Minneapolis, MN – 30 people gathered in 16-degree weather in the heart of Minneapolis on February 7 to call for U.S. hands off Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, after weeks and months of tension, threats of escalation, and direct attacks on these sovereign counties.

The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition organized the action as part of an International Day of Action called by the Unione Sindicale di Base (USB), a dockworkers union located in Genoa, Italy. The dockworkers union called for the day of protest to shut down the U.S. war machine.

The cold weather did not discourage the crowd in their energy as they filled the streets with chants of “We will say it every time; U.S. sanctions are a crime!” and “From Venezuela to Falasteen, stop the U.S. war machine!”

Speakers addressed the parallels between the attacks from ICE in Minnesota to Trump’s attacks on Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran.

Yossi Aharoni, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, stated, “Six months ago in a brazen act of aggression and escalation the Trump administration attacked the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz in Iran. One month ago, the Trump administration kidnapped the sitting president of a sovereign nation, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, killing over 30 Cuban bodyguards along with dozens of Venezuelans. Two months ago in December 2025, the Trump administration began Operation Metro Surge, which can only be described as a federal occupation of the Twin Cities.”

Aharoni continued, “Both ICE and the IOF [Israeli occupation forces] rely on Palantir’s AI surveillance technology data to track and capture their victims. The bombs dropped on civilians in Gaza are made by the same companies that build the bombs that Trump and Netanyahu drop on Iran. The same 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine that Trump uses to justify attacks against Venezuela are used against Cuba; Trump believes the U.S. can treat Latin America like its own backyard! The same threats that Trump makes against Venezuela are made against Cuba.”

Allison Gunderson, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and the Women Against Military Madness, participated in a U.S. delegation to Venezuela in December and spoke about the need to stand with the people of Venezuela and President Maduro against U.S. attacks.

Gunderson stated, “It is our duty to stand with Venezuela, Cuba, Latin America and the Caribbean and demand an end to U.S. interventions, devastating sanctions, and the stealing of resources and wealth from these countries!” She continued, “We cannot allow the Trump administration to do whatever it wants, especially not waltz into any country it pleases and kidnap their democratically elected leaders, as Trump has made it clear he intends to do to Cuba next! We must demand President Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores be released and we must be ready to get in the streets to protest these sham court proceedings. We have to let it be known we say hell no to Trump's efforts to criminalize the Bolivarian revolution!”

Oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba have been cut off as a result of the U.S. attack on Caracas, Venezuela. Cuba is now facing an energy crisis; this, combined with the pre-existing embargo, will directly threaten the lives of the people.

Demonstrators held signs saying, “Hands off Venezuela” and “No war with Iran.”

Dex Davis explained why he felt the need to show up in the streets. “How can anyone build a life when a foreign power controls their access to medicine, food, fuel, electricity and education? This is the reality for people in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.”

As Minnesotans continue to respond to the attacks by ICE in their communities, it is clear they are making connections to Trump’s attacks abroad and will keep showing up in the streets.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Iran #Venezuela #Cuba #MNAWC #WAMM #MPAC

Minneapolis, MN – On January 3, 400 people rallied and marched to demand an end to U.S. intervention in Venezuela. The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) organized the emergency protest after reports of overnight bombings in Caracas and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by U.S. special operations forces.

The action began with a rally, where protesters gathered on a cold afternoon near a busy Minneapolis intersection, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting “No war on Venezuela,” “No blood for oil” and “Free President Maduro!”

Drake Myers, a Freedom Road Socialist Organization member and public school educator with MFE 59 stated, “The U.S. wants oil money to go straight to the wealthiest of Wall Street, while Maduro and Venezuela want the Venezuelan poor provided for in their own sovereign country.” Myers also addressed how Venezuela used its oil revenue to make enormous strides to eliminate poverty, create social services and provide free education.

Allison Gunderson, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Women Against Military Madness, addressed Venezuela’s resilience in the face of U.S. attacks, stating, “They are an example to the world that this reality is possible, a country taking care of its people rather than pouring billions into efforts of wars that only benefit oligarchs like Trump, his cronies, and U.S. oil companies!” Having recently returned from a delegation trip to Caracas in December, Gunderson added, “when I was in Caracas, I witnessed a country that had love and solidarity not only for their own country but with all peoples struggles against U.S. imperialism.”

Relating U.S. foreign policy from Venezuela to Palestine, Nadiyah Salawdeh of the Minnesota chapter of U.S. Palestinian Community Network spoke about the term “narcoterrorist” to show the connection between these struggles, stating that “when the U.S. empire evokes the image of the scary terrorist to justify its murder of Venezuelan people it is yet more proof that nobody is free until we are all free. In the eyes of the U.S. – both the government and, let’s be honest, many of its citizens – ‘terrorist’ is a word that is used to describe somebody that they can kill with no repercussions.”

After a march through busy streets and the surrounding neighborhood, the action closed with a video message of solidarity from Chris Gilbert, who was in Caracas among a crowd ready to defend the Bolivarian process and President Maduro.

Minnesota made clear its solidarity with Venezuela, calling for the defense of national sovereignty, opposition to U.S. intervention in Venezuela, and an end to U.S. imperialism.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #MPAC #AWCMN #WAMM #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On December 20, about 50 people protested in Peavey Plaza outside of Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis to show solidarity with Palestine, despite the 13-degree temperature outside.

The central focus of the protest was to call attention to the fact that there can be no real peace on earth during the holidays while Bethlehem, a Palestinian city in the West Bank and the birthplace of Jesus, along with the rest of Palestine continues to be under attack by Israel. MN Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) holds an annual holiday-themed protest and this year’s protest was organized to be at the plaza in conjunction with the ending of the Minnesota Orchestra’s performance of The Nutcracker.

Andrew Josefchak, an organizer with the MN Anti-War Committee explained, “We’re all out here today because after two years of ongoing genocide in Gaza, Israel has not stopped its massacres. Despite a ceasefire agreement, the bombs keep falling. 379 Palestinians have been killed and almost a thousand injured since that ceasefire went into effect, according to the UN. The same UN that just approved a deal that effectively aims to turn Gaza into a U.S. colony presided over by Donald Trump. Israeli settlers are becoming more and more brazen and violent in the West Bank, destroying homes and farms, while Israeli police raid Bethlehem.”

Josefchak’s speech reflected on the movement’s victories for this year, “The fact is that Israel’s situation, and the fight for Palestinian liberation, have fundamentally been transformed. Never again will Israel be seen by anyone with a brain as the so-called ‘only democracy in the Middle East.’ It will never again even be seen as a normal country. People around the world now are aware of what Israel really is, which is an apartheid state, a Jim Crow state, a state that lives off of the blood of Palestinians who are massacred for their land or exploited for their labor.”

Many families leaving the performance thanked the protesters for being there and gave peace signs as they left Orchestra Hall to go to their cars. The protest also had singing throughout the program led by members of the Ceasefire Choir, which called for Palestinian liberation to the tunes of traditional Christmas carols.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #MPAC #MAWC

Minneapolis, MN – On August 28, approximately 50 protesters rallied outside Senator Amy Klobuchar's office to protest U.S. support for Israel's forced starvation of Palestinians. The rally drew much attention from onlookers on what was a day of multiple protests in the city. This action was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC).

On August 22, the UN officially declared a famine in Gaza. In recent months, Israel's intentional starvation campaign has produced countless images of malnourished, skeletal Palestinians, shocking people around the world. In response, MPAC speakers expressed disgust at Israel's actions and at those who have contributed to the bombing and starvation, not least of which is Amy Klobuchar.

Taher Herzallah, director of outreach and community organizing for American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), told the crowd, “They hope – as Smotrich stood on the pulpit and said today – that the mass murder of Palestinians, the large scale, engineered starvation of an entire population, [will] teach them a lesson so that they never rebel again. The only thing that Smotrich will accomplish, him and his government in Israel today, is to cause more people, millions and millions more people around the world and in Palestine, to hate them even more.”

This growing worldwide revulsion towards Israel has placed politicians like Amy Klobuchar under significant pressure. Klobuchar, a staunch Zionist who continues to affirm the genocidal colony's right to “defend” itself, recently gave a speech on the Senate floor where she actually criticized Israel's starvation policy. While this concession can be seen as a minor victory for the pro-Palestine movement, Trent Fast, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), made it plain that Minnesotans are not taken in by empty posturing, stating, “Where was this outrage when you were posing and smiling with Netanyahu not a week before your speech to the senate?”

CeCe Maves, another AWC organizer, gave an agonizingly detailed description of the effects of starvation on the human body stating, “Starvation can cause permanent brain damage and, with children under the age of two, severely alter brain development. The psychological impacts of this will be seen for years to come.”

Nadiyeh Salawdeh of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network closed out the event by stating, “Like all liberal Zionists, Amy Klobuchar is doing all that she can to extend the life of the collapsing U.S. empire and its proxy in Israel. She wants to redeem the irredeemable. The world sees the fascist entities for what they are, and they see you as a foot soldier for genocide. You can no longer hide. It is our job to make sure that people like Amy Klobuchar are always held accountable for their role in genocide.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #MPAC #AMP #AWC

Minneapolis, MN – On November 20, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) held an emergency response rally to protest the United States escalation of the Russia/Ukrainian war. The protest focused on the United States’ deployment of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine for use in expanding the ongoing U.S. proxy war with Russia.

Around 40 people gathered outside of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar's office to demand “Stop the U.S. proxy war with Russia” and “No to World War III.” Protesters expressed concern that the U.S. is using the war in Ukraine to try to isolate Russia, harm its economy, and divide up Europe.

“The U.S. finds someone willing to unleash chaos on its behalf, to start interminable conflicts that will erode the ability of anyone who isn't the U.S., or a subservient ally of the U.S., to pursue their own goals, their own independence. And it tries to convince the world that it’s doing it for noble reasons, that in Israel it is supporting ‘the only democracy in the Middle East,’ that in Ukraine it's fending off completely irrational Russian aggression,” said Andrew Josefchak, of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC).

Also speaking to the protesters, Cedar Larson of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) explained, “U.S. imperialism and intervention knows no bounds and the thoughtlessness with which Biden is attempting to leave his campsite worse than he found it is infuriating. As he brings us to the brink of nuclear war and World War III, it is important to understand why this war is happening,” adding, “Biden will not tell you what his end goal is, but the truth is to use Russia’s aggression as an excuse to invite Ukraine into NATO.”

MPAC, long time Twin Cities coalition of anti-war and anti-imperialist organizations, will be hosting an upcoming protest outside of the Minneapolis Holidazzle festival on December 21 to say, “End U.S. aid to Israel” and “Hands off Bethlehem” this holiday season.

#MinneapolisMI #AntiWarMovement #MPAC #AWC #WAMM

Bloomington, MN – On September 14, 80 activists marched on the Bloomington General Dynamics facility to highlight the company's role in facilitating Israel's relentless attacks against occupied Palestine.

This event, organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, began with a rally at the intersection of Penn Avenue and 88th Street at the corner of the Penn Lake Library. Following 45 minutes of lively speeches and chants, demonstrators marched to the front of General Dynamics’ “Mission Systems” facility.

Michael Runyon, founder of Students for Palestine Normandale, explained why community members were calling attention to General Dynamics.

“[When] Israel began their genocide of Gaza, the CFO of General Dynamics told investors that the thing that stands out is the artillery side,” Runyon said. “In other words, if you want to make money, we can do it by killing men, women, and children. They are on track now to produce 100,000 artillery shells per month.”

Over the past eleven months, Israel has targeted Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure using a variety of arms made by General Dynamics, from the 155 mm artillery shells Runyon referenced in his speech to 2000 lb bunker buster bombs; from tanks to cybersecurity systems; from robotic combat vehicles to sophisticated guns.

General Dynamics, the world's fifth-largest weapons manufacturer, generates an estimated $38.5 billion in revenue per year. The corporation has spent decades furnishing the state of Israel with a range of munitions and equipment, but public scrutiny has increased since Israel's well-documented campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide commenced last October.

Sarah Martin, a longtime member of Women Against Military Madness, pointed out the complicity of the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) in enabling Israel’s many war crimes. “We Minnesotans don’t want over three billion dollars of our money flowing to death and destruction,” Martin said. “We need to divest, and we need to divest now!”

Martin was referring to an ongoing divestment campaign spearheaded by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), which aims to pressure the SBI to divest an estimated $4.3 billion of public money from entities that are actively or passively linked to Israel’s economy.

Neil Radford, a rank-and-file union member of MFT59 and a member of Minnesota Workers United, pointed out that over $30 million dollars of Minnesotan pensioners’ money gets siphoned toward General Dynamics alone.

Radford stated, “When Americans are willing to forgo any sense of morality in what their labor creates, or our collective responsibility to each other as human beings; when they see war as inevitable and an opportunity for investment and upward mobility; they will end up working for a company like General Dynamics and continuing a path to a hopeless future.”

Event emcee Naveen Borojerdi closed out the program with several robust chants and the cry, “We’ll be back!” to whoops and cheers from the assembled crowd. Attendees were encouraged to stay up-to-date on the AWC's continuing SBI divestment campaign by visiting divestmn.com.

#BloomingtonMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #WeaponsIndustry #GeneralDynamics #MPAC #WAMM #MWU #AWC

Linda Hoover, a longtime member and former interim director of Women Against Military Madness, died on April 20, 2024. She was a longtime anti-racist, anti-war activist and a leading member of MPAC (Minnesota Peace Action Coalition) formerly the IPAC (Iraq Peace Action Coalition).

Linda will be greatly missed. She was a thoughtful, well informed, articulate, consistent, committed and principled activist and revolutionary. When she was involved in the campaign to stop the U.S./NATO war against Yugoslavia, she correctly understood and spoke frequently about it as an imperialist war. This was not commonly spoken of during rallies but because she was insistent and persistent, she was important in advancing this understanding in the anti-war movement.

Meredith Aby, a leader in the Anti-War Committee said, “Linda Hoover was a strong leader in the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition. I enjoyed working with her because she was a fierce anti-imperialist.”

Linda was also a teacher in her work life. She ran adult education programs, summer programs for youth and worked for the Loring Nicollet Bethlehem Center which offers a wide range of educational services for kids in grades two through six. She was always a strong advocate for the students and not afraid to be a thorn in the side of administrators when she encountered injustice.

Joe Callahan, member of MPAC and the Minnesota Cuba Committee shared this remembrance, “She chaired the Joe Callahan Support Committee meetings, though that committee only existed for a little over a year, thankfully.” Callahan’s trial on immigration charges ended in a victory for Joe and the movement. Callahan continued, “In addition to anti-war activities, she attended many other kinds of protests – anti-racist, Cuba solidarity and more.”

Linda was a voracious reader. Kristin Dooley, a volunteer at Mayday Books says, “She was a very good customer and a frequent customer. She especially liked books and articles by Samir Amin, an Egyptian economist.”

Michael Livingston, who alternated leading MPAC meetings with Linda recalls, “She was a founder and organizer of the Minnesota Marxist Book Club, a group that met regularly to read and discuss serious works of Marxist and Leninist theory.”

Despite her deteriorating health, she continued to rally and march as much as she could, accompanied by her son, Omari, who carries on the family legacy, as an important leader in the Twin Cities anti-war movement and in the Free Palestine Coalition.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Remembrances #Presente #MPAC #IPAC #WAMM

St. Paul, MN – On October 12, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition rallied at the site of a new ForwardEdge ASIC LLC office. ForwardEdge is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, the world’s largest defense contractor. Amid the horrific Israeli bombing of Gaza, around 150 protesters gathered in a show of solidarity with Palestine and to demand “No Minnesota money for weapons manufacturers.”

Protesters chanted “Free Palestine!” and “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Lockheed has got to go!” and then marched from a nearby park to the Lockheed site.

At the park, Wyatt Miller of the MN Anti-War Committee (MN AWC) spoke, “And it’s not just federal military spending! This Lockheed Martin facility received about $1.5 million in startup funds from the state of Minnesota. Additionally, the State Board of Investment holds over $55 million in stock in Lockheed – plus millions more in securities. That money comes from retirement pensions that the state of Minnesota manages.”

Miller also detailed the MN AWC’s long-running campaign to pressure the Minnesota State Board of Investment to divest its holdings from companies complicit with the occupation of Palestine.

Next, Natasha Dockter, a rank-and-file union member of the Minnesota Federation of Teachers Local 59 said, “Our educators don't have the resources they need to teach and must resort to crowdfunding to do things as simple as make sure they have the books their students need and are able to teach students on field trips. Meanwhile, we have companies like Lockheed Martin spending billions and receiving massive tax incentives to manufacture more weapons to kill innocent children all over the world and fight for U.S. imperialism.”

Sana Wazwaz of American Muslims for Palestine-Minnesota said that after such a stressful week for Palestinians, especially students, she was uplifted by the number of Palestinian flags and keffiyehs worn by protesters.

Wazwaz urged those present to reject Zionist talking points, “The issue in reality, it is not human shields or whatnot. The issue is that the longest military occupier in modern history has launched an illegal bombing campaign, at least the fifth in a matter of 16 years, against the population in which 2 million people are trapped in an open-air prison.”

Wazwaz continued, “What we are here to do is contextualize, is to say that you cannot equate the occupier with the occupied. You cannot equate the response to the violence that instigated it. You cannot equate the retaliator to the instigator.”

Annie Russell-Pribnow of the UMN chapter of Students for a Democratic Society was incensed over the targeting of students for jobs at the new facility, “I don't know about you, but Lockheed Martin, the largest weapons manufacturer in the world, who has immensely profited off of nothing but death and destruction, being here and using predatory tactics to recruit vulnerable young minds who could actively be making the world a better place, doesn't sit right with me.”

The last speaker, Erika Zurawski, from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, said, “One thing that immigrants understand is that war equals migration. The weapons that are produced to make these wars send millions of people fleeing from their homelands. Weapons equals war equals migration. There is no crisis at the border. There is no crisis of migration. The only thing that is a crisis is imperialism.”

Zurawski continued, “We have to say, down with imperialism. We have to say enough wars against oppressed people. We say that people have a right to remain in their homeland. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. And we say that Palestinians have a right to resist by any means necessary and have a right to return to their homeland by any means necessary.”

Other speakers included CJ McCormick of the Climate Justice Committee, Barry Riesch from Veterans for Peace, and Coleen Rowley of Women Against Military Madness, who spoke about her involvement in a successful five-year effort, that began in 2004, to kick Lockheed Martin out of the southern suburb of Eagan.

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

#StPaulMN #Palestine #MNAWC #MPAC #SDS #WAMM #LockheedMartin