News and Views from the People's Struggle
Jacksonville, FL- On June 10, the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network held a press conference before the dismissal of the State Attorney’s Office’s municipal charge against Leah Grady for “resisting an officer without violence.”
Chicago, IL – Around 150 people gathered outside of the Hyatt Regency hotel on Saturday, June 6 to demand that the American Medical Association (AMA) advocate for the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician who was abducted by the Israeli military in late 2024 due to his refusal to abandon his young patients.
St. Paul, MN – On June 6, a beautiful Saturday morning, over 100 people gathered in Langford Park in Saint Paul’s Saint Anthony Park neighborhood for Women Against Military Madness’s (WAMM) 19th annual Walk Against Weapons.
This year WAMM marched on Lockheed Martin subsidiary ForwardEdge ASIC, which makes application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) for F-35 jets which have been used in the U.S.-funded Israeli genocide of Palestinians and now in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
WAMM’s new director and emcee for the event, Meredith Aby, said, “Today we are marching to Forward Edge to highlight the role of Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest manufacturer of weaponry. Lockheed Martin is a primary weapons supplier to the Israeli military, providing F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, Hellfire missiles, and tactical transport aircraft that have been used extensively against Palestinians.”
Aby continued, “The U.S. outspends the next several highest-spending nations combined, historically accounting for roughly 33% of all global military expenditures and U.S. military spending is approximately 13% of total U.S. federal spending.”
Before leaving the park to march to Lockheed Martin, No Weapons No War Collective performed a short song and dance piece to explain how ForwardEdge ASIC was brought to Saint Paul by Governor Tim Walz, a member of the State Board of Investments, which has the power to divest Minnesota from apartheid Israel. Additionally, WAMM and Veterans for Peace members displayed a life-size battle tank replica that shoots flowers as a send-off for the participants marching.
Cassidy Aickin, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, spoke about the experience of learning about genocide and the “brutality of war” from her teachers who have their pensions funded in genocide.
“The State Board of Investment, which manages the pensions of thousands of public employees in Minnesota, chooses to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into weapons manufacturers and surveillance technology companies like Palantir, which makes the software for the child-killing bombs used in Iran, and the ICE-funded surveillance technology used domestically. My teachers, who have to buy classroom supplies out of pocket, are indirectly paying for the abduction of their students and the slaughter of Palestinians,” Aickin said.
Christina Neighbors, a Navy veteran and member of About Face Veterans Against the War stated, “The products manufactured by ForwardEdge conveniently enable such events [genocide of Palestinians] to be far enough away that no one who profits ever has to see the reality of what their greed births and leaves behind.” The crowd erupted in “Shame!”
Neighbors continued, “ForwardEdge builds the silicon mind inside the weapons circuits made for one specific application; that application is death. And the giant it answers to, Lockheed Martin, pulled $75 billion last year out of a country that is told, time over time, that there is no money – none for the clinic, none for the classroom, none for the people sleeping in the cold outside in the very city that is helping slaughter innocent men, and women, and children around the world.” The crowd once again erupted in “Shame!”
WAMM’s next actions are on June 10 with a protest at the Saint Paul City Council meeting to pressure the city to divest from Israeli cyber security company Waterfall and, later that day, another protest at the Minneapolis Federal Building to demand the Trump administration stop its war threats against Cuba.
#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovemen #LockheedMartin #Iran #Palestine #Cuba #WAMM
Grand Rapids, MI – On the evening of June 2, more than 40 people showed up outside the entrance of Devos Hall to protest the visit of former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill J. Clinton to Grand Rapids. The war criminals were speaking as guests of honor at the annual dinner put on by the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, a networking club for local elites.
Minneapolis, MN – Under the early summer sun, about 50 people came together on a busy Minneapolis bridge for a double-headed rally addressing the domestic and international sides of the struggle for liberation. A combined bannering took place for two hours, spreading the message to passersby and drivers on Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W.
Salt Lake City, UT — On the afternoon of May 31, the Utah Anti-War Committee, along with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization held a workshop titled “Anti-War Organizing in the Face of Repression” at the University of Utah Union building. The workshop drew community members, students and organizers committed to defending the movement against escalating political repression. The event also raised funds for Rick Toledo, a student activist and educator who was fired from his teaching position at Cal Poly Humboldt University in retaliation for his participation in a pro-Palestine protest.
Rochester, MN – On May 29, activists from across Minnesota converged outside the Mayo Civic Center to protest the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party’s annual state convention.
St Paul, MN – On Friday, May 29, about 40 protesters rallied on the corner of Summit and Snelling Avenues to demand a free Palestine. The action was organized by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), which has run Free Palestine rallies at this location every Friday for decades.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following update from the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network regarding the sentencing of pro-Palestine Jax activist, Conor Cauley.
Conor Cauley was sentenced to 60 days with time served, 3 years of probation, court fines, 150 community service hours and a stay away order from the same officer, Officer Aliaga Ruiz, who threw him over a row of chairs!
Jacksonville, FL – On May 29, Community members protested against the harsh sentencing of Conor Cauley and Leah Grady, vowing to continue the fight against their charges and demanding the release of Conor Cauley, who is currently being held in Duval County Jail as a political prisoner.
Despite heavy rainstorms, over 60 community members protested in front of the courthouse and, later, in front of the county jail under tents buckling and breaking from the weight of rainwater. This did not discourage attendees, who continued to chant and rally against the unjust treatment of anti-war organizers.
New Orleans, LA – A crowd of around 40 attended the NOLA Freedom Forum on May 15 to hear from local anti-war activists about their successful campaign to remove Chevron as a sponsor of French Quarter Fest. The activists, largely members of New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP), presented “Stop Fueling Genocide: Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest Campaign” as a public summation of their efforts.
Jacksonville, FL- A broad coalition, led by Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN), rallied outside Duval County Jail on May 20 to condemn the guilty verdict against local organizer Conor Cauley, who now faces up to five years in prison.
Rockledge, FL – On May 15, around 20 community members and activists commemorated the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, also known as “The Catastrophe,” in which more than 750,000 Palestinians were violently forced out of their homeland. The event was held at the local Unitarian Universalist church and was organized by the Space Coast Progress Hub, a weekly gathering of local progressive activists.
Minneapolis, MN- Al-Nakba, meaning “The Catastrophe,” is a day of remembrance when communities grieve the over 15,000 Palestinians the Israeli occupation murdered in 1948 and the over 750,000 Palestinians displaced from their homeland. After the Anti-War Action Network called for their third annual day of action commemorating Al-Nakba, the Twin Cities hosted two protests to mark the importance of resisting U.S. funding for Israel.
San Jose, CA – On May 16, around 150 people gathered at the Santa Clara County Government Center to celebrate the county’s 25th annual Palestinian Cultural Day. The event, sponsored by the county supervisors and the Palestinian Heritage Committee, celebrates the 30,000 Palestinian-Americans living in Santa Clara County and their contributions to the South Bay community.
Tucson, AZ – Some 40 Tucsonans gathered at a busy downtown intersection on May 15 to commemorate the 78th anniversary of Al-Nakba. Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held up signs that read “End U.S. aid to Israel” and “Money for human needs. Not war!” Vehicles, including a city bus driver, honked their horns in support. Pedestrians, including college graduates in their gowns, joined the protest as the crowd chanted “Free, free Palestine!”
San Jose, CA – On May 15, over 50 people in downtown San Jose to commemorate the 78th year since Al Nakba, “The Catastrophe,” where 750,000 Palestinians were violently displaced by Zionist forces for the establishment of the apartheid state of Israel.
Salt Lake City, UT- On May 16, 50 people gathered across from the North Guadalupe Trax station in Salt Lake City to commemorate Nakba Day in solidarity with the Palestinian people, along with other cities in the National Anti-War Action Network.
New York, NY – Community members joined together at Washington Square Park on Friday, May 16, in remembrance of the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were murdered, maimed and permanently displaced from their homes, by Israel.
San Jose, CA – On Saturday, April 18, over 20 people gathered in front of the Microsoft office in Mountain View to protest the company’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Palestine, ICE’s deportation operations as well as their development of AI data centers causing ecological destruction.