Orlando, FL – On January 20, organizations from around Central Florida rallied to protest the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.

Jacob Muldoon, district organizer of the Orlando District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “We are here to begin the resistance to an agenda trying to take each of us down, from students and labor organizers to women and anti-war protesters.”

The group began with chants of “They say go back, we say fight back!” and transitioned into speeches by local organizers on how they will be fighting against the Trump agenda.

A member of UCF Students for a Democratic Society stated, “Thus, our focus should not be only Trump himself, but how he has emboldened universities, including our own UCF, to limit student rights in order to fit their own agenda. Just this year the UCF board of trustees moved to not only pass anti-trans policies on campus, but also multiple anti-protesting regulations on campus, as a response to the pro-Palestine encampments of Spring 2024.”

“What's particularly insidious about Donald Trump is how much he always has and continues to tout himself as an anti-war candidate,” said Cassia Laham from Orlando for Peace and the United National Antiwar Coalition. “We must continue demanding justice in Palestine, demanding the U.S. stop arming and funding the genocidal Israeli state, and demanding a world without U.S. wars.”

Edmund Anglero from Orlando Against Police Crimes (OAPC) talked about the connection between the Trump agenda and local police agencies, stating, “Racist trigger-happy cops patrolling our community will be more willing to take someone’s life without fear of any repercussions. This is why we need to fight for police accountability, especially after the city dissolved the Civilian Police Review Board.”

The rally ended safely with a final chant of “Hey hey ho ho, the Trump agenda has got to go!”

The protest was led by the Orlando district of FRSO, alongside Orlando for Peace, UCF Students for a Democratic Society, Central Florida Queers for Palestine, American Party of Labor, Orlando DSA, Space Coast DSA, and Revolutionary Marxists of Orlando.

#OrlandoFL #SDS #FRSO #DSA #UCF #QueersforPalestine #Trump #Inauguration #OAPC #CPRB

Seattle, WA – Seattle came together Saturday, July 27, at the iconic Cherry Street Village, to discuss the relationship between queer oppression and the ongoing struggle for Palestinian liberation. The auditorium of the historic interfaith community space, which is located in the heart of the Central District, was filled with dozens of people eager to hear from a panel of speakers representing a number of organizations including Falastininyat, Issaquah Student League (ISL), Half the Sky, Samidoun Seattle, Song to Sea, Resist US Lead War and South Asians Resisting Imperialism (SARI).

The panel was moderated by a member of Falastinyat, who gave some background to the discussion with some historical context and read an excerpt from “Reflecting on Queerness in Times of Genocide,” a statement from Al Qaws. Al Qaws is a Palestinian organization that works on issues of gender diversity, investment in queer communities/organizing frameworks, and Palestinian liberation. A particularly memorably line was, “It is time to end LGBT organizations’ complicity with genocide and challenge performative queer global activism.” The full statement can be found @alQaws_org.

The discussion began around the historic roots of imperialism and colonialism and how these systems not only imposed their homophobic rhetoric but also used the oppression of gender and sexuality to gain further control and influence.

“Imperialism functionally harms queer people, both by imposing heteronormative and binary gender norms and by exacerbating conditions of poverty. And many of the countries in the world today that have laws criminalizing homosexuality only have this legislation in the first place due to colonization,” said a member of Resist US-led War.

“In terms of pink-washing that is directly carried out by Israel, in the early 2000s the Israeli government launched its ‘Brand Israel’ campaign intended to quite literally brand Israel as a modern and progressive country to global audiences, and in 2010 that strategy began to include marketing Tel Aviv as an epicenter of gay life and tourism,” said the member of Resist US-led War. “Even Israel's official Twitter account often features images of same sex proposals between IOF soldiers despite the fact that same sex marriage remains illegal in Israel.”

In a historic space such as Cherry Street Village, the discussion ended with lessons we can learn from our history here in Seattle.

“I just would like to reiterate that I believe that our organizations should be reading and analyzing history as well as learning from the elder organizers who've come before us,” said Ahmoy Lau from Song2Sea. “We have been fighting this fight for decades in order to accomplish our goal of a free Palestine. We need capacity and strong organizations. We can learn how to build these structures by looking at what has come before us and learning from their mistakes and gaining their wisdom.”

The panel ended with an invitation for the community to engage in discussion and connect with one another over a picnic outside.

The Cherry Street Village is a Seattle institution and is in need of community volunteers for repair. Please join organizers on August 17 for a Clean-up Day to keep this much needed community space alive.

#SeattleWA #pinkwashing #queersforpalestine #queerliberation #freepalestine #lgbtq

Tampa, FL – Dozens of people in the Tampa community came together at the C. Blythe Andrews Library on Saturday, February 24 to discuss the connection between Black and Palestinian Liberation.

The panel members included Deanna Joseph of the Andrew Joseph III Foundation; Lamia Moukaddam, of Central Florida Queers for Palestine; and Kobi Guillory, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

The panel was moderated by Antwan Glover, a man arrested and brutalized by Lakeland police department and now facing bogus charges. The panel was hosted by Tampa Bay Community Action Committee. Discussing such topics as the importance of fighting back even in the face of political repression, how to fight for change even though lawmakers want to ignore the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and how things have changed in both liberation fights since the George Floyd uprising and the Al-Aqsa Flood. Speakers touched on the history of the Black liberation movement’s connection to Palestinian liberation, from the Black Panthers visiting Palestine to Palestinians teaching protesters in Ferguson how to resist tear gas manufactured in Israel.

Highlighting the importance of direct action against politicians who want to continue “business as usual,” panelist Lamia Moukaddam said, “Make sure they get no peace, they do not get to live a peaceful life while signing papers that kill thousands.”

Deanna Joseph, who has a history of success in fighting for some accountability for the negligence that resulted in her son’s death at the hands of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, explained, “At the end of the day, it’s on us to free us. Otherwise, we are part of the problem and we are as guilty as them.”

Joseph and her husband founded the Andrew Joseph III Foundation after their son’s death to advocate for safe communities for children and youth referrals for resources, and to advocate for legal change, through the ending of the doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields cops from consequences when kill and abuse on the job.

The connection between the systems of oppression was brought home when Tampa Bay Community Action Committee member Yun Zheng spoke about how the Lakeland Police Department that arrested and brutalized Antwan Glover has publicly stated its support for Israel.

The panelists ended the event by calling for people to continue to come out in the streets, support those facing repression like Antwan and Lamia, and to not lose hope in the ability of the people’s movement to resist.

#TampaFL #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #MiddleEast #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #TampaBayCAC #QueersForPalestine #CAARPR