Out of Syria! Out of Iraq! Out of Palestine! Don’t come back!”

The NYPD kept pushing protesters back to the sidewalks, but protesters vastly outnumbered the cops and any attempt at being corralled was met with chants of “Whose streets? Our streets!”

Protesters kept marching north from Union Square. As the march continued, cops became more and more agitated at losing any semblance of control over the crowd. Cops began jostling anyone who accidentally got too close; shoving them. Several protesters were seen being shoved into nearby parked cars or knocked down.

When protesters passed the Flatiron Building, on 23rd and 5th, the cops attacked. It began with cops trying to pry the Palestinian flag from two organizers, John Becker, of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner’s Solidarity Network, and Dan Cione, of NYC Students for Justice in Palestine.

At the same time, eight to ten cops rounded on Nerdeen Kiswani, of NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, threw her on the ground, ripped off her hijab and pulled it so it choked her.

Other protesters caught in the attack were Angela Firestone of NYC SJP, Michael Bellamy of SPARC, Collin Ashley of Peoples’ Power Assembly, Stephen Millies of the Workers World Party and International Action Center, Brendan O’Brien of ANSWER and the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Jonah Quest.

While the arrests were happening, protesters lined the sidewalk and shouted at the cops, “Who do you serve, who do you protect?” A small gathering proceeded to summate what had just happened and began making plans for jail support.

Those arrested were taken to the 7th precinct and more than a dozen stayed outside doing jail support. All nine of the detained were finally let go by 1:30 a.m.

Vijou Bryant, from Gabriella New York and International League of People’s Struggles, said regarding why the NYPD reacted the way they did, “The cops were pissed with our program and our rally at Union Square. It was militant with a strong line of anti-imperialism and holding the U.S. accountable for the bombing in Syria. Our rally and march was unpermitted, and they were unsure of our route and where we were going. The only way the cops know how to deal with people protesting for the people is to physically harm us.”

#NewYorkNewYork #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria

Angelica Hernandez, a member of Students for a Democratic Society, said, “Donald Trump and his henchmen in the White House have no right to bomb Syria. Trump does not care about the Syrian people; if he did we would not be going to war and we would be opening our borders to refugees.”

Hernandez also stated that SDS would be calling another emergency anti-war action on the local college campus on Tuesday, April 11.

The organizations that took part in this demonstration included Students for a Democratic Society, Lufkin Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Communist Party USA.

#LuftkinTX #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #Texas

According to a report from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syria’s Foreign and Expatriates Ministry sent two letters to UN Secretary General and the head of the UN Security Council about the new Israeli aggression.

SANA also reports “the Ministry said that Israel launched another treacherous aggression on the Syrian Arab Republic just after midnight on Friday, and this aggression is part a long series of Israeli attacks since the beginning of the terrorist war on the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Syria, adding that these attacks have been planned by the Israeli, French, and British intelligence agencies and their agents in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and other countries that wanted to impose control and hegemony on Syria and the region.”

The report continues, “these attacks would not have happened without the direct support of the outgoing U.S. administration and the French and British leaderships.”

#WashingtonDC #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #Syria #HandsOffSyria #AntiSyriaIntervention #MiddleEast

For a long time, the people of Turkey have paid for the inestimable consequences of foreign policies of the Turkish government. On Dec. 19, it cost another life.

The Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov was assassinated by a Turkish police officer, who was also assigned as a bodyguard for Karlov by Turkish governmental officials.

After police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas killed Ambassador Karlov, he shouted, “Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria.”

From expressions of the killer and the return of Aleppo from sectarian groups in Syria, it is almost certain what kind of group committed this attack. However, there still remains a lack of clarity. The news agency Sputnik says that the Front for the Conquest of the Levant claimed responsibility, in a letter that was published online, and again in the Sputnik, on the same day, this letter was called fake.

Whether it was done by this sectarian group, or another one, the consequences of this murder will remain same. The assassination of the ambassador will be to the detriment of Turkish foreign policy in Syria. Given that Turkey was saying “Assad should resign,” and was pushing for a new government in Syria, things didn’t’t go quite as planned.

Reminder: What happened after Russian plane was shot down

Russia became militarily involved in the Syrian conflict, launching airstrikes on Sept. 30, 2015. The Russian government’s main stated political aim is to convince the other parties in the war to reach a political solution with Assad administration.

After a Russian warplane was shot down by Turkish-backed Syrian paramilitary groups, Turkey’s aggressive posture resulted in a major loss on the diplomatic front of the Syrian conflict. Moreover, Russia has already an edge in that it entered the Syrian war opposing a Western solution, and as a collaborative force for peace.

With the relative legitimacy of Russia in the region, the Russian government gained a high-level position against Turkey after the plane incident. It was a remarkable moment in the diplomatic moves of this war, because after that, Turkey was effectively pushed out of the diplomacy game.

However, the recent re-entering of Turkey to this diplomacy is of interest, because the bargaining over Aleppo started at this point. Although Turkey had put the “Assad should be gone” idea to the back of its mind, there is a big problem for Turkish government: Rojava, and the Kurdish people of Syria.

The continuous defeats of Turkey in Syria, politically and militarily, also impacted its domestic politics, as Kurdish gains in Syria affected the Kurdish struggle in Turkey, intensifying the struggle for self-determination.

Turkeys ruling party, the AKP, had been consolidating its political hegemony in the realm of consent for a long time, in which AKP has carried out its policies of economic attacks against the working masses and has been involved in corruption scandals and reactionary politics. When they got to their third term of office, which the AKP calls its ‘master’ term, the essence of their agenda became visible. They want to get control of the social opposition by the means of repression and violence. In fact, their agenda is to build President Erdogan’s dictatorship.

But Turkey’s regime faces another obstacle. One of the greatest dynamics of Turkey's democratic forces is the Kurdish national movement. The only way for the AKP and its political allies to consolidate their strength is to suppress the Kurdish people's movement today, or at least to control it.

For these reasons, Turkish government accepted the Russian deal. It was clear that Turkey is going to give on Aleppo, but the price of Aleppo will be a ‘security corridor’ between two Kurdish areas in Syria. So, this security corridor gave two precious cards to Turkey. One is that they stopped to the unification of Kurdish area in Syria. Secondly, they can maintain their physical contact with the different sectarian groups from ISIS to Free Syrian Army.

The interesting thing is that Turkey has to give on Aleppo because contradictions it faced domestically.

Just before the assassination of Russian Ambassador Karlov, the option of “Assad should be gone” was still the preferred option of the Turkish regime, and with Putin's explanation after the assassination, everything was clear.

If we go back to Karlov, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, called the assassination as a “provocation” against the rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara and attempts of resolving the conflict in Syria.

Putin said, “There can be only one answer to this – stepping up the fight against terrorism, and the bandits will feel this.” These developments left Turkey in a weak position, so on Dec. 20, Turkey, Iran and Russia signed a declaration in Moscow, which draws completely a new alignment in the Syrian war. The agreement states:

“1. Iran, Russia, and Turkey reiterate their full respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian, democratic and secular state.2. Iran, Russia, and Turkey are convinced that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict. They recognize the essential role of the United Nations in the efforts to resolve this crisis in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2254.The ministers also take note of the decisions made by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and urge all members of the international community to cooperate in good faith in order to remove the obstacles on the way to implement the agreements contained in these documents.and8. Iran, Russia, and Turkey reiterate their determination to fight jointly against Daesh and al-Nusra terrorists and to separate them from armed opposition groups.”

The plane incident was a milestone for the war. The declaration of Moscow, after the assassination, is a new milestone. Turkey entered the diplomatic game board again. One cannot be certain about future developments, because the political scene is full of provocative actors.

ISIS bombers attacked Turkish troops in Al-Bab in Syria. 14 Turkish soldiers lost their lives, 33 of them were wounded. Just after one day after this attack, ISIS released a video in which they are burning two Turkish soldiers alive.

The Turkish government pays the bill for its foreign policy with human lives – the lives of working people from different nationalities.

#Turkey #NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #Opinion #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #MiddleEast

New York, NY – Around 65 people attended the Hands Off Syria Coalition panel discussion called, “What’s Ahead for the War on Syria?” on Dec. 2.

Eva Bartlett, an independent journalist who just came back from a month-long trip in Aleppo, and cofounder of the Syria Solidarity Movement, spoke about various aspects of the conflict. Bartlett talked about how Syrians view the Western-backed ‘revolutionaries’ as terrorists and how they feel safe when the Syrian army enters a district.

Bartlett also spoke of her experience during Syria’s 2014 election, stating “On election day, I saw Syrians line up to vote. And when I spoke to them, the majority were for Assad. No matter what you think of him, they voted for him. This whole thing is not about Assad and it's never been about him. It's about imperial forces fighting for a regime change in Syria. And I hope we can stand against this disgusting agenda.”

Sara Flounders, from the International Action Center and a member of the steering committee for the Hands Off Syria Coalition, spoke about the how a Trump presidency will affect the war, stating “Donald Trump says he won't expand the war on Syria. But we should pay close attention to the people who he is appointing to office. This doesn't bode well for the war in Syria.” Flounders added, “It's the people in the streets who are the solution to this problem.”

#NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #HandsOffSyria #DonaldTrump #MiddleEast

The U.S. and its Mideast regional partners are escalating their aggression against Syria, threatening to trigger broader war in the region and beyond.

On Feb. 11, Saudi Arabia announced that it would move troops, artillery and fighter jets to the Incirlik military base in southern Turkey. At Incirlik, Saudi forces join U.S. Air Force and Turkish Air Force troops, who jointly operate out of the base. According to the announcement, Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman alluded to a possible ground invasion of Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed the possibility of a joint Saudi-Turkey invasion in an interview on Feb. 14. On the same day, the Syrian government confirmed that Turkish forces had begun shelling both civilian and military targets in northern Syria. According to the Syrian government, Turkey's shelling has targeted both Syrian Arab Army positions and Kurdish forces.

This aggressive move by Saudi Arabia provoked outrage from Russia and Iran, both supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's national democratic government. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev warned that a ground invasion of Syria could lead to “permanent war” and vowed to continue supporting the ongoing peace negotiations taking place in Munich. Similarly, Iran pledged to oppose any offensive measures against Syria. Iranian Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri said they “will take necessary actions in due time” to not “let the situation in Syria to go forward the way rebel countries [the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey] want.”

According to Saudi officials, an invasion of Syria would aim at toppling Assad – the main goal of the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey since the outbreak of war in Syria five years ago. They also identified the containment of the so called Islamic State (IS) insurgency, which controls some territory in Syria and Iraq, as an objective.

Despite its rhetoric, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey are not seriously interested in defeating IS or the other reactionary paramilitary groups fighting Assad. IS itself emerged from the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the free-flow of foreign arms to rebel forces in Syria. Instead, they hope to use the spread of IS as justification for direct military intervention against Assad. Speaking to this point, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said last week, “Unless and until there is a change in Syria, Daesh [Islamic State] will not be defeated in Syria, period.”

Saudi Arabia's military threats against Syria come at a time of crisis for the oil-rich monarchy, which is losing regional influence to the growing camp of resistance in the Middle East. In Yemen, Saudi forces launched a brutal assault on the country after the popularly supported Houthi insurgency overthrew the U.S.-Saudi puppet government. The survival of Assad's government in Syria after five years of fighting foreign-backed paramilitary forces also speaks to Saudi Arabia's diminishing power. Amid this crisis, Turkey's ruling class sees an opportunity to fulfill its own expansionist aims, with regime-change in Syria as its first priority.

Anti-war activists must closely watch the events in Syria and oppose any invasion of Syria either by the U.S. or its regional partners, like Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

#Syria #AntiwarMovement #HandsOffSyria

Minneapolis, MN – Over 25 people joined an emergency protest at the Minneapolis Federal Building on Sept. 23 to demonstrate against U.S. bombing of Syria.

The protest, organized with a few hours notice, was held to oppose the start of U.S. air strikes against targets in Syria.

The event was initiated by the Minnesota Peace action Coalition.

A statement issued by organizers said in part, “The U.S. intervention in Syria has nothing to do with concern for human rights, but is all about trying to maintain political and economic control of the region. The Pentagon does not send cruise missiles and bombs to help people, but to dominate the region. It is up to the people of the region to determine their own future, not the U.S.”

The statement continues, “The bombing campaign in Syria expands the new U.S. military intervention in the region that started this summer in Iraq. The new chapter of U.S. military intervention threatens the people of the region and will cost billions of dollars, funds that are needed for human needs.”

The picket is being organized in response to U.S. bombing of targets in Syria. The U.S. bombing campaign started Sept. 23.

The protest was organized under the call of “Say No to U.S. Bombing of Syria – No New Wars and Interventions – Stop the U.S. War in Iraq – Funds for Jobs and Housing, Not Wars and Interventions.”

Speaking at the event, Meredith Aby-Keirstead of the Anti-War Committee said, “Last night the U.S. war on terror expanded in a new way in Syria with 20 targets hit by U.S. bombers. 47 Tomahawk missiles were launched from two destroyers. The skies of Syria were filled last night with U.S. surveillance drones. I can only imagine the fear and devastation the U.S. caused last night to the people of Syria.”

Aby-Keirstead continued, “It’s important to note that this war isn’t just in Syria. The U.S. also launched four more air strikes in Iraq last night, bringing the total number since August, 2014 to 194.”

MPAC has called for a protest on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 3:00 pm to continue speaking out against the new U.S. wars. The Sept. 27 protest will start at 3:00 p.m. at Mayday Plaza, 3rd Street and Cedar Avenue in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalition #HandsOffSyria #FundsForJobsAndHousingNotWarsAndInterventions

Clarksville, TN – On Aug. 30, 20 students and anti-war veterans protested on the campus of Austin Peay State University to oppose threats of U.S. military attacks on Syria. Student groups at the rally included Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA). Protesters held banners and signs, chanted, gave speeches and handed out flyers urging people to call the White House at 202-456-1111 to put the heat on Obama to not bomb Syria.

While holding large banners that read “Drop tuition, not bombs!” and “Hands off Syria!” people chanted “One, two, three, four, we don’t want your racist war! Five, six, seven eight, no more killing, no more hate!” and “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!”

Anti-war veteran Lara Jennings spoke, “The people of Syria have the right to determine their own destiny free of U.S. intervention. The U.S. government is repeating the same lies of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that were told to attempt to justify the invasion of Iraq to attempt to justify the invasion and bombing of Syria. We will not stand for this.”

Later, students marched around the campus with banners and signs reading “Money for education, not war!” while handing out flyers that included a SDS’s “Emergency Call to Action to Demand Hands Off Syria.”

SDS member Adele Morello said, “The U.S. government is trying to drag us into another war and they need to see that we the people are not for another war. We need jobs not war. We need money for education, not for war. Now is the time to stand up for what is right and tell them we are not going to follow blindly and unquestioningly into another war. We are against dropping bombs on Syria or anywhere else, worldwide! No more U.S. military intervention abroad!”

The rally was organized in response to national SDS’s call to action for students everywhere to hold rallies, marches and demonstrations to oppose threats of U.S. military attacks on Syria. Students vowed to continue to keep the pressure on and carry forward the struggle against U.S. military intervention and warmongering.

#ClarksvilleTN #StudentMovement #SDS #Syria #HandsOffSyria #AntiIntervention #ClarksvilleSDS #MiddleEast

Minneapolis, MN – About 70 peace activists in the Twin Cities protested against the growing danger of a new U.S. military intervention in Syria, Aug. 28, at the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street bridge peace vigil.

Meredith Aby, of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, explained the reason for the action call: “News reports indicate that the U.S. is preparing a military intervention in Syria. Despite the majority of people in the U.S. being against new wars and interventions, the talk of military involvement in yet another war is growing. U.S. military intervention will not bring peace and justice to a people already devastated by war.”

Aby continued, “Today President Obama gave a speech commemorating the March on Washington, but in reality Martin Luther King Jr. would be with us – protesting war threats on Syria. Dr. King knew that U.S. military inventions do not help people at home or abroad.”

Marie Braun, of Women Against Military Madness, was the first speaker to the crowd of supporters. She said, “While the administration says they are not seeking regime change, we know that similar claims were made at the outset of the NATO intervention in Libya. And these so-called limited military actions have a habit of spiraling out of control with unexpected consequences that can lead to massive escalation. There is no military solution in Syria. Expanded U.S. military intervention in Syria will not lead to peace, justice or democracy for the Syrian people. It can only lead to greater civilian death toll, more refugees and further destabilization in the region.”

The Women Against Military Madness End War Committee and the Twin Cities Peace Campaign sponsor the weekly peace vigil. The call for the Aug. 28 vigil to speak out against a U.S. war in Syria was endorsed by the Anti-War Committee, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Veterans for Peace and others.

#Minneapolis #MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Syria #WomenAgainstMilitaryMadness #TwinCities #HandsOffSyria #USIntervention #MiddleEast