Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

NewOrleansLA

By Rory Macdonald

Felix Allen speaks in front of Municipal Court

New Orleans, LA – On March 22, about 30 people rallied outside the Municipal Court of New Orleans to support Felix Allen. Allen was brutalized and arrested the day before at the Port of New Orleans during a public comment session at the port. He was charged with “obstructing an officer” and “disturbing the peace.” Videos captured by witnesses of the arrest show that Allen was cooperating when he was attacked.

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By staff

Hakm Murad speaks to port officials. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On Thursday, March 21, 60 supporters of Palestine organized by New Orleans Stop Helping Israel's Ports (NOSHIP) gathered to give public comments at the monthly board meeting of the Port of New Orleans. Participants condemned the creation of the “Innovation Embassy,” a direct business alliance and technological partnership between the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Ashdod, in Israel.

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By staff

Felix Allen getting arrested outside Port meeting. | Fight Back! News/staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from New Orleans Stop Helping Israel's Ports (NOSHIP).

New Orleans, LA – March 21, around 3:00 pm, during public comments at the Port of New Orleans monthly board meeting, local activist Felix Allen was brutalized and arrested for standing in solidarity with Palestine.

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By Serena Sojic-Borne

Toni Jones. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On Monday morning, March 18, about 40 protesters gathered in front of the City of New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court to defend activist Toni Jones. The previous Saturday, police arrested Jones at a protest against Tulane University’s ties with Israel. Jones faces trumped-up charges of battery on an officer, obstructing a public place, interfering with a lawful investigation and resisting an officer.

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By Silas Gillett

Tulane SDS members die-in  at Tulane University during Bookfest. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans – On March 16, 13 courageous members of Tulane Students for a Democratic Society carried out a die-in on campus to protest the school’s partnership with Israel. The demonstrators occupied the school’s central building during the nationally attended and Tulane-hosted New Orleans Bookfest. The festival is hosted by the university once a year and brings in thousands of attendees to watch panels and talks by well-known authors and public figures.

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By staff

Pro-Palestine protester disrupts panel from audience | Fight Back! News/Jay Marcano

New Orleans, LA – On Wednesday, March 13, angry New Orleans residents disrupted this year’s New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) on its busiest day. Hosted by Idea Village, NOEW is a major networking event for tech startups, with the founder of Waitr as the featured keynote this year. Protesters disrupted this event 17 times, condemning Ideal Village’s sponsorship of the “Innovation Embassy” – a technological and trade partnership between the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Ashdod in Israel.

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By staff

Toni Jones. | Fight Back! News/staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police, Freedom Road Socialist Organization-New Orleans, Tulane & Loyola Students for a Democratic Society, and New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports.

New Orleans, LA – March 16, around 12:30 p.m., at a protest against Tulane’s aid to Israel, local activist Toni Jones was arrested for standing in solidarity with Palestine.

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By staff

Walter Isaacson grabs Rory MacDonald's arm and pushes them. | Fight Back! News/staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 14 statement from Tulane Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Official Statement on Battery of Tulane Student by Professor Walter Isaacson

On March 13th, a Tulane student and member of Students for a Democratic Society, Rory Macdonald, was assaulted by Walter Isaacson, a Tulane professor and board member. Macdonald was protesting a Tulane-sponsored New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week panel titled “Energy Innovation at Scale” featuring Louisiana State University, ExxonMobil, and Halliburton. Isaacson, an audience member, grabbed Rory and cursed at them, battering them and leaving them with bruises on their arm and scratches on their back. The encounter was captured in multiple videos. Tulane has done nothing to protect Arab students and members of SDS from repeated harassment and threats from Zionist students, and now one of our members has been assaulted by a member of the faculty.

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By Quest Riggs

Speaker leads pro-Palestine chants in front of banners at Armstrong Park. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, March 9, over a 100 people rallied in front of the gates of Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans to mark International Women’s Day. Over eight organizations united to demand that people everywhere stand with the women of Palestine as they witness genocide and struggle against Zionist occupation.

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By staff

Three speakers sit at a table at the head of a room in front of a white board that has "Black Power and the need for communist organization" written on it.

New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, March 2, around 50 community members packed into a community space in the 7th Ward. There, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held a forum titled “Black Power and the need for communist organization.”

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By Juleea Berthelot

Students gather with banner on sidewalk protesting Zionist event.  | Fight Back! News/Blu DiMarco

New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, February 24, students and community members gathered outside of Loyola University New Orleans to protest a pro-Israel event occuring on campus.

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By Naomi Retherford

Pro-Palestine protesters take to the streets with watermelon puppet. | Fight Back! News/Lucas Harrell

New Orleans, LA – On February 18, thousands of protesters from across the Gulf South and beyond gathered at 11:30 a.m. in New Orleans’ historic Congo Square. The crowd gathered to rally and then march in support of the Palestinian people and in resistance to the United States’ continued bankrolling of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

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By Abbey Lodwig

New Orleans Starbucks workers stand outside newly unionized St. Claude store. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On February 7, workers at Starbucks on Saint Claude Street won their union election in a 12 to 4 vote. This is the third Starbucks to unionize in New Orleans. Baristas complain of an unsafe work environment, lack of predictable or sufficient hours, and a workplace that is falling apart.

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By Carson Cruse

Students hold banner the night before it was dropped  | Fight Back! News/staff

Banner hangs over Interstate 10 | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On February 7, New Orleanian activists held a banner drop over a busy Interstate 10. The massive banner read “End U.S. aid to Israel”.

The organizations involved were Students for Democratic Society chapters from Loyola, Tulane and the University of New Orleans, along with New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP).

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By Juleea Berthelot

Speaker at vigil for Palestinian martyrs on Loyola University campus. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA– On January 29, students, faculty, staff and community members attended a vigil for Palestine at Loyola University to mourn over 27,000 Palestinian martyrs.

After months of back-and-forth struggle with the Loyola University New Orleans administration, students were finally able to hold a vigil honoring all of the martyrs in Palestine since October 7. The vigil allowed attendees an opportunity to hear from Palestinian voices and other perspectives, and allowed them the space to stand together, mourn together, pray together and cry together.

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By staff

Motorcade rider holds up portrait of Tawfic Abdeljabba. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On January 28, over 200 motor vehicles occupied the streets of New Orleans on a busy Sunday afternoon. The motorcade was organized as a memorial in honor of Tawfic Abdeljabbar and all martyrs of Israel’s genocide.

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By Jack Saucier

New Orleans protesters gather in front of federal building to oppose attacks on Yemen. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On January 16, a group of students and other activists gathered in freezing temperatures outside the federal building to rally against the recent U.S./UK intervention in Yemen.

Islam Elrabieey, an Egyptian speaker representing NOLA Freedom Forums, painted a picture of Gaza, describing “men sleeping on concrete, women and children with the luxury of a tent to protect against wind.”

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By Antonia Mar

Marchers take to the streets on MLK Day in New Orleans. | Fight Back! News/Hayden Legg

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, January 15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) hosted an MLK Fight Back March starting at A.L. Davis Park at noon. About 100 members of the community came out in attendance, even marching in the rain as showers briefly passed over the demonstration.

They chanted “New Orleans, we’re on a roll, we’re fighting for community control!” as they took the streets down Claiborne Avenue and MLK Boulevard.

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By Serena Sojic-Borne

French Truck Coffee workers hold signs on picket line. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On January 12 at around 1 p.m., Teamsters union baristas at French Truck Coffee on Chartres Street walked off the job to demand safety at work.

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By Serena Sojic-Borne

New Orleans pro-Palestine protesters hold banner outside Hyatt Regency hotel. | Fight Back! News/Noor Saad

New Orleans, LA – On January 12 at 11 a.m., about a dozen protesters laid on the sidewalk in front of the Hyatt Regency during an annual luncheon for Greater New Orleans Incorporated (GNO Inc).

They rolled out banners reading “End collaboration with Israel” and “Genocidal New Orleans Inc: No innovation with occupation.”

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