Sundin stated, “Against the advice of scientists, he's opening up before infection rates have dropped. Against his own promises, he's opening up when there are still widespread reports of PPE shortages for healthcare workers. Minnesota is still behind with testing, and contact tracing is unheard of. Grimly, the only benchmark the governor has met is expanding the number of ICU beds available for those who get the sickest.

“Governor Walz's decision endangers us all, but especially frontline workers, Black, indigenous and other people of color, our seniors and loved ones with underlying health conditions. His new “Stay Safe MN” order does nothing to guarantee the safety of workers forced to return to work, does nothing to provide childcare for those whose children are studying at home, and nothing to ensure that unemployment benefits get into the hands of those still waiting, nothing to expand access to housing and food and health care. His new order is a do-it-yourself project for working and oppressed peoples, and a plan to ensure the flow of profits to hospitals and malls and others,” Sundin continued.

Sundin concluded, “Workers and unions are already fighting for workplace closures or PPE and other safety precautions. Communities are organizing themselves to get cloth masks and other resources to our neighbors. The governor's plan puts profits before people. Now more than ever, we need to organize together to demand policies that put people first. The Coalition to Advance a People's Agenda is coming together to do just that.”

#MinneapolisMN #Healthcare #JessSundin #GovernorTimWalz #CoalitionToAdvanceAPeoplesAgenda

Minneapolis, MN – The following speech was given by Freedom Road Socialist Organization Twin Cites District Organizer Jess Sundin at a Minneapolis International Women’s Day rally, which was held on March 9.

Comrades and friends,

I’m so happy to be here with you to celebrate this important holiday, our holiday, International Women’s Day. Because it’s not taught in schools, I don’t assume everyone here knows where this holiday comes from, so let’s start there.

It goes back more than 150 years, when the first recorded organized action by working women anywhere in the world took place in New York on March 8, 1857. Hundreds of women in the garment and textile factories staged a strike in protest of low wages, long working hours, inadequate pay, inhumane working conditions and the lack of the right to vote. Many were beaten by police. Two years later, again in March, they formed their own union.

U.S. women continued to struggle for decades for economic and political rights. Marches of 10,000 and 20,000, strikes for months, including women at New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Tragedy brought the attention of the world to the struggles of working class women in the U.S. in 1911, when 146 young women either burned to death or died desperately trying to escape the heat and flames by leaping from the ninth floor windows of the factory to the pavement below. The factory’s only fire escape, a flimsy contraption, collapsed under the weight of the fleeing, terrified young women.

Socialists were some of the leading fighters in these struggles the U.S., just as they were in other countries. Inspired by the New York women garment workers’ struggles and the strong role of women socialists, German communist Clara Zetkin proposed designating International Women’s Day at an International Socialist Congress in Copenhagen in 1910. Women delegates from 17 countries unanimously concurred.

And so, more than a hundred years later, here we are.

We have in the White House today, a president that shows no respect for anyone, and open contempt for many, including women. His attacks aren’t from his own imagination, but part of an agenda much bigger and older than his time in politics.

Roe v. Wade was a 1973 Supreme Court decision to protect women’s reproductive rights. With his successful appointment of drunken misogynist Brett Kavanaugh, along with conservative Neil Gorsuch, and dozens of other federal court judges, the door is wide open for rolling back women’s rights 46 years. Civil rights, workers’ rights, native sovereignty, LGBTQ rights, environmental protections and so much more are also up for grabs.

The high court isn’t the only battlefield. The administration has directed its Department of Homeland Security in the outrageous policy of placing immigrants in detention, where many women’s charges of sexual abuse at the hands of their captors are ignored. The Department of Education is trying to undermine the undermine the rights of rape survivors. And the Trump administration is aggressively working to erode transgender rights, many that have only recently been recognized.

Meanwhile, Trump is notorious for speaking of women as sexual objects (the pussy grabbing video), for sexually assaulting women (with 19 accusations), and openly supported buddies like Congressman Roy Moore, accused of molesting and sexually assaulting teenage girls. Not content to fueling a climate of disrespect and misogyny, his Education Department changed Title IX standards to now favor the accused over the victim in college sexual assault cases.

These are just a few examples. We’d be here all week, if we wanted to cite all the ways Trump and company have harmed women since he took office. In considering all of this, keep in mind that the inequality and oppression that falls on women in the Black, Chicano and Latino, Native, Asian and Pacific Islander community’s hits extra hard. Statistics on unemployment, wage disparities, lack of services, or just about anything else that can be measured, bear this out.

The White House, Pentagon, and Wall Street have globalized the attacks on women – creating an empire that is marked by inequality and discrimination. Women are among those hit hardest by imperialism, and that can be seen in the caravans of refugees fleeing the ‘made in the USA’ poverty and violence that has engulfed Central America and so many other places, or in the faces of the families starved by the U.S. and their Saudi allies in Yemen.

What I am describing is an ever-growing storm of attacks by the ruling class of this country. Just like we came in here for shelter from today’s coming snowstorm, our movements are our defense against patriarchy, white supremacy, and the entire capitalist system that keeps us from our liberation as women, as oppressed people, and as the working class.

So let’s talk about the kind of movement are we trying to build.

This day was born out of the struggle of immigrant working women in this country, and now, across the world, millions upon millions of women, including trans women and non-binary people, are leading actions for our freedom and dignity. This day is important, but as you know, it’s not just about one day. International Women’s Day is about building a movement that can change the world we live in.

We could certainly use more Ilhan Omars in Congress, but that alone won’t do it. If you think the ruling class will be talked into change, just look at how she has been attacked, simply for speaking out against U.S. aid to the murderous apartheid government of Israel. What our local congresswoman is doing is helpful – it makes a crack in the monolith. But she is there because for years, Palestinians are fighting for their own liberation there, and because Palestinians here have worked with solidarity and student activists for years to oppose U.S. support for Zionism. And it was an outpouring of support that pushed back condemnations of Omar by the other politicians in Washington.

We know that it is not individual politicians or other leaders that make history. It’s the masses of people in motion, fighting for ourselves and our own freedom, that will make the changes we deserve, the changes we need. I look forward to hearing from the other speakers today talk about the fights they are leading. At the same time, I will be thinking about what it will take to put an end, once and for all, to the system of capitalism that stands in our way.

A woman’s place is not only in the struggle, but at the front of it. And not only in the struggle for today, but the struggle for tomorrow. A woman’s place is in the revolution!

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalWomensDay #JessSundin #frso #Socialism

New York, New York – Every year in New York, leftists gather for the Left Forum. This year, the Left Forum took place May 20-22 and included several hundred workshops on an array of topics – from Venezuela to the current electoral climate.

Jess Sundin, a longtime member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression spoke on a panel regarding political prisoners called, “What Has Happened to Leftist Theology and What Has This Got to Do With Political Prisoners in the Day of the & 'trumpocalipse’?” and another panel entitled “The Trump/Clinton/Obama Triumpherate?” She was joined by important speakers, such as Lynn Stewart and Pam Africa.

Sundin spoke about her experience facing political repression and the ongoing case of Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is a Palestinian American leader who is challenging her unjust convicted on a trumped-up immigration charge. Sundin stated, “When the government arrested Rasmea, you know their plan was to have her locked up or deported by now. But they failed. We made them fail. And each day that Rasmea is running around free in Chicago, they fail again. And again we turn their repression into a stage, where we stand with Rasmea, waving the Palestinian flag, advancing the struggle for a free Palestine.”

Sundin speaking about Odeh couldn’t have come at a better time. Odeh’s next day in court will be June 13 in Detroit, Michigan. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression has put out a call to action for folks to go to Detroit and stand in solidarity with Odeh. In New York, there will be a rally around that date.

The facebook event for the New York rally is at https://www.facebook.com/events/1047337341987172/

Also at the Left Forum, Freedom Road Socialist Organization had a table that featured books, buttons and pamphlets.

#NewYorkNewYork #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #JessSundin #PoliticalPrisoners #politicalRepression #LeftForum #RasmeaOdeh

Minneapolis, MN – About 90 workers, community members and students came together here, April 26, for an enthusiastic celebration of International Workers’ Day. The May Day event was organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Labor leaders who spoke at the international workers day celebration included Kas Schwerdtfeger, a key figure in Defeat Right to Work in Wisconsin and member of Teamsters Local 344, Cherrene Horazuk, president of AFSCME Local 3800 and Jigme Ugen, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota.

Jess Sundin of Freedom Road Socialist Organization told the crowd that revolution and socialism was needed to eliminate exploitation and oppression, stating, “We are not looking for kinder politicians, bosses and cops, but overthrowing the capitalist system that is organized to oppress and steal from working people. We need a revolution, to get rid of capitalism, and we need to build something new. We need socialism. Socialism is a system that puts power in the hands of working people and our class. Under socialism, no one is skimming profits for private gain, and instead, we all benefit from the work that we all do.”

Sundin also addressed the issue of the repression that has been unleashed against FRSO and others in the anti-war movement, stating, “I want to turn to the question of repression, which has been directly leveled against Freedom Road, and our friends organizing around Colombia and Palestine. Many of you stood by us when the FBI raided my home and several others four-and-a-half years ago, along with the office of the Anti-War Committee. They attempted to manufacture a case against us, claiming we were supporting terrorism – while they dropped tons of explosives over Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and more.” Sundin told the crowd, “We’ve been told the investigation remains ‘ongoing.’”

Sundin recounted battles arising from the FBI raids. “First, there was Chicano leader Carlos Montes, in Los Angeles. They tried to imprison him, but we stopped them.” The crowd cheered.

“Then it was Rasmea Odeh, a long-time Arab and Palestinian community leader. I spent a month in Detroit last fall, and many of you came out for the trial in November and her sentencing in March. Because of our work, Rasmea is at home in Chicago, organizing hundreds of Arab immigrant women today. But the fight is not over. She was convicted of immigration fraud and her continued freedom depends on an appeal. We continue to demand justice for Rasmea, and I invite any of you to join me in Cincinnati for her next court date in September.”

Cherrene Horazuk, the president of AFSCME Local 3800 told the audience, “The big picture is that capitalism is a system that will never work for workers. The work we do every day is merely enriching somebody else. We need to get beyond our narrow struggles and join together as the working class and fight for the world that we want.”

Horazuk went on to say, “I know that when we fight, we don't always win, but if we don't fight, we will always lose.”

Awards of recognition for ongoing fight backs were presented to the Welfare Rights Committee, the One State One License Coalition, and Black Lives Matters-Minneapolis.

The event ended with a children’s program, followed by the singing of The International.

#MinneapolisMN #MayDay #PeoplesStruggles #JessSundin #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #internationalWorkersDay #Socialism

Chicago, IL – Rasmea Odeh, the well-known activist in the Palestinian community of Chicago and target of persecution by the U.S. government, goes on trial Nov. 4.

Charged with immigration fraud, the case against her is based on the grounds that, in her application for citizenship ten years ago, she didn’t mention that she was arrested in Palestine 45 years ago. Her arrest was at the hands of the Israeli defense forces, which had illegally seized Palestinian territory. She was raped and tortured by her captors, and forced to sign a confession to stop the abuse. Then an Israeli military court found her guilty without due process and gave her a life sentence. She was released after ten years in a prisoner exchange.

Why does the Department of Justice uphold decisions made by Israel’s military court? The U.S. has a history of condemning military courts in other countries. And when President Obama recently spoke at the U.N., he lectured other world leaders that it was unacceptable today to occupy another nation’s land. Why doesn’t that apply to Israel’s occupation of Palestine?

U.S. backing of Israeli occupation

The U.S. government has always spoken out of both sides of its mouth. U.S. presidents tell the Palestinians they deserve their own state, but refuse to stop Israel’s thousands of illegal settlements in Palestinian areas. The Obama administration warns against countries that defy the ‘international community,’ but has vetoed almost every single United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

There’s no denying what is happening: Israel serves the interests of the U.S. elites in the Middle East. The Israeli regime couldn’t exist without the $3 billion a year in military aid it receives from the U.S. It serves the Pentagon as a landlocked aircraft carrier. The aid – and the unjust occupation of Palestine – are the price the U.S. is willing to pay to hold down the Arab and other peoples of the Middle East.

Standing with Israel is a constant refrain from every politician in Washington. For Rasmea Odeh, this means that U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade’s office accepts the stance of the kangaroo court in Israel that convicted her.

Defeat of Judge Borman

The first judge assigned to hear her case was Paul Borman. Borman had many ties to Israel, having helped raise millions to support the apartheid government there. A campaign by the Rasmea Defense Committee called for Borman to recuse himself. At first refusing, he gave in when it was exposed that his family had partial ownership of the grocery store that was the target of the bombing that Rasmea was forced to confess to. This was a huge embarrassment for the federal court, which always denies that decisions are affected one way or the other by politics.

Borman’s recusal was a victory which rallied the spirits of Rasmea and her many supporters. It proved to the movement for justice for Rasmea and for Palestine that if we fight, we can win. It shows us that a great legal defense is required, but so is a group of supporters packing the courtroom each time Rasmea is there.

Judge Gershwin Drain

On Oct. 2, Rasmea appeared before the new judge, Gershwin Drain, where attorneys presented numerous motions. The first decision by Drain was not good. Attorney Michael Deutsch argued that the charges against Rasmea should be dismissed, showing how the case against her began with the illegal investigation of the group of 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists who were subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in 2010. Drain agreed with the prosecution’s counter-argument, that the defense hadn’t proven its case.

Tom Burke of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) commented, “The U.S. government doesn’t want to admit its own crimes. It’s a fact that hundreds of Arabs and Muslims have been targeted by successive administrations only for being Arab or Muslim, or for loving their own people. The raids and subpoenas of the anti-war and international solidarity activists in 2010 were violations of our First Amendment rights.”

Although that decision went against Odeh, Hatem Abudayyeh of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) said, “Rasmea, her lawyers and her supporters sent a message to the court that there is a pattern of the Department of Justice abusing those involved in Palestine support work.”

Latest twist: Attack on our right to fight back

In early October, Prosecutor Jonathan Tukel launched an attack on the Rasmea Defense Committee and Hatem Abudayyeh. Tukel accused Rasmea’s supporters of jury tampering. He alleged that the rallies involving members of the Palestinian community and anti-war activists are “almost certainly criminal.” Tukel is asking for an “anonymous jury” – keeping the names of the jury secret from the public and from Rasmea’s defense attorneys. Tukel used an anonymous jury for the trial of the Underwear Bomber in 2009. The meaning of his motion could not be more clear: Odeh and her supporters are dangerous to the members of the jury.

This would be laughable if the impact wasn’t so terrible. In fact, this is an effort by the prosecution to tamper with the jury. Making jurors and prospective jurors operate in secret makes them think that they are in danger.

There is nothing violent in the efforts of her defense campaign. The only violence that impacts this trial is the inhumane brutality with which the Israeli military treated Odeh in 1969. With each passing day, more people and organizations that support civil liberties are adding their voices to oppose this latest move.

‘I believe that we will win’

This attack by the office of U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade points to one other thing: the movement that supports Rasmea is putting Israel on trial. Especially after the international outcry that responded to the massacres in Gaza this summer, Israel is seen worldwide as the brutal, apartheid regime that it is. Most people hear the ring of truth when they are told that Rasmea was viciously abused at the hands of Israel.

On Oct. 2, in front of the court house in Detroit, Muhammad Sankari of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network led Rasmea’s friends and neighbors in chanting, “I believe we will win.” One of the Palestinian women supporters raised her voice louder and said, “I believe we are winning.” It appears that McQuade and Tukel fear that to be true, and are acting to put an end to the trial in the court of public opinion, and are attempting to rig the outcome of the legal proceeding as well. The rising movement of support for Palestine – the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) campaign, the efforts for an arms embargo to stop companies like Boeing that provide the killing tools to Israel, the campus movement to defend critics of Israel like Professor Steven Salaita at the University of Illinois and the massive marches like those in Chicago that mobilized to halt the slaughter in Gaza – is in fact winning.

All out for Detroit

A major mobilization Is underway to pack the courtroom during Odeh’s Nov. 4 trial. “People from around the country will be coming to Detroit to support Rasmea. We will stand with her at her trial and demand Justice,” stated Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

#ChicagoIL #Chicago #JessSundin #TomBurke #politicalRepression #RasmeaOdeh #StevenSalaita

Minneapolis, MN – Jess Sundin, a spokesperson of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and an anti-war leader, hailed the Dec. 31 release of jailed attorney Lynne Stewart. Sundin stated, “People's attorney, Lynne Stewart, is a hero who was imprisoned for doing the right thing. She has always stood up for the oppressed and this is why people around the world have been speaking up to demand her freedom. After countless letters, phone calls and protests, we are overjoyed that Lynne's freedom has finally been won. I am so happy she's finally home with her family today. May this be the first of many freedoms in 2014.”

Stewart had been serving a ten-year sentence on bogus ‘material support for terrorism’ charges. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl ordered her let go on the grounds of “compassionate release.” The release order, signed by Judge Koeltl, states that Stewart has less than 18 months to live.

#MinneapolisMN #PoliticalPrisoners #JessSundin #LynneStewart #InjusticeSystem #compassionateRelease

St. Paul, MN – Two prominent anti-war and international solidarity activists, Jess Sundin and Mick Kelly, were in federal court here, Nov. 1, in a bid to pull back the curtain of government secrecy that surrounds the FBI raids on their homes on Sept. 24, 2010. In the hearing presided over by Judge Steven E. Rau, Bruce Nestor, attorney for the plaintiffs, made a passionate argument for a motion to unseal the affidavits used to obtain the search warrants for the FBI raids.

Nestor told the court that the government cannot raid the homes of political activists without providing an explanation. He also spoke of the chilling effect the raids had on those exercising their First Amendment rights.

The Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids struck seven homes in Minneapolis and Chicago and the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee. A total of 23 activists were summoned to a Chicago grand jury investigating “material support for terrorism.” No one testified.

At the Nov. 1 hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter cited the ongoing investigation into the anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists as the “compelling government interest” in continuing to keep the documents under seal. Judge Rau stated that he will hold a closed ‘in camera’ hearing with Assistant U.S. Attorney Winter in 120 days, where Winter will report on the status and scope of the investigation. After that the judge will make periodic reviews (possibly every 90 days) of the order to keep the documents sealed.

Commenting on the Nov. 1 proceedings, Jess Sundin stated, “I came to court today hoping to hear that the investigation of myself and fellow activists was coming to a close and that the veil of secrecy and suspicion around us would be lifted. Instead, the government said the investigation is ongoing. While Assistant U.S. Attorney Winter didn't openly threaten indictments, he expressed that things could develop in our case any day. Given that the government is fighting to keep its secrets hidden, I think he was saying that one or more indictments may still be coming. Or perhaps he expects the investigation will widen, and other activists will be caught up in this shameful witch hunt.”

Sundin continued, “I left the courtroom with a sense of foreboding. We need to be prepared, in the event of indictments, possibly within the next few months. We need to defend others who are persecuted for their political ideas or who they are – such as Chicago’s Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh. Three years ago, many of us made arrangements for family members to put up their homes, in the event that we would need to make bail. It was a sobering moment after court today, when we were reminded that all of these preparations should be reviewed again today.”

Sundin and Kelly have long spoken out against U.S. wars and in support of oppressed people. Mick Kelly said, “This case is all about criminalizing those of us who stand with the struggles in Palestine and Colombia, those of us who work against U.S. wars. There is no doubt that the affidavits used to obtain the search warrants on our homes are full of lies and are an attack on protected political activity. We want to drag them into the light of day.”

#SaintPaulMN #JessSundin #MickKelly #September24FBIRaids #AntiWar23 #InjusticeSystem #FBIRepression

Their attorney will present arguments for a motion to unseal the affidavits used to obtain the search warrants for their homes more than three years ago.

Jess Sundin, a plaintiff in the case, said, “The government launched its vicious attack on anti-war and international solidarity activists with two years of surveillance by undercover agents, then carried out FBI raids on a dozen homes and offices and attempted to force our testimony to a grand jury in Chicago. Every step of the way, the government acted under a cloak of secrecy and has insisted on guarding those secrets to this day. On Friday, Nov. 1, we will have our day in court, as our attorney argues for our motion to unseal the affidavits that were used to obtain the search warrants for those FBI raids.”

Bruce Nestor, attorney for the plaintiffs, writes in a document filed with the court, “Over three years ago, based upon the submission of secret evidence, the United States government convinced Magistrate Judge Susan R. Nelson to seal the search supporting affidavits at issue in this matter. Over three years after the applications and affidavits were ordered sealed, there are no public signs that the government is continuing its investigations related to these warrants or of the individuals named in the warrants. Indeed, while turning the constitutional presumption of innocence on its head by stating that the Petitioners in this matter remain subject to prosecution and therefore under ‘suspicion.’”

Nestor continues, “The government’s position in this matter also raises the question, ‘What is the prosecution trying to hide?’ [This also] … prevents undersigned counsel from effectively challenging the government’s claims.”

The hearing will take place in courtroom 3C at the United States Courthouse in Saint Paul (316 N Robert Street) at 9:00 a.m.

#SaintPaulMN #JessSundin #MickKelly #grandJury #AntiWar23 #InjusticeSystem #FBIRepression

Fight Back! is circulating a speech delivered by anti war leader Jess Sundin, at the Sept 24 protest in front of the Federal Building in Minneapolis. About 100 demonstrators demanded an end to the federal investigation of anti war and international solidarity activists.

First, I want to say how much it means to me that you are all here today. It reminds me of the morning my home was raided by the FBI: When Garrett was the first friend to arrive, and then so many of you gathered outside all of our homes. Ther