Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

NewOrleansLA

By Serena Sojic-Borne

Protesters march down Convention Center Boulevard in New Orleans. | Fight Back! News/Manny Urban

New Orleans, LA – At noon on November 16, over 100 protesters gathered at Lafayette Square to protest the Port of New Orleans’ support of Israel. The activists demanded an end to all aid to Israel, including a technological trade agreement called the “innovation embassy.”

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By Carson Cruse

New Orleans march in solidarity with Palestine. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On November 9, over 100 students from Tulane and Loyola Universities held a march for the national “Shut it Down for Palestine” day of action.

At 1 p.m., students walked off their campuses and gathered for a march. Before marching, the crowd practiced chants and took up signs from the organizers while listening to the first speech of the day. “They have the nerve to accuse us of hate speech, when Israel says Palestinians are human animals?” said Serena Sojic-Borne, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization in response to the baseless accusations made by enemies of the Palestinian liberation struggle.

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By staff

Activist wearing a keffiyeh chants on a microphone while other activists march behind carrying signs that say "Free Palestine".

New Orleans, LA – On November 3, about 150 protesters gathered outside the Sheraton on Canal Street to protest the annual State of the Port address. This address, given to port stakeholders who paid a $240 registration fee, took place in the hotel around 11 a.m. Protesters condemned the port’s collaboration with Israel, which includes a so-called “innovation embassy” enabling relationships between tech startups in New Orleans and Ashdod, which is located in Israeli-occupied Palestine.

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By Carson Cruse

Protesters gather in front of New Orleans City Hall. | Fight Back! News/Fernando Lopez

New Orleans, LA – On October 29, over 300 protesters filled the streets to condemn the recent escalation in the siege on Gaza. The evening began with a rally at City Hall where members of some organizations spoke to the lively crowd. During the march, Palestinian community members led chants like “While you’re shopping, bombs are dropping” and “Biden, Biden, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?” echoed off storefronts.

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By Carson Cruse

A crowd is photographed from behind ith a large banner visible that reads "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"

New Orleans, LA – On October 26, over 250 students and community members gathered for a rally near Tulane University’s campus. Despite a counter-protest of obviously intoxicated students shouting Islamophobic and racist slurs, demonstrators outnumbered them and drowned them out. Chants like “Tulane, Tulane you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!” energized the crowd. 

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By Serena Sojic-Borne

Speaking event participants pose behind Loyola SDS banner. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On Monday evening, October 23, close to 100 people gathered in a lecture hall at Loyola University of New Orleans to listen to Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5. The Tampa 5 are three student organizers, a community leader, and a union member facing up to ten years’ imprisonment on felony charges. The charges came after their brutalization and the arrests of four of them, while they participated in a protest against DeSantis’ attacks on education at the University of South Florida. The state later charged a fifth. Members of the Tampa 5 are touring the U.S. to raise support for their case.

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By staff

New Orleans Palestinian American youth stand with Palestine. | Fight Back! News/A’ishah Abdala

New Orleans, LA- On October 15, around 250 protesters in New Orleans gathered at the Hale-Boggs Federal Building, waving Palestinian flags and signs in solidarity. With heavy downtown foot traffic surrounding them, they yelled chants like “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”

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By staff

 Candles, flowers, and Palestinian flag under a tree near New Orleans honors lost lives. | Fight Back! News/staff

Protesters listen to speech at the corner of Lapalco and Manhattan Boulevards in Harvey, Louisiana. | Fight Back! News/staff

Harvey, LA – On October 14, over 100 protesters gathered at a busy intersection at the heart of Harvey’s Arab community to declare unconditional support for the Palestinian people’s resistance movement. People of all ages gathered at the intersection of Lapalco and Manhattan Boulevards waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs reading, “Occupation is a crime!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

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By staff

Protesters march on Canal Street in solidarity with Palestine. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – The New Orleans Palestinian community and supporters rallied on October 9 in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian struggle for liberation. Around 200 people came to Duncan Plaza in the city’s central business district, waving dozens of Palestinian flags. The event was held in the wake of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” and the renewed declaration of war on Gaza by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

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By staff

Daviri Robertson, right, hugging his son. | Fight Back! News/staff

Jefferson, LA – On November 4, Jefferson Parish resident Arleen Robertson, mother of police murder victim Daviri Robertson, will speak out at a community forum at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. Robertson is fighting to appeal the qualified immunity of the police officer who murdered her son. Fight Back! spoke with Ms. Robertson to share her story.

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