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MNAWC

By Meredith Aby

Minneapolis protest confronts war criminal and former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. | Ashley Taylor-Gouge/Watch Me Rise Minneapolis

Minneapolis, MN – On June 6, hundreds of protesters unwelcomed former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who came to downtown Minneapolis to speak for the Center for the American Experiment, a conservative think tank based in the suburb of Golden Valley.

The Center has supported a number of Republican-led political initiatives and regularly features right-wing speakers at its events. Ticket prices for the event ranged from $300 for individual seats to $30,000 “diamond sponsor” tickets that included special VIP access to Bennett.

Bennet is known as a war criminal who in 2013 said, “I’ve killed a lot of Arabs in my life and there’s no problem with that.” Bennett was the prime minister during 2021-22 and represented the New Right political party, which opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and demands Israeli sovereignty over all of Palestine. He describes himself as more right-wing than even Netanyahu. After Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October, Bennett mocked concerns for Palestinian lives, saying in an interview, “Are you seriously asking me about Palestinian civilians?” and “I am not going to feed electricity or water to my enemies.”

The police stood alongside Zionist ticket holders, who heckled the crowd with racist and Islamophobic slurs, flipping off community members, including young children, while cops took no action.

Over the course of three hours, hundreds of Minneapolis police officers, including SWAT and riot teams, joined the racists in antagonizing the demonstrators.

One protester was violently arrested by riot police armed with rifles as he was peacefully walking away. Four others, including three Muslim Twin Cities residents – two of them minors – were arrested later, violently picked off the street by a large, black SWAT BearCat vehicle.

Wyatt Miller from the Anti-War Committee said, “The supposedly progressive city of Minneapolis helped facilitate the visit of an Israeli leader who helped lay groundwork for the current genocide, invited by a right-wing think tank to speak at a major downtown venue. We call on elected officials to denounce this hateful event and the fact that MPD was allowed to set up an apartheid-like militarized area on its behalf.”

The juveniles were released later that night, but the other arrestees were held until the evening of June 7.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #MNAWC #MNFreePalestineCoalition

By Omari Hoover

Pro-Palestine protest at Minneosta DFL convention in Duluth.  | Fight Back! News/Meredith Aby

Duluth, MN – On June 1, between 300 and 400 people from across the state protested the Minnesota DFL State Convention at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (the DECC).

It was a show of broad geographic support for ending the U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza, and against the stances of DFL (the name of the Democratic Party in Minnesota) politicians like U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Governor Tim Walz, who have shown strong support for Israel.

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By Yossi Aharoni

Minnesotans push for divestment from Israel.  | Fight Back! News/Kim DeFranco

St Paul, MN – On May 21, the Minnesota State Board of Investments (SBI) held its second quarterly meeting of 2024. The meeting began with an extensive discussion on “ethical investments” related to green energy and combating the ongoing climate crisis. What was not brought up by board of investors was how much Minnesota annually invests in companies and shareholdings connected with the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

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By Meredith Aby

Minneapolis march against the genocide in Palestine. | Photo: Sabry Wazwaz

Minneapolis, MN – On May 15, over 1000 people marched in the Free Palestine Coalition’s march for the 76th anniversary of Al Nakba, “the catastrophe” in Arabic. Protesters started at U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office demanding an end to U.S. aid to apartheid Israel and calling on her to stop her support for the ongoing second Nakba, the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide currently occurring in Gaza.

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By Montana Hirsch

International Workers Day march in Minneapolis.  | Fight Back! News/Brad Sigal

Minneapolis, MN – On May 1, over 500 people took to the streets on International Workers Day to march for immigrant and workers’ rights. The rally and march was organized by a coalition initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and MN Workers United (MWU).

Each year, International Workers Day is celebrated around the world with a call for solidarity with all workers and for union rights. International Workers Day has its origin in the fight for an eight-hour workday in the United States, where there were massive strikes and sharp confrontations in May of 1886.

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By Jim Byrne

Sana Wazwaz, from MN American Muslims for Palestine, speaking on the UNAC conference panel presentation on Palestine solidarity organizing across the U.S.  | Fight Back! News/Ashley Taylor-Gouge

St Paul, MN – Over 400 anti-war activists attended a three day conference organized by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) from April 5-7. The conference was held in Saint Paul with the theme “Decolonization and the Fight against Imperialism.”

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By Meredith Aby

Minnesota protest against corporation arming apartheid Israel, BAE Systems.  | Fight Back! News/Meredith Aby

Maple Grove, MN – On April 6, the Free Palestine Coalition held a rally and march of 100 people outside the Arbor Lakes shopping mall in Maple Grove to protest the upcoming installment of BAE Systems in the Twin Cities. Protesters wanted to highlight the role of BAE Systems in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. BAE Systems makes the F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets that Israel uses in their attacks on Gaza.

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By Wyatt Miller

Minneapolis Land Day protest takes to the streets. | Fight Back! News/Sabry Wazwaz

Minneapolis – On March 30, around 2500 protesters gathered along Lake Street where it crosses a narrow isthmus between Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska in the Chain of Lakes. Organized by the local Free Palestine Coalition, the action marked Land Day, which commemorates the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and land theft.

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By Allison Gunderson

Interfaith die-in demands Minnesota divest from apartheid Israel. | Fight Back! News/staff

St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, March 23, the Twin Cities Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, on a 22-mile walking journey, made a stop at the Minnesota governor’s residence. There, they joined a vigil organized by the Twin Cities-based Free Palestine Coalition for a rally and die-in in front of Governor Tim Walz’s home.

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By Drake Myers

Minnesota Palestine solidarity protesters outside the 2024 DFL Humphrey-Mondale Dinner. | Fight Back! News/Sabry Wazwaz

Saint Paul, MN – On Friday, March 15 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, the Free Palestine Coalition led a protest of hundreds inside and outside of the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner, the largest annual Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the name of the Democratic Party in Minnesota) fundraiser.

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By Andrew Josefchak

A large pro-Palestine march with people carrying banners and flags.

St. Paul, MN – On March 9, the Minnesota's Free Palestine Coalition organized a march to celebrate and stand in solidarity with Palestinian women on the day after International Women’s Day. The speakers and chanters were primarily Palestinian women, all of whom made connections between women’s liberation and an end to the Israeli genocide, occupation and apartheid.

4000 people attended the march, which took the streets and disrupted business as usual in Saint Paul’s Midway neighborhood. Demonstrators stopped to chant in front of a police precinct and marched past a highway exit, blocking traffic.

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By Meredith Aby

 Saint Paul protesters demand the city council pass a Palestine ceasefire resolution. | Fight Back! News/Sabry Wazwaz

St. Paul, MN – The Saint Paul city council unanimously passed a ceasefire resolution at their meeting on March 6. Councilmember Cheniqua Johnson introduced the ceasefire resolution in front of a packed chamber. The resolution calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to unconditional U.S. aid to Israel, the release of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners, and facilitation of the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

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By Gillian Rath

Protest against genocide defender Matisyahu at First Avenue. | Fight Back! News/Ashley Taylor - Gougé

Minneapolis, MN – On March 6, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee organized a protest outside the First Avenue nightclub, where pro-Israel musical act Matisyahu was performing.

Matisyahu is the stage name of Matthew Paul Miller, a white American reggae musician, best known for his 2005 hit King Without a Crown. Miller is known for his extreme pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian political views. In a 2012 interview, he said, “There was never a country called Palestine.” In 2015, Miller performed for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the notorious pro-Israel lobbying group. He has also performed for Friends of the IDF, which fundraises for Israel’s military occupation forces.

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By staff

Protesters at Minnesota State Board of Investment meeting demand divestment from apartheid Israel.   | Fight Back! News/Kim DeFranco

St. Paul – On February 29, dozens of Palestine solidarity protesters packed into the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI)’s first quarterly meeting of the year to demand divestment from apartheid Israel.

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By Gillian Rath

Protest at governor's residence demands divestment from apartheid Israel.  | Fight Back! News/Ashley Taylor-Gougé

St. Paul, MN – On February 28, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee organized a protest at the Eastcliff Mansion, where Governor Tim Walz currently resides. On the eve of the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) meeting, a crowd of over 100 people rallied to demand that the Minnesota governor, also the chair of the SBI, divest from apartheid Israel and weapons manufacturers.

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By Andrew Josefchak

Supporters of Palestine resolution at Columbia Heights, Minnesota city council meeting.  | Fight Back! News/Sima Shakhsari

Columbia Heights, MN – On Monday, February 26, the city council of Columbia Heights voted 4-1 to pass a resolution calling for an end to Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza. The Columbia Heights community packed the room, as it did at a previous city council meeting to provide public comment and encourage the council to vote in favor of the resolution.

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By Meredith Aby

Twin Cities marches in solidarity with Palestine. | Fight Back! News/Sabry Wazwaz

St. Paul, MN – On February 25, over 1000 people carrying Palestinian flags and signs lined both sides of the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River and then marched to Governor Tim Walz’ Eastcliff Mansion residence to demand that the Minnesota State Board of Investments (SBI) divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers, banks and bonds, and other entities complicit in Israel’s apartheid system in Palestine. Research done by the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) shows that the MN SBI invests more than $3 billion this way.

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By Meredith Aby

Pro-Palestine protesters pack Saint Paul city council meeting. | Fight Back! News/Brad Sigal

St. Paul, MN – On February 21, the Free Palestine Coalition organized their Saint Paul supporters to pack the Saint Paul city council meeting for the third week in a row to show support for their passage of a ceasefire resolution.

When Palestine solidarity activists tried to speak during the public comment section they were told that their comments were not on topic and that they had to stop talking.

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By Meredith Aby

Saint Paul, Minnesota protest against Israeli attack on Rafah.  | Fight Back! News/Sabry Wazwaz

St. Paul, MN – On February 18, 1000 protesters marched in Saint Paul’s upscale Summit Hill neighborhood to protest Israel’s assault on the city of Rafah, the last zone of relative safety for Palestinians in Gaza.

The action was organized by the Free Palestine Coalition which comprises dozens of Twin Cities progressive and solidarity organizations.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, February 15, the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, in collaboration with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, held a panel in Nicholson Hall on the UMN campus discussing Marxist-Leninist perspectives on Palestinian liberation. Thirty people, both students and community members, were in attendance.

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