Chicago, IL - 7500 rallied in Chicago to protest the one-year anniversary of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, and the bombardment of Lebanon. The protest then marched a mile to the home of billionaire Governor J.B. Pritzker, a well-known Zionist. The Coalition for Justice in Palestine went there to demand Illinois divest the $130 million in Israeli bonds held by the state.

This week, the movement in Chicago against the U.S./Israel war turned its attention to divestment as a tactic to escalate pressure on the Zionist regime. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago launched a petition and canvass campaign to pressure State Treasurer Michael Frerichs for divestment from Israeli bonds as well. Code Pink and other organizations also carried out protest actions aimed at Frerichs.

#ChicagoIL #FreePalestine #HandsOffLebanon #CoalitionForJusticeInPalestine #AntiWarCommitteeChicago #CodePink

When the votes were counted, the board of directors reported that 5% of their stockholders voted in favor of the resolution. The directors had stated that 88% of the stockholders had cast votes.

According to the AWC, most people have no idea that Boeing is a major weapons contractor. “If the public knew how many weapons were being provided to the Israeli military for its wars on Gaza, opposition to the weapons sales would grow,” said Kait McIntyre of AWC.

Israel recently completed their largest arms deal with the U.S., to purchase almost $2 billion in ordnance. Boeing manufactures most of the components of these bombs and missiles, including the guidance systems that turn regular bombs into ‘smart bombs.’ A report by Amnesty International – UK showed that the bombings which caused the most casualties in Gaza came from Boeing’s laser guided, one-ton bombs, the MK-84/GBU-31. Israel is purchasing 10,000 of these smart bomb kits.

AWC has been active in solidarity with Palestine since it started in 2012. In 2014, three members of AWC, McIntyre, Newland Smith and Joe Iosbaker were among those arrested at Boeing Headquarters in Chicago during Operation Protective Edge.

“Boeing also makes the Apache helicopters and F-15 fighter jets used by the Israeli air force. We were arrested demanding an end to all weapons sales to Israel,” said McIntyre.

In the past several years, members of the AWC purchased shares in the Boeing Company in order to bring a resolution before the stockholders. They joined together with the Interfaith Council on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). Sister Gwen Farry of ICCR and the 8th Day Center for Justice spoke in favor of the resolution during the company meeting.

At the May 2 board meeting, AWC was also joined by a group of indigenous Lumad activists from the Philippines. In their traditional lands on the island of Mindanao, the Lumad people have also been victimized by the U.S. ‘war on terror.’ Boeing produces drones called Scan Eagles which have been used in targeted assassinations there.

When the AWC resolution was first submitted to Boeing, the board of directors refused to accept it. According to Richard Berg, who submitted the resolution, “The Boeing board refused to submit our resolution to the stockholders, saying it interfered with the regular business of the company.”

On Feb. 5 the Securities and Exchange Commission overruled the directors. McIntyre explained that the Boeing board continued to oppose the resolution. “Boeing then said this sale is controversial to a small number of individual shareholders. This is more evidence of the growing impact of the movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel.”

The company has a threshold for shareholder activism. To continue to press an issue, a resolution must achieve 3% of the votes. Newland Smith said, “With 5%, we can continue to press this issue next year. By then, we hope to reach the next threshold, which is 6%.”

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On Feb. 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overruled the directors. Berg explained, “Our resolution simply asked for more information about weapons sales to Israel.”

AWC’s Kait McIntyre explained that the Boeing board continues to oppose the resolution. “Boeing now says shareholders don’t care about the issue of weapons sales to Israel. We think it is irrefutable that shareholders care about the value of their stock, which will plummet if they keep selling weapons to Israel in the face of global condemnation.”

McIntyre cited the 2015 UN report that Foreign Direct Investment in Israel dropped by almost 50% in 2014 after the war launched on the people of Gaza.

Israel recently completed their largest arms deal with the U.S., to purchase almost $2 billion in ordnance. Boeing manufactures the largest components of the bombs and missiles, including the guidance systems that turn regular bombs into ‘smart bombs.’ A report by Amnesty International showed that the bombings which caused the most casualties in Gaza came from Boeing’s laser guided, one-ton bombs, the MK-84/GBU-31.

AWC also cites the growing impact of the movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel to show the potential impact to Boeing’s financial standing. In Chicago, the student government at the University of Illinois at Chicago passed a BDS resolution from Students for Justice in Palestine that added Boeing to a list of companies they want the school to divest from because of weapons sales to Israel.

McIntyre also pointed to the impact on brands such as SodaStream, a target of BDS protest for operating a factory in illegal settlements in the West Bank. The company admitted that their share price tumbled in 2015 in significant part because they had to move to a new plant in southern Israel.

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Chicago, IL – 40 people gathered in Millennium Park here, April 25, to protest the U.S./Saudi bombing of Yemen.

In Yemen, a movement of the poor and oppressed people is fighting for bread and justice, against imperialism, monarchy and Zionism. The fight back there is led by the Ansurallah movement, which the Western media calls the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia has been bombing for a month, causing over 1000 deaths. The World Health Organization reports over 3487 wounded, most of them civilians. The U.S. is providing the Saudis with data on targets and mid-air refueling of their bombers.

Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago spoke to those gathered and pointed out that this has to be seen as a U.S./Saudi War. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no arms industry. Their weapons come from the U.S. Saudi Arabia could not act if the U.S. withdrew their support. We have to demand, “U.S., Saudi Arabia, hands off Yemen!”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #JoeIosbaker #Yemen #AntiWarCommitteeChicago #SaudiArabia

Chicago, IL – Last week, President Barack Obama issued a new Executive Order declaring a national emergency in response to the “extraordinary threat to the national security” posed to the U.S. by Venezuela. What did Venezuela do? They stopped a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow their government.

Progressive forces across the U.S. and around the world have come out to condemn the move by the White House.

The Consulate of Venezuela in Chicago has had a number of visitors since Obama’s announcement. Today, March 18, activists from the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Freedom Road Socialist Organization met with Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, the Consul General.

Rodríguez-Espinoza spoke of the danger that the U.S. would escalate to military action. He noted that a meeting of UNASUR [Union of South American Nations] sharply criticized the U.S. government for its actions. Their statement turned the tables on the U.S., accusing Washington of threatening the sovereignty of Venezuela.

Kait McIntyre, a well-known activist with the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, said, “The U.S. has no right to accuse Venezuela of violating human rights. It was the government of the U.S. that armed Israel to carry out the massacre of 2500 people this summer in Gaza. If President Obama cared about human rights, he would have imposed a weapons embargo on Israel, instead of sanctions against Venezuela.”

Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, asked, “What is Barack Obama going to do about the criminalization of dissent in Ferguson and the criminalization of Black people and other oppressed people of color in our country? Why isn’t he imposing sanctions against the DOJ declared lawless regime in Ferguson? Enough already with this hypocrisy!”

Finally, from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Joe Iosbaker pledged to the Consul General to continue to, “support the Bolivarian revolution, the workers, farmers and all patriots in Venezuela.” He continued, “Those who collaborate with the U.S. in coup attempts against the government in Caracas are sellouts. They’re from the wealthy class that wants to keep things they way they were before the revolution, when half of the people lived below the poverty line.”

The visitors added their names to the growing list of those who are taking a stand against U.S. intervention in any form, whether by coup, assassination, or a ‘color revolution’ bought and paid for by Washington.

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Joe Iosbaker, of the Anti-War Committee of Chicago states, “Venezuela has never threatened the U.S. people. But the Bolivarian revolution is a threat to U.S. imperialist interests, in Venezuela and in Latin America as a whole. That’s because imperialism sucks the wealth out of other countries. The national democratic revolution, which continues under the leadership of President Maduro, intends to use Venezuela's resources to benefit the workers and farmers of their country. The U.S. government only wants to see profits going to U.S. banks and corporations. The U.S. should keep its hands off Venezuela.”

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Chicago, IL – 150 protesters confronted the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago as it rallied in support of the murderous Israeli war on Gaza, Aug. 21. Palestinian flags flew alongside a big cardboard sign that read, “Occupation is a crime, From Ferguson to Palestine.”

The Students for Justice in Palestine organized a die-in on the sidewalk in front of the Hilton and Towers hotel. Meanwhile, a dozen activists with Jewish Voice for Peace, the Anti-War Committee, and others repeatedly disrupted the speeches by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and an Israeli Defense Forces soldier who had participated in the attacks on Gaza.

Hatem Abudayyeh of the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network reminded the crowd at the end of the protest of the victory scored in Oakland, California when Palestinians and their supporters, along with the members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union stopped an Israeli ship from unloading at the docks. Kait McIntyre of the Anti-War Committee urged people to come to court Aug. 26 at 9:00 a.m., 555 W. Harrison, to support those arrested at the protest against Boeing Company in July.

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Chicago, IL – Anti-war activist Kait McIntyre appeared in Cook County Judicial Circuit court on the morning of Aug. 1. McIntyre was one of five activists arrested in a civil disobedience protest action July 16 to oppose Boeing Company providing weapons to Israel for the siege on Gaza. She proudly pled guilty to trespassing at Boeing headquarters. “Hospitals, homes for the disabled and playgrounds are being bombed and more and more children die. As a citizen of Chicago, which has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the U.S., there comes a time where you cannot ignore your conscience and you know more drastic actions have to be taken.”

As part of the Antiwar Committee-Chicago (AWC), McIntyre is a leader of a two-year campaign against Boeing for their role as the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S.. She even ran for Boeing's board of stock holders earlier this year as a way to bring the message to Boeing that we need to end wars, not build a new generation of deadly weapons.

She is now required to pay a fine and is prohibited from contacting the company or setting foot on their premises. With this sentence, she is being threatened with disqualification as a candidate for the board this year. For her, the connection is clear: “Boeing is only interested in profit; they would rather silence people than stop the killings in Gaza.”

Protests around the country against Boeing have grown ever since Israel’s assault on Gaza began a month ago. Recently, the AWC held a die-in at City Hall to demand Boeing be dropped from sponsoring the Air and Water Show, Aug. 16 and 17.

Rather than being dismayed by the verdict, McIntyre took this as a positive sign that Boeing is now paying attention. “It is up to us not only to sustain this pressure, but also to increase it.” She urged people who oppose Israel’s attack on Gaza to join protests against Boeing at the Air and Water Show.

The four other activists involved in the civil disobedience action have their trial date on Aug. 12 at 2:30 p.m. at 2452 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago. They are calling on supporters to come with them to court.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Gaza #Palestine #BoeingCorporation #AntiWarCommitteeChicago #KaitMcIntyre

Chicago, IL – A die-in was held inside Chicago City Hall, July 30, to demand Boeing Company be dropped as a sponsor for the summer Air and Water Show next month. 40 protesters dropped to the floor, holding signs with the names of the dead in Gaza from Israel’s three week long war.

Chicago-based Boeing is being targeted around the country for its role in the slaughter of Palestinian civilians, because Boeing F15 fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters are responsible for many of the 1300 dead.

The protest was called by the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, and joined by a dozen other groups, including Jews for Justice in Palestine and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

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AWC – Chicago issued the following statement about their participation the action. AWC has gone after Boeing for almost two years for their role as the second largest arms manufacturer. Kait McIntyre, one of the protesters, is a candidate for Boeing’s board of stock holders. Also among the AWC protesters are Joe Iosbaker, Newland Smith, and Bonnie Coyle.

Anti-War Committee – Chicago statement

In our campaign against Boeing we have routinely exposed their company as a key element of the U.S. war machine, which profits off the sale of weapons for U.S. wars and U.S. allies. Boeing reaps billions from the sale of weapons for use in the Israeli attacks on Gaza as part of its eight year old siege of Gaza. Boeing has provided the Israeli air force with several hundred F15 and F16 fighter planes and thousands of tail kits designed to make dumb bombs into “smart bombs,” improving accuracy. More recently Boeing designed a laser seeker to add to the nose of a bomb equipped with their tail kit, giving the ability to engage moving targets.

In addition Boeing has provided at least 60 of the Apache attack helicopters to Israel, as well as their payloads of “pinpoint accurate” Hellfire Missiles.

In observing the precision of Boeing’s products, we learn something about Israel’s bombing and missile strikes on Gaza. As these weapons are so precise, then the deaths of civilian men, women and children – the vast majority of the 186 killed by Israel – are premeditated. The Israeli pilots know who is in their gun sights. They launch their weapons with full knowledge.

This means that the Israeli pilots are no different than the criminal settlers who burned Mohammed Abu Khdeir alive. They are killing in cold blood. They are killing civilians – men, children, women, and old people. They bomb food stores, hospitals, and even a center for the disabled.

The men who killed Mohammed Abu Khdeir have the sounds of their victim in their minds, but Israeli pilots have killed hundreds since Israel’s operation “Protective Edge” began, and thousands more throughout the history of the occupation.

Finally, Chicago is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in the U.S. Chicago is also home to the Boeing Company, whose stock price soars from the slaughter of countless Palestinians. This is a slap in the face we cannot abide.

End the siege of Gaza now! End U.S. aid to Israel! Free Palestine!

More information at the Anti-War Committee – Chicago website.

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Chicago, IL – 150 people protested President Obama’s threat of a new war on Iraq. Called by the ANSWER Coalition, and involving a number of other groups, including the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, the June 20 protest showed that there is a lot of opposition to U.S. plans.

The current U.S. military plan is to send in 300 military advisors, who are mainly special forces. On June 18, Obama stated, “And going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it.” Groups like the Anti-War Committee (AWC) – Chicago, think that when Obama says “targeted and precise military action,” he means drone strikes.

At Chicago’s protest, Kait McIntyre of AWC spoke. She said, “When I first got involved in the anti-war movement in 2007, there were many signs that said troops out now. It is now our duty to expand that demand. We must demand no U.S. drones, no U.S. military advisors, no special forces, no new U.S. war with Iraq! Hands off Iraq!”

As McIntyre further stated, “It is horrific and despicable that the U.S. government has apparently forgotten the death and devastation it left behind in Iraq.” Speaking about the tasks of the anti-war movement, she concluded, “We must remember this and remember what we as a movement are capable of. Just two years ago, Chicago had over 15,000 in the streets to protest NATO. We are a force to be reckoned with.”

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Joe Iosbaker, an activist with the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, was asked to address the meeting and comment on what he witnessed in Homs, where he was stationed as an observer.

Iosbaker told attendees, “In Homs we saw, first, the tragedy and horror of the U.S.-backed armies. We spoke with survivors and saw the photos of 900 martyrs.

“Second, we saw the triumph of the people, as hundreds rallied in each neighborhood and surged into the polling places to cast their ballot.

“Third, we witnessed Sawa, the coming together of the people, the parties and the leader of the country, President Bashar al Assad.

“Fourth, we were drawn into the warm embrace of the Syrian people, we danced debka and we put our fingers in ink as a symbol of solidarity.

“We will return home to bring to the American people what we saw, the truth of a democratic election, a constitution that is popular and a president who is being given the mandate by the people of Syria: to defeat the imperialist U.S., NATO, Zionist aggression; to reconstruct the country, and to heal a people who have suffered this vicious intervention.

“At this time, I want to say that the Syrian people represent that which is best, most noble and most beautiful of humanity: resistance to injustice, to war and occupation. You take your place with the people of Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently Ukraine, in the long pantheon of heroic peoples.

“Long live Syria! End the war now! U.S./NATO, hands off Syria!”

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Chicago, IL – 100 Syrians gathered here, April 5, in front of the Turkish consulate to demand “Turkey, NATO, hands off Syria!” The group also called out their love for their homeland in Arabic, chanting “Tahya Suria!” Long live Syria!

The incident that caused this international day of protest in places with Syrian and Armenian immigrant communities is an attack on the village of Kessab in northwestern Syria. Kessab is a mainly Armenian Christian community, which was attacked by the Turkish-backed terrorist group Al Nusra Front in late March. Thousands have fled Kessab, and the fear of a repeat of the Armenian genocide has caused even Armenian American Kim Kardashian to speak out.

Mark Ahmad of the Syrian American Forum addressed the protest. “We want Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey to stop supporting and sending the terrorists to attack our motherland. Every one of you must inform your neighbors and coworkers and contact their legislators with the message that our U.S. policy should not support repeated aggression against Syria by the government of Turkey.”

Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-war Committee-Chicago addressed the crowd. “We have to oppose the U.S. and its junior partners in NATO, which include Turkey; the U.S. puppets in the Gulf States; and of course Israel, the main provocateur and biggest cheerleader for war in Syria.” Iosbaker also called for the Syrians to support the Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh, who is facing charges by the U.S. Attorney in Detroit for her work in the Palestinian community in Chicago.

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Chicago, IL – 50 people gathered in Chicago’s Federal Plaza Oct. 13 joining thousands rallying around the world in an international day of solidarity with the people of Syria. Syrians stood together with anti-war activists to tell the U.S., “No war on Syria!”

The most popular chant that was “Hands off Syria, no more arms.” The U.S. began sending weapons directly to the pro-Western Syrian rebels in early September. When U.S. missile strikes were stopped by public opinion and the Russian diplomatic deal, President Obama then announced that weapons would begin to flow to the U.S. proxy army.

The rally in Chicago and other states was initiated by the Syrian American Forum, and endorsed by the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, ANSWER Coalition-Chicago, Gay Liberation Network, U.S. Palestinian Community Network-Chicago and March 19 Anti-War Coalition.

Dr. Matar Matar of the Syrian American Forum, explained, “We want to ask the Obama administration to work in the direction of peace, not fueling war. Mr. Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the war in Iraq. By supporting insurgents in Syria he is losing his credibility as a peace achiever.”

Nancy Hammond of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, also called on the U.S. government to end its war on Syria. “Since Vietnam, the U.S. has not stopped waging wars: on Central America, on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and now Syria. It has to end.”

An emotional moment for the Syrians present came when Syria’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Ja'afari, spoke to the rally by telephone.

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Chicago, IL – Protesters gathered for the fourth week in a row to oppose the U.S. sending arms directly to the Syrian rebels. Organizers included the Anti-War Committee – Chicago, Syrian American Forum, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (Chicago), A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Chicago), and March 19th Coalition. Nancy Wade, Green Party candidate for the Fifth Congressional District spoke at the rally, saying, “The corporate backed politicians in both parties must stop their wars for profit and meet the needs of the people here for jobs, healthcare, housing and schools!”

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