Tampa, FL – Around 15 activists and community members gathered to oppose U.S. intervention and aggression against Syria. The protest was in response to the launching of 59 Tomahawk missiles on Shayrat Airbase as ordered by Donald Trump. This attack is the first time the U.S. has directly attacked the Syrian Arab Republic, but is not the first time the U.S. has attempted to overthrow the Syrian government.

“Today we are here to protest against the heinous violence President Trump has enacted against Syria, and to stand in solidarity with the refugees the war has created,” said Jessica Schwartz, a member of Tampa Anti-War Committee. Chants included “Hands off Syria,” “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation” and “Hey, hey, let’s be clear; refugees are welcome here!”

The Tampa Anti-War Committee will continue to protest U.S. war in Syria.

#TampaFL #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #Intervention #DonaldTrump

Minneapolis, MN – In response to the recent U.S. air strikes against Syrian military targets by the Trump administration, over 200 people joined a Minneapolis anti-war protest on Saturday, April 8.

The protest, organized in just a day and a half, was initiated by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition. (MPAC) The protest was held along the sidewalks along the very busy Lake Street and Hiawatha Ave shopping area. Thousands of people driving and walking by saw the protest. Many people waved and expressed support for the anti-war message. The protest was organized under the call of “Say no to U.S. war on Syria.” Many groups and individuals helped to get out the word about the protest through Facebook, phone calls and e-mail announcements.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, led chants and was the first speaker to address the crowd. She said, “We are here today to denounce U.S. missile attacks on Syria. The U.S. should not increase its intervention in Syria. More bombing will not bring back the victims of this recent chemical weapons use. More bombing will not bring back the over 400,000 deaths in this six-year conflict.”

Aby-Keirstead continued, “This responsibility of speaking out is on us. The 1% are united in supporting this war. Hilary Clinton openly dared Trump to attack on Thursday and the only Democratic ‘opposition’ to the aggression is that they should have been given the opportunity to give him a green light to attack first – not a real opposition at all! Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting noted today that five top papers ran 18 opinion pieces praising Syria strikes and that none ran a piece critical of this action. Many members of progressive and liberal groups are confused on the issue of Syria so we need to be vocal in challenging the mythology of the ‘U.S. humanitarian war.’”

Aby-Keirstead also told the crowd to be ready to give solidarity to anti-war protesters who were attacked by police and arrested in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday.

Alan Dale, a member of MPAC concluded the protest, “It is urgent to speak out against the escalating U.S. war moves. U.S. military intervention is not about helping people, or fighting terrorism, it is about control of the resources of the Middle East.”

Organizers also pointed to the growing danger of new escalations of U.S. military intervention in Yemen and Somalia.

The MPAC coalition announced their next action at the protest. MPAC will hold a protest on Tuesday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m. at the offices of Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar to speak out against the escalation of U.S. intervention.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #Intervention #DonaldTrump

Tampa, FL – Activists from the Tampa Bay area organized a protest on June 27 in response to a U.S. intervention in Iraq. It was an emergency action in response to President Obama’s sending military advisors to Iraq, and the flying of U.S. drones over Baghdad.

Speakers addressed an array of issues, from President Obama’s continuation of U.S. wars,to the oppression of nations by imperialism, as well as anti-war activists facing political repression by the FBI—for speaking out against US wars.

“The US has no interest in the wellbeing of the Iraqi people, and the millions of dead Iraqis from the past 94 years of US and British domination are a testament to that,” said Gage Lacharite from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society.

Jesse Nevel of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement facilitated the rally and stated, “Up with Iraqi liberation. Down with war and occupation” and described the US government’s foreign policy as “parasitic”, connecting current US imperialism to the history of enslaving and murdering African people.

Jessica Schwartz from Stop FBI – Tampa Bay talked about the U.S. government persecution of Arab Americans and Muslims for their political activity, as well as the Antiwar 23 who were raided by the FBI in 2010. “People fighting against the system and opposing U.S. wars, occupations, and military interventions like the one in Iraq are attacked by the US government, which prides itself on so-called ‘freedom of speech’”.

Marisol Marquez from Raices en Tampa linked the US meddling in the Middle East with the history of oppression in the US. “With its history of seizing Mexican land, committing genocide against Native Americans and enslaving Africans, how can this country possibly know what another country needs? Invading another country was not okay back then, and it sure as hell is not okay now.”

Jared Hamil from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization explained about the current situation in Iraq: “Sometimes there are many forces and groups at play. It can be confusing. And we ask ourselves where do we stand. We must always stand on the side of the people, not with those who attempt to build the US Empire. History shows that those two are never on the same side. We must stand with those who oppose imperialism, with those who fight imperialism”.

Organizations included in the protest were St. Pete for Peace, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, Stop FBI Repression – Tampa Bay, Raices en Tampa, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, and Tampa Dream Defenders.

#TampaFL #AntiwarMovement #Obama #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #Iraq #Imperialism #Bush #DreamDefenders #Intervention #RaicesEnTampa #USF #War #2001 #ISIS #MiddleEast

Minneapolis, MN – 40 protesters gathered to mark International Human Rights Day at the corner of Franklin and Nicollet Avenues, Dec. 7. After a few rounds of chanting, the rally opened with a speech by Sabry Wazwaz, who spoke about the Palestinian struggle for liberation, the right of return and basic human rights. He noted that Israel is an enemy of peace and human rights, supported by billions of dollars in U.S. aid.

Although the temperature dipped below zero, spirits ran high as the group set off for a march along busy Nicollet Avenue. Passersby gladly took flyers, cars honked and protesters raised chants of, “Human rights are under attack! What do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Stop the wars, feed the poor, human rights for all!” The protest called for an end to U.S. militarism and warfare from Afghanistan, throughout the Middle East and to Colombia; demanded money for human needs not for war and called for an end to political repression.

The march ended at The Nicollet coffee shop, where Anti-War Committee member and poet Misty Rowan opened a program for a crowded room of protesters and regular café-goers. Speakers included Anh Pham, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, who called for support for Palestinian Rasmea Odeh; Angel Buechner, Welfare Rights Committee; Steve McKeown, Veterans for Peace, chapter 27 and Eden Yosief, an SEIU member recently returned from a labor solidarity delegation to Colombia. To close the program, two fourth graders, Leila and Cocoa, along with Steph Taylor of University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society, sang the civil rights movement song, Get on Board, inviting all present to join them.

“International Human Rights Day is a day when people across the globe mark the struggle for equal rights and freedom. Just days after his passing, we are here today to honor Nelson Mandela, and build the struggle to end U.S. militarism,” said Meredith Aby-Keirstead, for the Anti-War Committee, which organized the action. She continued, “Nelson Mandela's life represented the struggles for freedom, dignity, equality and peace in South Africa and around the world. His stands against Israeli apartheid and against the U.S. war on Iraq serve as inspiration to the anti-war movement. “

The protest was endorsed by Mayday Books, the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Peace Action Coalition, Students for a Democratic Society-U of MN, the Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace, the Welfare Rights Committee and Women Against Military Madness.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #MinneapolisAntiwarMovement #Minnesota #antiimperialism #Intervention #USWars #MN

Joe Iosbaker, an activist with the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, was part of the panel.

The following is the speech that Iosbaker delivered:

The Anti-War Committee is opposed to U.S. intervention in Syria. The U.S. is at war, and we are trying to stop that and prevent further intervention. I’m going to speak about some of the wrong ideas that we encounter in the anti-war movement in the course of organizing protests against the U.S./NATO/Israeli war on Syria.

Wrong idea number one: The U.S. is not at war in Syria and is trying to not get dragged in

We hear this in two versions, one from liberals and one from so-called leftists.

Liberal Version

The war in Syria is a civil war between Sunni forces oppressed by an Alawite minority government; and Alawite and Christian forces aligned with the government because they fear the victory of the Jihadist Sunni forces. The Obama administration is hesitant to intervene – they don’t want another Libya, but are being pushed by hawks like John McCain and Hilary Clinton. Obama doesn’t want to look weak.

Underneath these ideas is a belief that Washington’s entrance into the war would be a humanitarian act devoid of imperial machinations.

Response: This is relatively easy to refute simply by pointing to the billions of dollars of control that U.S. military aid buys over Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Those countries are part of the U.S. team; they wouldn’t be intervening without U.S. knowledge and consent.

Further, while issuing denials of involvement at each stage, the truth continues to leak out. A New York Times article earlier this year reported that a Qatari minister admitted that the CIA was sitting in their meetings as early as Oct. 2011 to decide where arms should go to in Syria.

‘Leftist’ version

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is part of the Syrian revolution that emerged with the Arab Spring protests in 2011. The revolution took up armed struggle after violent repression by Assad’s brutal military. The local revolutionary councils continue to run the communities and therefore the revolution should be supported. However, the Obama administration doesn’t want to support this democratic revolution, so the U.S. isn’t intervening.

Response: Whatever grievances the protesters in Syria had in 2011, the Gulf monarchies and Turkey, along with the CIA, leapt in at the opportunity that was provided. The U.S. was already funding rightist groups in Syria in 2005. After the street protests, within months, arms began to flow from Qatar and Turkey.

The fantasy that the revolution is alive and not dominated by imperialism ignores two truths that all political forces on earth know: First, the lines have been drawn quite clearly – a sectarian army backed by imperialism vs. a government with a history of resisting imperialism. Those who align themselves with foreign armies are considered traitors. And second, political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. If there are still local committees that have some political and social ideas separate from the foreign dominated armies fighting the Assad government, they will have no say in any post-war Syria.

Wrong idea number two: The Assad government is brutal, so how can we blame the FSA for accepting weapons that are supplied by Saudi Arabia and Qatar? Response: Although it is a struggle to get through the mass of pro-rebel propaganda, truth has come out. For instance, independent sources state that the largest numbers of casualties have been [inflicted on] forces associated with the government – soldiers and militia; second, civilians, including heavy Alawite casualties; and third, rebel troops.

But again, for anti-war forces in the U.S., there’s no other way to read this idea but a call for somebody to intervene to topple the government of Syria. In other words, some imperialist intervention is good.

The anti-war movement has to be very clear: the U.S. cannot play a progressive role in the affairs of another country.

Wrong idea number three: The war in Syria is a U.S./Russian proxy war Response: The mainstream media runs out this idea more and more. Characterizing the war in Syria as a proxy war lets the U.S., NATO and Israel off the hook. They are waging a war on the government and people of Syria because they want a puppet in power. The Russians are providing weapons to the government of Syria to resist that war. “Proxy war” makes it seem like both sources of arms are equally to blame for the fighting in Syria. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Wrong idea number four: The FSA grew from the Arab Spring protests against austerity. Response: What is the economic program of the rebels? No doubt everyone is aware of the violent sectarianism of the rebels, but look at the economic program of the U.S. and Gulf state-led Syrian National Council (SNC). The SNC calls for a Marshall Plan, basically looking to U.S. and Western financial agencies to recreate the Syrian economy. It is well known that U.S. investment leads to the domination of an economy by U.S. interests and not to prosperity for the majority. The policies of opening up to the West by Assad’s government and the resulting austerity measures were the cause of the Arab Spring protests in Syria in 2011. The SNC program doesn’t represent the demands of the protesters for an end to those policies.

What should the stand of the U.S. anti-war movement be?

First, recognize that the U.S. is at war. Second, in my opinion, the Syrian government ought to be defended. And more than ever the U.S. and the worldwide anti-war and social justice movement must demand, “Hands off Syria!”

For me, the starting point in looking at the world is this: the main struggle in the world today is between imperialism and the oppressed nations and people. The center of this world wide contest is the battle to control the natural resources – oil – of the mainly Muslim nations of the Middle East. This is the leading edge of the imperialist campaign to use military might to put them back on top of the world capitalist heap, which they can’t accomplish through economic means. The imperialists have lost ground over 70 years to the nations and people of the world. Their drive to turn back the hands of time is leading them to get rid of every government of an oppressed nation that resists imperialist dictates, and Syria and Iran are the two most important.

#ChicagoIL #Syria #USImperialism #JoeIsobaker #Intervention #InternationalStruggle #basharAlassad #MiddleEast