The event took place at a community center that is part of a complex with a mile-and-a-half long perimeter, and that is run like a Zionist fortress, with ex-FBI and Mossad private security.

The coalition used multiple avenues of approach to disrupt this event. On the day before the event, the Zionist’s registration link for the event was flooded, and dozens of phone calls were made to the community center holding the event. Then an action took place at the entrance and around the compound.

”I felt outraged that this event was happening in Cleveland,” said Yaseen Shaikh of American Muslims for Palestine Cleveland, “an event that promotes the illegal sale of Palestinian land. This has no place in our city.”

The heightened security was evident. There were many checkpoints to even access the community center, let alone the event.

Dr. Shereen Naser of Cleveland Palestine Advocacy Community and Moms Against Genocide said, “The Zionist and police response was exactly what I would expect in a country that has been explicitly funding and supporting a genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians for over 75 years.”

Around 30 people took part in the first portion of the action. Some stood on the side of the road with banners and signs, while others marched around the four corners of the intersection at the entrance of the community center. This small group was able to slow traffic, which was already slowed by the security checkpoint, causing traffic to back up and congest the main road.

“By being part of this action, carpooling others to it, and spreading the word,” said Shaikh “I was hoping to make holding such an event a pain for the organizers, and to let them know that the racist ideology of Zionism is not welcome in Cleveland. I wanted to materially inconvenience the organizers and the attendees of the event so as to make this land sale less successful and to make them reconsider ever holding such a program again.”

As the sun to set, a group of teenage boys left the community center and took up a position across the street from the protesters. These boys hurled insults and slurs at the protesters, members of local media, and the legal observers, all while one of their mothers filmed from a distance, evidently proud of thier sons’ behavior. As this continued, the boys felt bolder and bolder, surrounding people and following them to their cars.

As this is happening, the second phase of the action was already underway. Despite the police closing the advertised rally location, and mall security attempting to close the rally point, the organizers were able to pull off a car caravan. Around 40 cars participated in this caravan, which began as people would have begun to show up for the event. This, in conjunction with the on-the-ground protest, on top of the security checkpoints, slowed traffic to a crawl. Police then closed this major commuter road.

Shaikh stated, “I wanted to make the statement that our movement has no problem protesting outside the JCC [Jewish Community Center]. Zionists hold these events inside synagogues and Jewish community centers so that they can weaponize antisemitism against protesters, but we are crystal clear about what we are protesting. We want an end to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine, and we love our Jewish brothers and sisters, many of whom led this protest.”

Shaikh continued, “Despite our moral clarity, we encountered backlash from counter-protesters, who hurled abuse at us, got into altercations with media and police, and threatened our safety. But our love for justice and humanity is stronger than their hatred for it.”

“I think this action helped us understand our own discipline and commitment to each other,” said Naser.

Naser continued, “We were certain before, but even more committed now, that we are on the right side of history. And what a blessing to have that clarity of purpose and to be in community with others whose values allow them to stand steady in the face of those who are morally corrupt.”

#ClevelandOH #OH #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #BDS

Grand Rapids, MI – On Saturday, October 10, activists from across Michigan came together in Grand Rapids to unite their campaigns to divest from apartheid Israel and discuss the importance of such campaigns to the wider antiwar movement.

“These discussions around strategy and tactics are constantly on an organizer’s mind,” said Anthony Hegarty, the emcee for the panel. “The end goal is to get people moving politically, to build up the mass movements, to transform our society, and to strike blows against our enemies. These are not easy tasks. So how do we get there? What methods do we use? How do we respond to failures and successes? To sum it up, we learn by doing. By hitting the streets and fighting for our demands.”

Daanyal Syed from the Detroit Antiwar Committee told the crowd, “We are beginning to target the city of Detroit pension plan, which, across the separate plans, has a total of $6 billion in investments. At every step along the way we are denied information. So we're beginning with a disclosure campaign. We want to know what the city employees’ pensions are invested in. And if there are investments in Israeli companies, we are going to demand they drop those investments.”

Similarly, Libby Sinn and Nick Young from Grand Rapids spoke on their pension plan divestment campaign:

“There's precedent for this. Grand Rapids divested from apartheid South Africa in the 80s after a campaign forced the city to meet their demands,” explained Sinn. “We want them to repeat what was done in the past.”

Young explained the current day campaign: “Through FOIA requests we found out about a $1 million investment in an Israeli AI firm called N.i.C.E. We want the retirement board to drop this investment and to adopt an ethics statement that'd force them to drop any investments in countries being charged with genocide.”

City employee pensions weren't the only topic of discussion.

Matt Clark from the Michigan Divest Coalition spoke on their past wins and their current campaign.

“The MI Money Out of MIBA campaign wants to end the transfer of public funds to MIBA. And where to start with them? The acronym stands for the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator. They're an organization that promotes Israel's interests in Michigan that has been getting public money since at least 2018. As an organization, 70% of their funds come from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and in turn MIBA gets Israeli companies’ setup in our state.”

Clark continued: “Our demand is for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to terminate MIBA's current $650,000 grant and refuse to award any future contracts, loans, or grants to MIBA.”

All the panelists gave more details on their campaigns, their next steps, their successes and failures, and left the event ready for whatever struggles lay ahead them.

Attendees enjoyed coffee and snacks as the event wrapped up, ending with chants of “Free Free Palestine!” and “Michigan Divest!”

Follow Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (@palestinesolidarity_gr), the Detroit Antiwar Committee (@detroitantiwar), and Michigan Divest (@michigandivest) to learn more about all their campaigns.

PSGR and DAWC are proud members of the Antiwar Action Network, which can be found online at antiwaractionnetwork.org.

#DetroitMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #BDS

Minneapolis, MN – Dozens of community members came out Sunday, October 4, to demand an end to the production of weapons components at the Minneapolis Honeywell facility. The protest was a response to a $30.8 million no-bid contract for the plant to produce 1890 guidance components for long-range guided missiles, and the official launch of the Anti-War Committee Minnesota’s new Disarm Honeywell campaign.

The components made at the Minneapolis Honeywell plant enable the U.S. and Israeli militaries to precisely target schools like the U.N.-run Al-Jawni School in Gaza, and the Minab school in Iran using bombs, drones and missiles.

Lina Jebara, an organizer with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network – Minnesota and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) told the crowd that Palestinians have found the remains of multiple Honeywell components at the sites of bombed homes and refugee camps, with the text “Mpls, MN” etched into the parts.

Liz Bolsoni, a member of Women Against Military Madness’ U.S. out of Africa Committee and the AWC stated, “Politicians always try to tell us they can’t do anything about what’s happening halfway across the world – we’re here to say that these atrocities aren’t simply happening, they are made possible by a company right here in our city.”

This isn’t the first time the Minneapolis Honeywell plant’s weapons production has led to protest. Sarah Martin, a member of Women Against Military Madness and a long-time activist in Minneapolis, recounted her involvement in the Honeywell Project, an organized movement in the 1970s and 1980s that responded to the production of cluster bombs and guidance systems for nuclear missiles. The Honeywell Project resulted in Honeywell moving its headquarters out of Minneapolis, but the plant remains open.

In the new Minneapolis Honeywell contract, the Department of War revealed that the Minneapolis factory represents a critical vulnerability, stating that having to move the production of these guided missile components to another site could cause almost four years of delay in the production of missiles that the U.S. government wants to use in the war on Iran.

Sana Wazwaz, representing American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota reminded the crowd, “Because of our organizing, [the St. Paul city council] shut down a grant for Lockheed Martin with [a vote of] 6-0. Minnesota knows how to stand against weapons.” Wazwaz called on the Twin Cities to take this same energy to the Disarm Honeywell campaign to stop Honeywell’s manufacture of arms.

All the speakers agreed that stopping the production of these arms today will directly translate to saving people’s lives.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Honeywell #Palestine #BDS #WeaponsManufacturer

Both the city and university have funded a technology district called the Innovation Campus, which houses tenants that specialize in technology marketed to the U.S. Defense Department. The city of Bozeman entered a contract in 2022 to reimburse the infrastructure costs to the developer of the land. Now, after three buildings have been built, the city must take out bonds to pay back this developer.

To take out these bonds, the city must extend the duration of the technology district being a TIF district as well. TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funding means that as more buildings are built in a district, the tax revenue that would have gone to the city’s general fund from these buildings instead goes into a special account where it can’t be touched until the end of the TIF time period.

On September 22, the Bozeman City Commission held a public hearing to extend the life of the TIF district for 25 years. Students Against Genocide brought 30 concerned students and community members to give public comment at city hall to show the city that there was strong public opposition to them continuing to fund this campus full of war profiteers.

Many people brought up their own ways they would be personally affected by continuing to fund the Innovation Campus, when the money could be going towards services in the city,

One student stated they wished the land had stayed “a field of dreams” instead of becoming what it is now. Another said that the students who showed up tonight were the real representatives of Montana State University, compared to the representative that was sent by the university to state their support for the Innovation Campus.

After three hours of discussion, all the commissioners voted yes to taking out bonds and extending the TIF district. Some of their choices were due to the contract having already been signed in 2022 – if they decided not to pay the developer now, there would be fear of litigation.

The commissioners went back and forth on what other steps could be taken to ensure that companies tied to war could not continue to have space on the Innovation Campus. Some believed that it was unnecessary, while other commissioners were willing to continue to fight against war profiteers coming to Bozeman. Whether there is support from the city or not, Students Against Genocide will continue to speak out against the university funding these companies until they are gone.

#BozemanMT #MT #StudentMovement #MontanaStateUniversity #AntiWarMovement #BDS #WeaponsManufacturers #Palestine

North Charleston, SC – On Tuesday, September 8, over 20 community members joined the Elbit Out of South Carolina (EOSC) coalition’s picket of a Charleston County Council meeting to demand a cancellation of the tax breaks given to Elbit Systems.

Outside of the public services building, participants filled the plaza with signs linking Council Chair Joe Boykin to the body’s failure to end the tax breaks and chanted “Boykin, Boykin your hands are red, over five hundred thousand Palestinians dead!” and “County council you will see, we’ll kick Elbit out of SC!”

The picket was seen as an escalation of anti-war activists' efforts to compel the council to end the Fee in Lieu of Tax (FILOT) agreement with the Israeli weapons manufacturer, through meetings with councilmembers and public comment speakouts.

Two EOSC organizers also used the public comment period of the meeting to again demand an end to the FILOT, call attention to the picket happening outside, and read messages written by Boykin’s constituents who signed EOSC’s petition demanding an end to the tax breaks.

“In the almost five years since the FILOT was signed, our public schools have lost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars as a direct result of your action,” stated Zach Hall, EOSC organizer and member of Charleston Democratic Socialists of America. “At the same time, Elbit has made bomb bodies and howitzer cannons in Ladson that it sells to commit war crimes and genocide. This is a losing deal for working-class people in Charleston and working-class people around the world.”

The combined picket and public comment drew the attention of many council members who remarked on the anti-war activists' presence. Most notably, Boykin, who had previously missed an EOSC community meeting in his district because of a lobbying trip to Israel, noted there are two-sides to every story and that “it’s not a role for county council to involve itself in. We are here to serve the citizens of Charleston County and govern accordingly.”

Attendees of the picket listening in through the council’s live stream laughed at Boykin’s closing remarks.

“It’s amazing that after two years of organizing at county council that councilmembers can still peddle the lie that the FILOT is serving Charleston County,” remarked Nate Hubler, an EOSC organizer and member of the Lowcountry Action Committee (LAC). “It's obvious that defunding Charleston’s public school system of millions of dollars doesn’t serve the citizens of Charleston County.”

The picket continued for another hour after the council meeting ended. “We wanted to make sure every single council member had to walk by the picket and make the choice to either ignore us or engage with their constituents,” said Matt Colburn, a member of LAC.

Boykin, almost an hour after the meeting concluded, was the final councilmember to leave the public services building. He was escorted to his car by multiple police officers and refused to make eye contact as the crowd chanted, “Boykin, Boykin you can’t hide! You’re supporting genocide!”

#CharlestonSC #SC #AntiWarMovement #BDS #ElbitSystems

Jacksonville, FL – On Tuesday, August 8, community members of the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN) mobilized to Jacksonville City Council to demand the Police and Fire Pension Fund Board of Trustees not reinvest into TEVA Pharmaceuticals and divest its investment portfolios from Israel and Israeli companies.

TEVA Pharmaceuticals is a predatory company that helped fuel the fentanyl crisis, and it functions as an economic and societal pillar of the genocidal, war-mongering state of Israel. Despite the Jacksonville’s Police and Fire Pension Fund (PFPF) being in a 45% underfunded state of crisis, it currently has $200 million invested in Israeli bonds with $2 million invested into TEVA Pharmaceutical junk bonds specifically, one of which is up for renewal on October 1, less than a month away.

The press conference at the start of the mobilization served as the official launch of the new campaign, detailing reasons for the community and the PFPF board to act with urgency on the matter of divestment.

JPSN’s press representative stated, “While everyday Jacksonville residents are struggling to afford basic medical care, in just the past decade, Teva has been found guilty in multiple lawsuits, settling for billions of dollars for fraudulence and drug price fixing.”

Public comment from community members echoed shared sentiments of struggling to afford basic needs and advocated for better funding for social programs. One speaker stated, “The $2 million invested into TEVA could provide 20 million meals, according to Feeding America, for Jacksonville families that have recently experienced a lapse in SNAP benefits.”

Speakers presented the case that investments in companies like TEVA are a root cause of skyrocketing city debt that diverts funds from the community.

Immediately after the mobilization, members of JPSN conversed with Jacksonville residents and found unity on the demands that our tax dollars should benefit the people of Jacksonville, not an Israeli foreign corporate entity, that repeatedly breaks U.S. laws, actively chooses to harm our communities, drains local resources, and perpetuates the genocide of the Palestinian people.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #BDS #Palestine #TevaPharmaceuticals

Salt Lake City, UT – On Tuesday, August 25, members of the Utah Anti-War Committee met with Salt Lake District 1 Councilor Jiro Johnson. Johnson’s county council district covers a Raytheon facility, which the UAWC has been campaigning against since May. The anti-war activists demanded that Johnson publicly condemn the Raytheon facility in his district.

The meeting was secured after activists packed Salt Lake County Council earlier in August, calling on Johnson to introduce legislation against the facility. At the meeting, Johnson at first did not commit to issuing a written and public condemnation of Raytheon, citing concerns around Republican backlash to his policy agenda.

Activists continued to push for a firm anti-Raytheon, anti-war stance at the meeting. They gave the deadline of September 16, marking 200 days since the start of Trump’s war against Iran, in which a Raytheon Tomahawk missile killed over 100 schoolchildren at an Iranian girls’ school.

After the meeting, UAWC took to social media to urge the community to call on Johnson to take a side against Raytheon. In comment sections and Instagram stories, more community members began to call on Johnson to condemn the war-profiteering facility in his district.

Soon, Johnson relented, posting on August 28 the public, written condemnation of war and Raytheon, which activists had demanded, on his official social media page.

“It's despicable that corporations like Raytheon and other members of the military-industrial complex are getting rich off this violence,” Johnson’s statement read.

In their own statement, the UAWC said, “This condemnation was demanded by activists and did not come from nowhere, and it was not easy to win. It was the result of deliberate and sustained anti-Raytheon activism by the community since May of this year.”

“A statement from the councilor where Raytheon operates is a good step. We count it as a win. But clearly, much more is needed to stop the U.S. war machine,” continued UAWC.

Those wanting to join the anti-war movement and build on this victory should attend the next Utah Anti-War Committee meeting on Saturday, September 5, 3 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Main Library Level 3 Conference Room.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #UAWC #BDS #Raytheon

Philadelphia, PA – On Wednesday evening, August 26, over 80 protesters gathered outside the entrance of the Pennsylvania Convention Center to protest the war profiteers attending the Defense Industrial Base Accelerator, a convention centered around building the U.S. industrial base for greater war production.

It is not surprising that Philadelphia would be chosen to host such a convention. There has recently been a bipartisan push at local and national levels to bolster the position of the defense industry in Philadelphia.

Just last August, Trump cooked up a deal with Republic of Korea President Lee Jae Myung which entailed a direct investment of $5 billion into shipbuilding venture Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc. so that it may expand its facilities and workforce to take on U.S. military contracts. This July, Trump announced a $10 billion investment for new defense industry jobs at the first ever Pennsylvania Defense and & Innovation Summit. At the same conference, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency awarded a $2 billion contract to Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc. for new missile instrumentation ships. Rhoads Industries, right next door to the shipyard, also secured a $24 million investment from JPMorgan Chase for skilled workforce training and the development of nuclear sub facilities.

Protesters lined up along the road with banners reading “Hanwha out of Philly – no war profiteers in our city!” and “Smash U.S. imperialism.” Some carried effigies of IDF soldiers and ICE agents hanging from nooses.

A member of Koreans for Decolonization, representing the Philly Alliance Against Imperialism, spoke out against Hanwha’s presence at the convention, stating, “The Korean people do not want war and division. But these money-hungry companies are willing to cash checks into the U.S. war economy while exploiting Korean and American workers. Hanwha is an arm of U.S. imperialism, from its partnerships with the IOF to the UAE, and until the U.S. imperialist project is destroyed, Hanwha will continue to contribute to the violence and genocide it benefits from.”

Members of Philadelphia Students for Justice in Palestine also highlighted the presence of Philly-headquartered Day and Zimmerman, an artillery manufacturing company and IDF supplier, at the convention.

After an hour of speeches, protesters entered Broad Street, marched around the convention center and dispersed.

#PhiladephiaPA #PA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Hanwha #WarIndustry #BDS

On Tuesday, August 25th, members of Utah Anti-War Committee met with Salt Lake District 1 Council member Jiro Johnson.

We demanded that Johnson formally and publicly condemn the Raytheon AST weapons facility located in his district in West Valley City. Raytheon makes bombs and guided missiles for the Israeli and U.S. military. These weapons are used in well-documented war crimes in Iran and Palestine.

Earlier in August, our movement won a verbal statement against Raytheon from Johnson in County Council. But he stopped short of agreeing to write a public anti-war condemnation of Raytheon. Johnson said he needed to “consider” before condemning Raytheon AST, as he feared political backlash from Republicans against his policy agenda.

He told community members in our meeting that, “children are dying every day, but I need to think of the political ramifications.”

This is an issue of right and wrong, and about where average people in Salt Lake want political power spent. There can be political costs to doing the right thing. But Raytheon is a company profiting off bombing civilians in tents in Gaza and killing unarmed schoolgirls in Iran.

What’s worse, Raytheon does it with our taxes while housing, education, jobs, healthcare, and our environment are left on the wayside. Jiro Johnson should release a statement against Raytheon AST. He ran for Council on a progressive platform, and the war-profiteering facility is in his district.

A statement from the County Councilor wh