ACTION ALERT: Tell St Paul officials to grant permit for RNC anti-war march

Fight Back News Service urges all of our readers to respond to this action alert from the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. Please forward it as widely as possible.

New Brunswick, NJ – A large anti-war demonstration is set to take place March 27 at Rutgers University.

Minneapolis, MN – Standing in front of the Federal Building here, March 24, leaders of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War and their lawyers announced they are seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the City of Saint Paul to grant the permits for their September 1 anti-war march. The attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint in federal district court later that day.

Minneapolis, MN – In December, a year of US threats finally escalated to a full-scale, military assault on Iraq. The bombing campaign caused thousands of Iraqi deaths, and destroyed hospitals, roads, phone lines and civilian factories. President Clinton launched the attack in the midst of impeachment proceedings, in response to a report by chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler. Millions of people around the world protested the attacks, which ended in four days. Protest actions in Minneapolis mobilized hundreds each day.

Minneapolis, MN – Public disapproval is growing fast against US-backed UN sanctions against Iraq. October 1-14, peace and justice groups nationwide protested the sanctions. Student organizations in the Twin Cities and Chicago areas educated hundreds about the devastation in Iraq.“We wanted to start the school year by getting the word out and putting on pressure to stop the genocidal sanctions!” said Jackson Potter, student activist at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Grassroots pressure won a letter from Congresspeople urging President Clinton to end economic sanctions against Iraq.

People across the country marked the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war by taking to the streets in protest. Students turned out in full force. Members of Students for a Democratic Society, whose call for a week of action against the war brought together over 90 SDS chapters and other progressive organizations committed to rallying, marching and walking out to protest the war. This week of actions was the largest student-organized anti-war protests since the war on Iraq began.

Asheville, NC – Members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of North Carolina Asheville and the Asheville chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) staged an exciting counter-recruitment action here, Feb. 5, that brought the war home to students at UNCA.

St. Paul, MN – About 300 people demonstrated here, March 1, as part of the continuing fight to get permits for the massive anti-war protest scheduled for the opening day of the Republican National Convention. Organized by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, protesters marched from the State Capitol to the Xcel Center.

Tuscaloosa, AL – Four protesters from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) were arrested here, Feb. 29, at the University of Alabama for performing a mock raid meant to demonstrate the effects of the U.S. occupation on Iraqi civilians.