Dearborn, MI – On November 18, 20 protesters met at the Arab American Museum in Dearborn to confront a hate march put on by right-wingers who called for end to “Islamification.” Islamophobic marchers managed to gather a group of 30 people. The march was initially spearheaded by Anthony Hudson, an “America First” gubernatorial candidate who tried to recant his claims that Dearborn was under “Sharia law” – only to still face the protest anyways.

Given Dearborn is home to many Arab and Muslim residents, the community took the threats made by Hudson and January 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang seriously and came out in crowds. The groups leading the protest against the hate march were Detroit Anti-War Committee, Detroit Community Action Committee, Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Detroit.

The protesters met outside of the Arab American Museum and conducted a rally of their own. They chanted “MAGA, you racist clowns, you’re not welcome in this town!” and “Get up and take a stand, Dearborn fights hand in hand!”

Amongst the racists were people who had crucifixes and brought cuts of pork, mocking the Muslim faith. Racists tried to burn two Qurans, but activists managed to seize the Qurans before they were able to do it.

The hate marchers decided to take Michigan Avenue, a main road that runs through Dearborn. The anti-racist protesters followed and began to bolster their numbers from determined Dearborn community members. Soon they vastly outnumbered the racist hate marchers. The protesters overtook and drowned out the measly crowd of racists.

Before the protest was over, the protesters could claim that they had 400 Dearborn residents on their side.

Jo Pico, a member of the Detroit Anti-War Committee said, “We knew they started marching because they were scared of us. We were chanting at them that these were our streets. We intended to prove that was true. So when they marched onto Michigan Ave, of course we did too.”

Chants such as “When Dearborn is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “MAGA, go home!” clearly rattled the Islamophobes who started to retreat towards the Dearborn Administration Building.

At the Dearborn Administration Building, the hate marchers and their banners reading things such as “Americans against Islamification” were blocked out by banners demanding divestment and sanctuary city status among other progressive banners.

Daniel Alatorre, a member of Comité de Acción Comunitaria – Detroit, summed up the event by saying, “We came out to oppose racists like Jake Lang, a proud white supremacist, and Anthony Hudson, a racist running for governor of Michigan, because they wanted to attack a beautiful and proud Arab community in Dearborn on the basis of their nationality and for many their religion.”

Throughout the evening, the hate marchers repeatedly attempted to start physical confrontations, and they repeatedly fled the confrontations they were starting like the cowards they are. This occurred over and over until hundreds of local residents of Dearborn took to the streets to oppose them, forcing the Islamophobes to disperse. Sofia Marx, an organizer with Wayne State Students for a Democratic Society explained, “They would come over to provoke us, but every time we repelled them and forced them back.”

Jackson Robak of Freedom Road Socialist Organization-Detroit stated, “It’s beyond important to stand up to oppose racists and fight alongside our Arab-American friends and neighbors because these agitators are Trump’s foot soldiers who wish to enact every nightmare Trump has thought of on the American people. If we want to fight Trump, we have to fight everyone who’s on the ground fighting for his agenda.”

#DearbornMI #MI #OppressedNationalities #ArabAmerican #Palestine

Oak Lawn, IL – 50 people rallied outside the Oak Lawn Village Hall on Wednesday evening, July 2, before the monthly meeting of the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission. The Arab community and allies have shown up at every meeting for three years to challenge the racism of the Oak Lawn Police Department (OLPD).

“In July 2022 we showed up after Hadi Abuateleh, a 17-year-old Palestinian American boy was beaten almost to death by three Oak Lawn cops, Patrick O'Donnell, Brandon Collins and Mark Hollingsworth,” explained Nadiah Alyafai, a youth organizer with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN).

“Today we are also here to stand up and call for justice for our brother Murod Kurdi, who was tragically killed in 2023,” Alyafai added, and recounted how the same police department that beat Hadi Abuatelah for allegedly driving under the influence let Leanne Cusack, a white woman, get away with a ticket after killing Murod Kurdi while driving drunk.

One of the officers involved in the assault of Abuatelah, Mark Hollingsworth, was also implicated in letting Murod’s killer go.

These two cases show a clear pattern of racist policing, and the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission’s refusal to fire the officers shows how deeply embedded the racist discrimination is.

The crowd entered the Village Hall and shut the meeting down soon after it started with chants of “Justice for Murod Kurdi!” and “No justice, no peace! No racist police!”

The protesters were removed from the building by police and continued chanting outside. They ended with a message of love for Murod's mother, Fadia Muhammad, whose family has consistently kept up the fight for justice, and resolved to be back at the next meeting on August 6 at 5 p.m.

Rania Salem with the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) concluded the protest by saying “we will keep coming here month after month until the attorney general conducts an independent investigation into the OLPD and all the cops who assaulted Hadi are fired and charged!”

#OakLawnIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #ArabAmerican #USPCN #PoliceBrutality #AAAN

Chicago, IL – On Friday, January 26, over 50 people gathered on the University of Illinois at Chicago’s campus to protest the racist and discriminatory practices of the UIC police department. The protest was called jointly by Students for Justice in Palestine and Students for a Democratic Society in response to two separate instances of racist policing and discrimination at the University.

The first instance was the revelation that UICPD had a member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia that helped storm the capitol on January 6, working as an officer. The administration was informed about the officer's ties more than a year ago after an investigation by the Anti-Defamation League. The administration has refused to fire the officer even as State's Attorney Kim Foxx has announced that the officer will not be allowed to testify in court because of his far-right ties.

The second instance came in November when a Palestinian student was arrested, handcuffed, and kept in a holding cell for hours by UICPD simply for writing “Free Palestine” on a wall. As both of these incidents came to light, SDS and SJP decided to hold a joint rally condemning the racist UIC police department and administration and demanding the Oath Keepers officer be fired and that UICPD issue a written apology to the Palestinian student for its unjust and discriminatory arrest.

As a crowd of students formed, activists leading students in chants of “CPD, KKK, IOF you’re all the same!” and “From UIC to Palestine protesting is not a crime!” before SDSer Angel Naranjo kicked off the rally with a fiery speech.

Naranjo began their speech by reiterating the demands of the protest before pointing out the hypocrisy of the UIC administration, stating. “UIC claims that it will not tolerate any ‘discrimination or harassment against any person because it is directly opposed to what the university stands for.’ However, UIC seems to have perfectly tolerated hiring a member of the Oath Keepers, a far-right fascist paramilitary organization, to the UIC Police Department.” Naranjo went on to attack the bloated police budget pointing out how, despite UIC claiming to value diversity, the $10 million budget equates to more than all the university’s ethnic studies and cultural programs combined.

The next speaker, Celine Taki of SJP, spoke about the unjust arrest of the Palestinian student by UICPD in November. Taki began by pointing to the clearly discriminatory nature of the arrest, saying, “The man who called the cops on this student went as far as to run through traffic and described her as wearing a headdress or hijab. Out of close to 130 cases of vandalism, it was only this single one that resulted in an arrest.”

Taki also spoke about how this arrest fits into a broader pattern of UICPD discriminating against Arab and Muslim students, stating “This targeting of hijabi students is not just a one-time occurrence; when we flyered a year ago, we had the cops called on us for absolutely no reason and they grabbed the only hijabi there, a clear case of targeting. With the events since October 7, the climate has become one reminiscent of post-9/11. Palestinian and Muslim students, especially those who wear hijab, feel more threatened and vulnerable than ever and UICPD has done nothing to make us feel secure instead.”

After the speakers finished, the crowd marched to the UIC administration office and rallied outside, chanting “UIC you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” and “Make it loud make it clear, fascists are not welcome here!” before dispersing with a promise to continue to demand an end to the discriminatory and racist practices of UICPD.

#ChicagoIL #StudentMovement #InJusticeSystem #PoliceBrutality #OppressedNationalities #ArabAmerican #SDS #SJP #International #Palestine

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Coalition to March on the RNC 2024.

Republican Party leaders have ramped up racist, dehumanizing statements toward Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims since fighting broke out between Israeli and Palestinian forces on October 7th. Israel’s ensuing siege of Gaza and indiscriminate aerial assault on 2.3 million stateless Palestinians trapped in an open-air prison is now in its fourth week.

To be clear, President Biden and his Administration bear the main responsibility for the Israeli genocide in Palestine. Both the Biden Administration and Congress have demonstrated near-unanimous bipartisan support to continue arming Israel and provide political cover for their violation of Palestinian human rights. The Republican Party, for their part, has been carving out an especially rabid, extremist position, inciting hatred and dehumanization of Arabs and Muslims, and once again saber rattling against Palestine and Iran. In an escalation of anti-Arab racism reminiscent of the US drive to war after 9/11, Republican legislators have introduced dozens of bills to crack down on immigrants, refugees, pro-Palestine activists, and criticism of US/Israel policies.

The Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 condemns the increasing racist and political repression targeting Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and anti-war activists. The Coalition consists of dozens of local and national grassroots, community, and labor organizations united around the principles “Peace, Justice, and Equality for all,” and “fight the racist and reactionary Republican agenda.” In an effort to build the movement to fight back against these attacks, we have compiled a few examples of the extreme actions being taken by the Republican Party in the past four weeks.

Republicans want to ban Palestinian refugees from entering the United States

Following Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has destroyed or damaged half the housing units there, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany introduced a racist, anti-Palestinian bill he degradingly named the GAZA Act, or the “Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission” Act.(1) The legislation would ban Palestinian residents of Gaza or the West Bank from receiving new visas to enter the United States. Former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, promised to “immediately reinstate and expand the wildly successful Trump travel ban,” if he is re-elected.

Republicans want to cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza

In Gaza, 8,000 people have been killed, tens of thousands are injured, and hundreds of thousands more have become internally displaced by Israeli bombing. As a major humanitarian crisis develops in Gaza, Republican Senators have introduced a bill that would redirect all US humanitarian aid away from Gaza to buy more weapons for Israel.(2) The Emergency Resupply for Iron Dome Act of 2023 was introduced by several Republican leaders as Israel’s siege on Gaza deprives 2.3 million Palestinians of water, food, electricity, and fuel. The Israeli siege has been widely condemned as collective punishment, and a war crime that could result in mass dehydration, disease, starvation, and death for Gazans.

Speaking to a rally, former President Trump said if he is re-elected he will “cut off every penny of money that we send to the Palestinians and the terrorists on day one,” which would end critical humanitarian aid for a territory under total blockade by Israel. For Republican Party leaders, Israel’s bombardment, illegal siege, and collective punishment doesn’t go far enough.

Republicans want to silence pro-Palestine activists’ criticism of Israel

In the wake of historic mass protests against Israel’s war on Gaza that are spreading across hundreds of cities and campuses, staunch supporters of Israel's occupation have falsely accused the protests of being “anti-Semitic.” Republican leaders, including Presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley, say they want to redefine anti-Semitism to include anti-Zionism, and use the power of federal agencies to crack down on criticism of Israel.

Former President Trump called pro-Palestine campus activists “legions of foreign nationals” who are “teaching your children hate,” and promised to “revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners,” if he is re-elected.

On October 24th, the State of Florida ordered the deactivation of all Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at State colleges and universities(3), using a law signed in Israel by Florida Governor and Republican Presidential primary candidate Ron DeSantis, that gives the State more power to punish criticism of Israel. SJP has been among the leading student groups organizing mass protests and walkouts against Israel’s war on Gaza in recent weeks. Under DeSantis, Florida is also pursuing felony charges against five members of Students for a Democratic Society, known as the “Tampa 5,” who were violently attacked by university police for protesting DeSantis’s racist attacks on Black and Brown students.

Attempting to repress and criminalize Palestine solidarity activists calling for an end to Israeli war crimes, Republican Senator Josh Hawley on October 18th called on the Department of Homeland Security to address what he called “terror-linked aliens,”(4) and urged the Department of Justice to investigate progressive and pro-Palestine student groups for alleged “material support to terrorist organizations.”(5) Hawley authored a resolution condemning pro-Palestine campus protests as “anti-Semitic.” Senate Democrats initially blocked Hawley’s resolution, saying it unfairly targeted pro-Palestinian students, but after Hawley accused Democrats of supporting “pro-genocide activities on college campuses,” the resolution passed by voice vote on October 26th.(6) On October 30th, the White House announced that the departments of Justice and Homeland Security will begin partnering with campus law enforcement agencies to combat alleged anti-Semitism on campuses.

Following a protest in the U.S. Capitol by Jewish Americans demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-US war on Gaza, extreme right-wing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a resolution to censure Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, accusing her of “antisemitic activity,” “sympathizing with terrorist organizations,” and “leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol.”(7) Rep. Greene was involved in the January 6th Trump rally and events that led to the far-right Capitol insurrection.

After seeing a Palestine flag outside Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s office, Republican Congressman Max Miller issued a statement saying “The Palestinian flag should not have a place here,” and announced a legislative amendment to ban tax dollars from purchasing Palestinian flags.(8) In a Fox News interview Miller said “I don’t even want to call it the Palestinian flag because they’re not a state, they’re a territory that’s about to probably get eviscerated and go away here shortly, as we’re going to turn that into a parking lot.” Miller has previously said there should be “no rules of engagement” to “let Israel do what it needs to do best.” Miller’s shocking, genocidal comments have not been condemned by his Republican colleagues.

Republican Party’s racist agenda fuels the increase in hate crimes

Rampant racism and Islamophobia from Republican Party leaders has directly resulted in an increase in the frequency and scale of violent hate crimes. On October 14th, a 6 year-old Palestinian boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed to death in Chicago by his landlord. Detectives said the killer, Joseph Czuba, listened to conservative talk radio, and admitted to attacking the family because of their Muslim faith.(9)

Former President Trump, an outspoken supporter of Israel’s illegal settlement expansions, is well known for his racist rhetoric and policies targeting Arabs and Muslims, but he has also inflamed hatred towards Jewish people. Dangerous rhetoric and policies from Republican leaders have resulted in a rise in hate crimes toward Arabs, as well as Jewish communities, including a mass shooting by a white nationalist that murdered 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.

These horrific acts of violence are the direct result of the Republican Party’s agenda of systematic targeting and dehumanization of oppressed groups, and the political and racist repression against Arabs, Muslims, and anti-war activists.

Fight back against the Republican agenda

The Coalition to March on the RNC calls on all people of conscience to speak out and join actions to stop the Republican Party’s racist agenda, and the attacks targeting Arabs, Muslims, and anti-war activists. There are many ways to get involved in protests, call-ins, and other activities through our member organizations. More information can be found on the Coalition’s social media pages.

The Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 is leading the mass family-friendly rally and march on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Monday, July 15th, 2024. Get involved, and build the movement to “Fight the racist and reactionary Republican agenda!”

MarchOnRNC2024.org

1. https://tiffany.house.gov/media/press-releases/tiffany-introduces-legislation-protect-americas-security-following-brutal

2. https://thehill.com/homenews/4265923-republican-senators-introduce-bill-to-resupply-israels-iron-dome/

3. https://www.flbog.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Deactivation-of-Students-for-Justice-in-Palestine.pdf

4. https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-pushes-mayorkas-address-terrorist-linked-aliens-border-following-hamas-attack-israel

5. https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-urges-doj-investigate-outside-funding-far-left-anti-israel-student-groups

6. https://www.c-span.org/video/?531429-2/sen-josh-hawley-antisemitism-resolution

7. https://www.axios.com/2023/10/26/marjorie-taylor-greene-censuring-rashida-tlaib

8. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/10/max-miller-wants-to-ban-tax-dollars-from-funding-palestinian-flag-outside-colleagues-office.html

9. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/joseph-czuba-indicted-murder-hate-crime-wadea-al-fayoume-plainfield/

#RNC2024 #MilwaukeeWI #PoliticalRepression #ArabAmerican #AntiWar #Feature