St. Paul, MN – 150 people gathered here for Women Against Military Madness’ weekly Friday Palestine vigil, Aug. 1, at the intersection of Summit and Snelling Avenues. Protesters chanted “Free Palestine” and got honks from drivers. This was the third Friday vigil since the start of the recent upsurge in Palestine.

Protesters heard from Sherine Mashni who has close ties to the conflict in Palestine. She is a family member of both 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khudair who was killed by Israeli settlers and of 15-year-old Tariq Khieder who was beaten by Israeli police, arrested and then kept on house arrest before finally being allowed to return home to Tampa, Florida. She thanked the crowd for protesting and continuing to demand an end to the attack on Gaza.

This week’s vigil also addressed the case of Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh who had a court date in Detroit the day before. Sarah Martin, of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression, spoke to the crowd about Odeh’s case.

Martin stated, “Rasmea’s life embodies that of Palestinians. In 1948 her family was driven out of their village along with 750,000 other Palestinians in what is known as Al Nakba or the catastrophe. As she grew up she became involved in the struggle for the liberation for Palestine. Then In 1969, on Eid, the Israeli army came to her house and arrested her, her father and her sister. For the next 25 days she was tortured in unspeakable ways night and day. She was beaten, sexually assaulted and electrocuted. Only when she was convinced her father would be tortured, she signed a confession. She spent the next ten years in prison and was released in a prisoner exchange. Some years later she came to this country and has been here for 20 years. For the past 10 years she has been in Chicago working with the AAAN (Arab American Action Network). She now faces 10 years in prison and deportation after that.”

Martin continued, “Yesterday in Detroit, which is where her trial is being held, there was a hearing. She and her defense team asked that Judge Borman recuse himself because he is an ardent Zionist, but he refused. On a positive note, the courtroom was packed with so many of her supporters that not everyone could get in. There was a picket line outside the court. Her trial will begin Sept. 8 and is expected to last about three weeks. We are calling on people to attend as many days as they can.”

This week’s vigil was co-sponsored by WAMM, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

The next protest will be at Senator Klobuchar’s office at 1200 Washington Avenue S in Minneapolis on Aug. 6 at 4:30 p.m. There will be a rally, which focuses on the senator’s record followed by a march to the Star Tribune newspaper to challenge the mainstream media’s blackout of the local grassroots Palestine solidarity movement. The Minnesota Anti-War Committee is organizing the rally and march.

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Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of Palestinian community members and supporters gathered here July 8, outside the office of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, to demand an end to Israel’s recent campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians.

The majority of those present were Palestinian, and many of them were related to Muhammad and Tariq Abukhdair, two youth targeted with violence. According to Zacarias Abukhdair, “My cousin was brutally murdered in Shuafat. He was kidnapped in front of his father’s store and taken by a few settlers. He was burned alive and tortured. His body was found a few days later.”

Fueled by vengeful comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli government officials, thousands of Israelis marched through the streets of Jerusalem July 2, chanting ‘death to Arabs.’ Muhammad Abukhdair was murdered that night. His murder sparked outrage and massive protests across Palestine.

Days later, his cousin Tariq Abukhdair was arrested and brutally beaten by Israeli police. Tariq Abukhdair is a 15-year-old Tampa, Florida, high school student, who was visiting family in Palestine for the summer; he is now confined on house arrest. Calls from around the country have urged U.S. politicians to investigate the attack on Tariq and to press Israel for his immediate release.

Minnesota is home to many members of the boys’ extended family. Many attended the protest wearing t-shirts with pictures of Muhammad, and carrying signs picturing Tariq and his injuries.

Israel has used the deaths of three young Israeli settlers as a pretext for a massive assault on Palestinians. Israeli settlers, backed by the full force of the Israeli state, have been on a brutal rampage across the West Bank. Gaza is being bombed yet again by Israeli war planes, killing at least 64 people. Protesters urged an end to this campaign of collective punishment.

Hussein Khatib of American Muslims for Palestine introduced several speakers, starting with young Iraqi poet Humom Abdulwahab. Rawan Abukhdair spoke, expressing the family’s outrage at the killing of Muhammad Abukhdair and the attack on Tariq Abukhdair . She described how police shamefully tried to pressure Muhammad Abukhdair’s father into falsely blaming the boy’s death on a family conflict.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead and Sabry Wazwaz, both of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, also spoke.

Aby-Keirstead said, “We are here today to say no to Israeli settler violence and to the Israeli military’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Neither would be possible without the significant support of the U.S. government. The U.S. spends $3 billion every single year on aid to Israel. In fact, Israel gets the highest amount of U.S. aid of any country in the world.”

She urged protesters gathered outside the senator’s office to demand an end to U.S. support for Israel. “Our tax dollars are fueling this war against the Palestinians and are subsidizing the Israeli government’s funding of settlement ‘defense’ throughout the West Bank.”

Protesters then took to the streets behind the banner, “Stop U.S. funding of the killing in Gaza.” They marched to the Star Tribune building to demand that mainstream media fairly and truthfully cover the crimes being carried out against Palestinian civilians.

After more than two hours in the streets leading chants, Sabry Wazwaz told the crowd, “While your brothers and sisters are dying in Gaza, some people are complaining that they’re hungry and thirsty during Ramadan. There are people dying, being burned to death, gasoline poured down their throats. Ain’t no time for us to be hungry and thirsty. Stand up, speak out and please always remember, free free Palestine!” The crowd energetically joined in, “Free free Palestine!”

The July 8 demonstration was initiated by the Anti-War Committee and the Coalition for Palestinian Rights, and included participants from American Muslims for Palestine-MN, Students for Justice in Palestine-UMN, Council on American-Islamic Relations-MN and Women Against Military Madness. Similar protests are being organized in cities across the U.S. and the world.

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