Minneapolis, MN – On January 11, over 50 people rallied to demand an end to state terror from Minneapolis to Palestine.

Attendees waved Palestine and Venezuelan flags in the busy intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Oak Grove on the corner of Loring Park and displayed a banner on the pedestrian bridge over I-94 reading “Free Palestine: End ethnic cleansing.”

Minneapolis has once again become the epicenter in the struggle against state terror. Earlier this month, the Trump administration deployed 2000 ICE agents to Minneapolis. As a result of the escalated ICE presence, on January 7, ICE agents killed Renee Nicole Good, who was protecting immigrant community members. The crackdown on civil liberties and human rights in the U.S. mirror the experiences that Palestinians encounter in the West Bank daily.

Cece Maves, a member of the AWC stated. “Renee Good was denied medical care on the scene. She was called a ‘domestic terrorist’ by our government before her body was even laid to rest. It reminds me of the raids in the West Bank that Palestinians still face to this day, where emergency services are denied, and the victims of violence are immediately villainized by Israeli forces.”

Dr. Christine Harb, a member of USPCN told the crowd, “On January 6, my brother sent me videos from Birzeit University in the West Bank, where Hamas has no control or jurisdiction, of Israeli soldiers raiding the school with tear gas and wounding dozens of students who are simply pursuing their education. On January 7, ICE raided Roosevelt High School here in Minneapolis, terrifying students and their teachers to the point that kids don’t want to go to school anymore.”

Allison Gunderson, a member of WAMM and the AWC ended the rally, stating, “As anti-imperialists, we know these events don’t happen in a vacuum. We know they are all rooted in one cause: U.S. imperialism. Every innocent life taken in Palestine, every innocent life taken defending the Bolivarian Revolution, and every innocent life taken by the hands of ICE and MPD all serves to feed the same bloodthirsty machine that will continue to lash out and cause chaos and violence until it is put down like the sick dog that it is! So we have one job: and that is to keep showing up and keep strengthening the solidarity between these struggles!”

The event was organized by the Minnesota Anti War Committee (AWC) and included speakers from the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM).

This protest took place just a day after a massive anti-ICE rally, showing that Minneapolis continues to show up to fight back against state terror both here and abroad.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #AWCMN #WAMM #USPCNMN #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN – On January 3, 400 people rallied and marched to demand an end to U.S. intervention in Venezuela. The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) organized the emergency protest after reports of overnight bombings in Caracas and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by U.S. special operations forces.

The action began with a rally, where protesters gathered on a cold afternoon near a busy Minneapolis intersection, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting “No war on Venezuela,” “No blood for oil” and “Free President Maduro!”

Drake Myers, a Freedom Road Socialist Organization member and public school educator with MFE 59 stated, “The U.S. wants oil money to go straight to the wealthiest of Wall Street, while Maduro and Venezuela want the Venezuelan poor provided for in their own sovereign country.” Myers also addressed how Venezuela used its oil revenue to make enormous strides to eliminate poverty, create social services and provide free education.

Allison Gunderson, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Women Against Military Madness, addressed Venezuela’s resilience in the face of U.S. attacks, stating, “They are an example to the world that this reality is possible, a country taking care of its people rather than pouring billions into efforts of wars that only benefit oligarchs like Trump, his cronies, and U.S. oil companies!” Having recently returned from a delegation trip to Caracas in December, Gunderson added, “when I was in Caracas, I witnessed a country that had love and solidarity not only for their own country but with all peoples struggles against U.S. imperialism.”

Relating U.S. foreign policy from Venezuela to Palestine, Nadiyah Salawdeh of the Minnesota chapter of U.S. Palestinian Community Network spoke about the term “narcoterrorist” to show the connection between these struggles, stating that “when the U.S. empire evokes the image of the scary terrorist to justify its murder of Venezuelan people it is yet more proof that nobody is free until we are all free. In the eyes of the U.S. – both the government and, let’s be honest, many of its citizens – ‘terrorist’ is a word that is used to describe somebody that they can kill with no repercussions.”

After a march through busy streets and the surrounding neighborhood, the action closed with a video message of solidarity from Chris Gilbert, who was in Caracas among a crowd ready to defend the Bolivarian process and President Maduro.

Minnesota made clear its solidarity with Venezuela, calling for the defense of national sovereignty, opposition to U.S. intervention in Venezuela, and an end to U.S. imperialism.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #MPAC #AWCMN #WAMM #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – After a year of community pressure, Minneapolis cut funding for its contract with Zencity, an Israeli tech company whose surveillance technology emerged from Israel’s military intelligence center, Unit 8200, notorious for development of surveillance and phone hacking technology.

Throughout the campaign, community members expressed concern with Zencity’s complicity with violations of Palestinian human rights, as well as its role in racist policing practices in the U.S. The campaign to “Cut the Contract” noted that ending this contract will save Minneapolis $112,500 in 2026.

Erin Michaels, an organizer with the Free Palestine Coalition, explained, “Prior to the campaign, Zencity was largely unknown in Minneapolis. Over the course of a year, Free Palestine Coalition members organized across the city, engaging thousands of residents through webinars, social media, and petitions to build public awareness and opposition. Community members from all 13 Minneapolis wards then met directly with their city council members to educate them and demand that the contract be cut. We sustained and escalated that pressure by rallying at City Hall, hand-delivering more than 2000 signed petitions to Mayor Frey and consistently showing up at city council meetings to call for an end to the contract.”

Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, speaking for Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) -Twin Cities said, “Our tax dollars should be spent in our city, not on a company with origins in a genocidal military. As Jews we know that a budget is a moral document. We are grateful to the community members and city councilors who pressure the mayor to cut the contract with Zencity.”

The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) was using Zencity to target residents with digital surveys to gather community perceptions of itself and public safety but did not proactively update the city council with such data and provided very little information to the community.

Zencity’s technology has been used by U.S. law enforcement nationally to surveil the Black community’s internet activity after high profile killings of Black people. For example, the Brooklyn Park police department contracted with Zencity after Brooklyn Center police killed Daunte Wright, a young Black man, in 2021.

Ray Himmelman of JVP-TC and Healthcare Workers for Palestine summed it up this way, “We know that investment in community means centering the voices of those who are systematically harmed by MPD and whose voices are erased by a survey targeting people via ads on social media. We need community engagement in the hands of the people of Minneapolis, with our powerful history of community care despite the abuses of MPD over the last 150 years.”

Community members have been clear – the contract with Zencity is a waste of taxpayer money and raises ethical concerns. Over 2000 people signed the petition to Cut the Contract, which was then delivered to Mayor Frey’s office in September, followed by multiple rallies that attracted hundreds of community members and public testimony. The campaign to Cut the Contract, which includes over 20 organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Twin Cities, MN BDS Communities and the Free Palestine Coalition, led a rally on November 19 outside of the city budget hearing.

After community members across Minneapolis expressed outrage, City Councilmembers Payne, Wonsley, Osman and Cashman issued a press release on November 26 requesting that Mayor Frey cut the contract by the December 1 deadline, a position supported by a supermajority of the council. On December 16, the council passed a budget that eliminates funding for Zencity, effectively withdrawing authorization for the contract and politically constraining Mayor Frey.

This makes Minneapolis the first U.S. city in over a decade to effectively cut a contract with a company in response to sustained community campaigning over ethical concerns, the most recent cases being the Veolia corporation in Boston and security firm G4S in Durham.

“Minneapolis's divestment from Zencity sets a historic precedent for divestment at the state and national level, and draws pivotal attention to the role of even our municipalities in the genocide of Palestinians. Our government institutions, including our cities, have been historically complicit – but this victory is the start of a dramatic shift,” explained Sanaa Wazwaz, chapter lead of the MN chapter of American Muslims for Palestine and a spokesperson for the Free Palestine Coalition.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #JVP #AWCMN #AMPMN