Minneapolis, MN – On September 26, 200 protesters demonstrated to demand an end to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza. The protest started with a lot of energy as Students for Justice in Palestine marched from the University Minnesota Student Union and across the Mississippi River to the West Bank campus to join the community solidarity action. Protesters filled the plaza in front of Mayday Books to chant and wave Palestinian and Lebanese flags. The emergency action was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee as a part of a wave of protests nationally in solidarity with Lebanon.

On September 17-18, Israel detonated thousands of communication devices in Lebanon. This act indiscriminately killed and wounded civilians, including many children. It ran against all war conventions and was unprecedented in cruelty. This week, Israeli airstrikes have killed over 600, including at least 50 children, wounding 1800 and displacing hundreds of thousands.

Anna Madison, a member of the newly-formed Families Against Military Madness, was the first speaker and addressed the recent attacks, “There is nine-year-old Fatima and 11-year-old Bilal who were murdered by Israel using exploding pagers. There are the 50 children murdered earlier this week during the single deadliest day in Lebanon in decades. The reality is I could spend hours listing the dates and times that Israel murders children with impunity. We can talk about 1978, 1982, 1993, 2006, 2024. I can no longer keep track because every time I look at my phone, I see that more children have been murdered. This cannot be normalized. And look, I’m saying this knowing full well that this country doesn’t care about terrorizing and murdering children.”

Israel’s violence in Lebanon has a long history. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, triggering a large-scale conflict that killed tens of thousands. After occupying nearly 10% of Lebanon's territory, Israel withdrew in 2000 from its “security zone” following years of Lebanese resistance. Israel attempted another invasion of Lebanon in 2006 but quickly withdrew, killing hundreds in the process.

Many speakers showed solidarity with both Palestine and Lebanon as well as support for resistance to Israel. Lina Jebara, a Lebanese American member of the MN Anti-War Committee, told the crowd, “The struggle against U.S. imperialism and Zionist occupation in the Middle East has never been a struggle belonging to a single nation.”

Jebara continued, “Ironically, and inevitably, Israel’s attempts to turn the Lebanese people against the resistance through unabashed acts of terrorism has failed tremendously. The defiance in the face of brutal occupation has continued to shine effervescently among the resistance, and among the civilians of those countries continuing to resist, united in their cause, now, more than ever before.”

Mick Kelly, the political secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, has traveled to Lebanon and addressed the crowd, “We know for a fact that the Zionists cannot win. And we also know for a fact that the Lebanese resistance is powerful, and it is strong, and it is determined. Hezbollah has at the top of its agenda the liberation of Palestine and the defense of Lebanon.”

Kelly continued, “In Washington DC there’s a group of politicians in the White House and Pentagon who are facilitating a genocide. It is something we cannot and will not ever accept! We absolutely will not rest while it’s taking place.”

Other speakers included Jae Yates from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice and Mnar Adly, the Palestinian American editor of Mint Press News.

The closing speech was from Shahd Abouhekel, an organizer from Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota, who told the crowd that the students would continue to fight for Palestine and for Lebanon regardless of the repression from U of MN administration.

Wyatt Miller from the Anti-War Committee closed out the protest by encouraging everyone to come out on October 6 to march a year of resistance to genocide at the Free Palestine Coalition march, which will start at 1:30 p.m. at Hennepin and Washington Avenues in downtown Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #Lebanon #StudentsforJusticeinPalestine #FamiliesAgainstMilitaryMadness #AntiWarCommittee

The protest began with speakers, most of whom were Palestinian-American students. They spoke out despite fear of doxxing and retaliation by the school, faculty members or others. Organizers provided surgical masks for protesters who wished to avoid being identified. The only official university presence was the SJSU police.

The major theme throughout the speeches was the ongoing genocide, occupation and human rights abuses that Zionists have been enacting upon the Palestinian people for over 75 years. Some students raised feeling unheard and unsupported by SJSU administration, and unsafe on campus. The previous day, several members of the university administration attended the “Vigil for the Victims of Terrorism against Israel” that was organized by the SJSU Jewish Faculty and Staff Association.

After the speeches, protesters began marching through campus, chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

They also chanted, “When people are occupied, resistance is justified” and “Intifada, intifada, long live the intifada.” Several students expressed their support as the march passed by them.

They marched back to the starting place, for another round of chanting. Organizers ended the rally by announcing another upcoming protest for Palestine happening in San Jose on Sunday, October 15 at 1 p.m. at the corner of Stevens Creek and Winchester Boulevards.

#SanJoseCA #SJSU #StudentsforJusticeinPalestine

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, May 21, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota held a protest calling for university divestment from companies funding the Israeli apartheid.

Over 150 students and community members rallied at the Memorial Union, where speakers voiced their anger with the university administration for complicity with the genocide against Palestinians and its giving support to Zionist student groups. Additionally, students condemned the administration’s lack of action following the passage of two separate referendums in campus elections: one in 2018 calling for divestment from companies funding Israel and one in 2021 calling for full disclosure of university investments.

Speaking on the intersection of the call for police accountability on campus and the university’s support of companies that fund both Israel and the Line 3 pipeline, Nadia Shaarawi of Students for a Democratic Society said, “When we say ACAB [all cops are bastards], we mean the police, we mean the UMPD, but we also mean the Israeli Defense Forces.”

Students and community members marched down Washington Avenue proudly waving Palestinian flags to send a message to administration that the student body will not stand by and allow their tuition money to be used to fuel a genocide.

The event was sponsored by over ten other groups including Students for a Democratic Society, American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voices for Peace, and the Anti-War Committee.

#MinneapolisMN #StudentMovement #Palestine #Divestment #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine

Minneapolis, MN – 150 people rallied at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, Dec. 18, to oppose Trump’s announcement naming Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The protest was organized by Palestinian youth, including Students for Justice in Palestine-UMN. The call for Palestinian liberation was clearly the central theme of the event with loud chants of “Free, free Palestine” being heard throughout of the protest.

#MinneapolisMN #Palestine #Jerusalem #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine #MiddleEast

New York, NY – On the evening of Dec. 10, approximately 70 activists gathered at the Philippine Consulate on 5th Avenue to protest the regime of President Duterte and to demand an end to its state-sanctioned mass killings.

The rally was held on International Human Rights Day, a time to remember and reinforce the need for democracy and human rights, and to highlight the crimes against the people of the Philippines under the Duterte’s rule.

Since Rodrigo Duterte took power there has been a wave of human rights abuses. It began with the Drug Wars, which Duterte claimed was a way to cleanse the Philippines of crimes, but instead were used to murder over 13,000 civilians. Second, Duterte has reinstated martial law in Mindanao, hurting indigenous people. Most recently, Duterte forces have murdered militant fighters for democracy and named the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as a terrorist organization.

The escalation of human rights abuses against people supporting the National Democratic movement began shortly after President Donald Trump’s visit.

The rally aimed to stand in solidarity with those fighting the Philippines, remember the struggles of those who died at the hands of repression, and wage forward in the fight for liberation. The event was organized by Bayan USA and was attended by members of a multitude of different organizations such as: Migrante, Gabriella NY, Anakbayan NY and NJ, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, Committee to Stop FBI Repression – NY, and the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network.

In between speeches, the chants rang out from the people, including “No justice, no peace! No more war in the Philippines,” and “U.S. imperialist, number one terrorist!”

Organizers used a projector to shine slogans onto the walls of the consulate with phrases such as, “Fight against the fascist U.S.-Duterte regime” throughout the night’s event.

Mike Legaspi, from Bayan USA, closed the rally saying, “Rodrigo Duterte, like all the other puppet presidents, will be relegated to the garbage bin of history. It's been a little of a year since he's been president and when he came in, people of the Philippines were so optimistic. A lot of people who organize for the National Democratic movement were also optimistic because they thought he would bring an end to the decades long civil war through peace talks. He did initially open up peace talks with the National Democratic movement of the Philippines and the CPP, but he has recently cancelled these peace talks. Now Duterte and his military supporters have deemed the CPP as terrorist. But Duterte has gone beyond this and said that the legal democratic mass movement is also terrorist. That means that he's looking for terrorists when all he has to do is look in the mirror.”

#NewYorkNY #Philippines #CommunistPartyOfThePhilippines #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine #SamidounPalestinianPrisonerSolidarityNetwork #RodrigoDuterte #Migrante #GabriellaNY #Anakyaban #Asia

St. Paul, MN – About 50 people rallied at the corner of Snelling and Summit Avenues in Saint Paul, Dec. 7, in response to Trump’s illegal plan to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Many of those participating were from the local Palestinian community. Motorists honked to the loud and spirited chants including “Free, free Palestine” and “What is the capital of Palestine? Jerusalem.”

Kent Mori, a protest organizer said, “When U.S.-supported Israeli occupation increases injustice, violence and oppression, Palestinians resist from Gaza to the West Bank and everywhere from the river to the sea.” The rally was organized by Women Against Military Madness and the Anti-War Committee, and endorsed by Students for Justice in Palestine-UMN.

#SaintPaulMN #Palestine #AntiWarCommittee #WomenAgainstMilitaryMadness #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine #MiddleEast