Tallahassee, FL – On February 18, the Tallahassee City Commission’s meeting marked a win for organizers, who were allowed to wield signs protesting the city’s collaboration with ICE in defiance of the commission’s attempts to repress them. At the previous meeting in January, the city commission and Tallahassee Police Department tried to illegally confiscate the signs of attendees, and conservative Mayor John Dailey ended the meeting early when they refused to comply.

Even though the city commission only gives each attendee three minutes to speak, the huge crowd that packed the January 14 meeting still managed to talk to the commission for almost three hours about the overwhelming public opposition to TPD’s 287(g) agreement with ICE and the city’s decision to sell land containing the unmarked graves of enslaved people to a notoriously racist country club. That should have taught Mayor Dailey that the city needed to listen to the people of Tallahassee, but instead he decided the problem was letting the public speak at all.

At the start of February’s meeting, the commission voted to limit public comment to 30 minutes, only hearing the first ten speakers who sign up, even though public comment comes at the end of a full day of meetings. To make sure that you can speak to the city commission, you now have to show up at 2 or 3 p.m. on a Wednesday, in the middle of the workday, and sit through hours of bureaucracy until around 6 p.m. to be allowed to talk. This effectively bans working-class people from being heard by their city government and represents a clear escalation in the struggle between the commission’s conservative majority and Tallahassee’s growing immigrant rights movement.

Organizers and community members continued to stand up to the commission’s attacks on free speech. Residents hid 8.5 x 11 signs in their pockets denouncing the 287(g) agreement, pulling them out when speakers finally came up.

Mayor Dailey, shaken by the presence of journalists in the room, was forced to back down and allow the signs rather than threaten to arrest attendees again for expressing their anger with the city’s inaction. Visibly exasperated, he tried to play this weakness off as generosity, saying that these signs were “fine, because they’re a regular sheet of paper.” Speakers wasted no time in calling out his hypocrisy, pointing out that the signs hadn’t changed at all – what had changed was the unpopularity of the city’s repressive tactics.

“We’ve seen an outpouring of civic participation in local government. In a city this small, you guys should be excited to see this level of participation if you cared about democracy,” said Joelle Nuñez, president of the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance. “But instead your response to people being upset at what you’re doing is to keep pushing more unpopular measures to restrict free speech. We’re trying to open the gates for people to participate, and you’re here actively shutting them. We want a public town hall to talk about 287(g), where we have more than 30 minutes to speak, and we want y’all to listen to us. That’s all.”

Nonprofit founder Stanley Sims, a longtime critic of the commission, pointed out that at a previous meeting a group of white suburbanites had been allowed to bring much larger signs without pushback to protest a planned gas station in their neighborhood, yet the government was silencing citizens who were concerned about issues predominantly affecting Black and Latino people.

Commissioners seemed willing to waver on the 30-minute speaking time limit, at least while the cameras were rolling. Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, a progressive and Dailey’s main competitor in the race for mayor, pressured the conservative majority into relenting and giving all of the registered speakers for this meeting their three minutes.

Commissioner Jack Porter, another progressive, proposed a resolution to revisit the time limit in a public meeting, denouncing the fact that the previous decision was made behind closed doors without public input. This time the conservatives stood their ground, and Commissioners Diane Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson joined Mayor Dailey in voting the resolution down, citing the same tired complaints about “decorum” that they used to justify shutting down the last meeting.

Delilah Pierre, president of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, replied, “I’m so tired of the word ‘decorum’, that word that’s just used as an excuse to repress the community. You get to be isolated from the problems that people are facing, but the people who are being murdered by ICE and the people in Tallahassee who are watching graves being built over don’t have time for ‘decorum’ in their lives.”

Pierre continued, “Banning public comment isn't a sign of strength – it’s a sign of your internal weakness. It's a sign that you know that people will show up again and again to call you out because you represent the interests of the Trump administration in Tallahassee, and it’s time that everybody knows about it.”

TIRA will join other community organizations on International Women’s Day, March 8, to march for justice for immigrant women. For more information, visit TIRA’s pages on Facebook or Instagram (@tlh_ira).

#TallahasseeFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CityCouncil #TIRA #TCAC

Minneapolis, MN – At their April 25 meeting, the Minneapolis city council passed an honorary resolution recognizing May 1 as International Workers Day and highlighting the struggle for immigrant and workers’ rights. The resolution was presented by Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai together with Councilmembers Aurin Chowdhury and Jason Chavez.

Members of several unions and immigrant rights organizations that have organized marches on May 1 over the years in Minneapolis were present to receive the resolution. This included members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Minnesota Workers United, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, COPAL, CTUL, Minnesota Immigrant Movement, as well as members of the Ironworkers and Teamsters unions. 

Here is the text of the resolution passed by the Minneapolis city council:

Whereas: Around the world May 1 is celebrated as International Workers Day – in over 60 countries it is a holiday to recognize struggles for workers’ rights; and

Whereas: May 1 was first celebrated in the United States in 1886 as part of the struggle for the eight-hour workday, and hundreds of thousands of workers across the country went on strike to demand better working conditions and shorter hours; and

Whereas: Many of the workers who struggled for the eight-hour workday in 1886 were immigrant and Black workers among others who had been previously excluded from the actions around labor and faced repression, discrimination, and violence; and

Whereas: May 1st celebrations returned to Minneapolis in 2006 because of the dedicated work done by the immigrant rights movement to counter discrimination and human rights violations against immigrants at the national level and strengthen relationship between organized labor and immigrant workers; and

Whereas: The Minneapolis City Council passed resolutions in 2007 (2007R-218) and 2009 (2009R-181) recognizing the growing immigrant and workers’ rights rallies in Minneapolis on May 1, which have continued annually through the present year; and

Whereas: Minneapolis has a long history of immigrant and workers’ rights advocates coming together in the spirit of solidarity; and

Whereas: Immigrants, workers, and their families are an essential and valued component of our Minneapolis community; and

Whereas: Labor unions and the historic and present advocacy of working people has resulted in economic, social, and political transformation for the dignity of all people here in Minneapolis and around the world;

—NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED—

That the Mayor and City Council do hereby recognize May 1, 2024, as International Workers Day in recognition of immigrant and workers’ rights.

This year on May 1 in Minneapolis, a coalition of more than 30 immigrant rights organizations, unions, and social justice organizations are planning to march for immigrant and workers’ rights. They will gather at 5 p.m. at the corner of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue, outside of the former MPD Third Precinct, and the march will begin at 5:30 p.m.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #MayDay #MayDay2024 #CityCouncil #MIRAC #MNWU #Teamsters #COPAL #CTUL

St. Paul, MN – The Saint Paul city council unanimously passed a ceasefire resolution at their meeting on March 6. Councilmember Cheniqua Johnson introduced the ceasefire resolution in front of a packed chamber. The resolution calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to unconditional U.S. aid to Israel, the release of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners, and facilitation of the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

With passage, Saint Paul is the fifth Minnesota city to pass a ceasefire resolution, following Minneapolis, Columbia Heights, Hastings and Moorhead. However, the wording is not as progressive as the Minneapolis resolution, which is being held up nationally as being groundbreaking for calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.

Elizabeth McLister was in the chamber during passage, “ I'm grateful that another city council has passed a ceasefire resolution. I'm proud of the hard work that facilitated this achievement. But this move needn't have taken so long and the resolution that wound up passing should have been Yang's more principled draft. As a Saint Paul resident, I won't soon forget that Nelsie Yang was the solitary conscientious voice within a body of supposedly forward-thinking elected officials – a body that thwarted attempts at transparency, collaboration and accountability at every step and finally relented for fear of bad optics.” McLister, a Saint Paul resident, is a member of the MN Anti-War Committee and MN Families for Palestine.

Supporters from the Free Palestine Coalition attended weekly city council meetings and participated in call-in days for a month to pressure the council to take action. At last week’s meeting, Councilmember Nelsie Yang tried to introduce a ceasefire resolution but she was stopped by Council President Mitra Jalali, who abruptly ended the meeting. The Free Palestine Coalition had been working closely with Yang to get a resolution introduced.

Sarah Martin, a member of Women Against Military Madness and the Free Palestine Coalition explained, “Despite being an all women, young, progressive council representing many oppressed nationality communities, all but one were reluctant and resistant to passing a resolution and refused to meet and collaborate with the Free Palestine Coalition. We gave them a version modeled on the strong progressive Minneapolis resolution with the addition of the costs to the community of the U.S. support of the Israeli genocide. Councilwoman Nelsie Yang, daughter of Hmong refugees, worked closely with us. In the end, the council bowed to the community pressure and passed a watered down version of the resolution we wanted.”

The Free Palestine Coalition’s next action is to march in Saint Paul on March 9 for International Women’s Day.

#StPaulMN #TwinCitiesMN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #MNAWC #WAMM #MNFPC #CityCouncil #Ceasefire

Columbia Heights, MN – On Monday, February 26, the city council of Columbia Heights voted 4-1 to pass a resolution calling for an end to Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza. The Columbia Heights community packed the room, as it did at a previous city council meeting to provide public comment and encourage the council to vote in favor of the resolution.

The Columbia Heights resolution is just one example of a wave of historic resolutions adopted by cities across the country. Minneapolis has passed the most progressive ceasefire resolution in the U.S., which calls for an end not only to the genocide in Gaza, but also to all military aid to Israel. Columbia Heights’ resolution cites the International Court of Justice’s ruling against Israel and demands an immediate halt of all weapons shipments that may be used in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The Free Palestine Coalition, a Twin Cities-based coalition of Palestine activist groups like the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, American Muslims for Palestine-MN; Faculty, Librarians, Alumni, Graduate Students, and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FLAGS-JP), and many others, organized several call-in campaigns and turned out community members to city council meetings to make an impact on the council.

Brandon Veal, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, states, “All of [the council members’] statements focused on how this was very much a local issue. Many of the members pointed out that they received more calls and emails from members of the community about this issue than any other as long as they’ve been on the council.”

Veal continued, “As the final vote was made, the crowd erupted in applause for the successfully passed resolution. There were many moments of warm embraces from community members. Both the meeting two weeks ago and Monday’s felt like times of collective grieving and healing. At the previous meeting, community members stepped up to the podium one by one to express why this resolution was so important to them, something that went on for nearly three hours.”

Over 70 cities across the U.S. have now passed resolutions demanding a ceasefire. The Free Palestine Coalition is currently campaigning to get a similar resolution passed in Saint Paul. Dr. Sima Shakhsari, a member of FLAGS-JP, stated “It was heartwarming and refreshing to see the Columbia Heights city council take the time to listen to their constituents and vote for a ceasefire. As a Saint Paul resident, I hope that my city council members join Columbia Heights and stand on the right side of history by voting to stop this genocide.”

#ColumbiaHeightsMN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #CityCouncil #Ceasefire #MNAWC #AMP #FPC #SJP

St. Paul, MN – On February 27, over 100 students rallied on Macalester College campus, followed by a march to the high-traffic intersection of Snelling and Summit Avenues, to demand that Saint Paul city council take a stand and pass a ceasefire resolution.

At the intersection the students chanted, “City council you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!” at rush hour traffic, with a dozen supporters who joined off the street.

Minneapolis, Saint Paul’s neighboring city, passed one of the most progressive ceasefire resolutions in the country on February 8, calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. Despite this, Saint Paul city council has shown considerable resistance to even introducing a ceasefire resolution, which has already been written by a coalition of local organizations, to be voted on.

Despite the hundreds of calls from supporters of a ceasefire resolution and Palestine activists packing the city council meetings for weeks, so far only city council member Nelsie Yang has agreed to introduce and support a ceasefire resolution.

The protest was led by a coalition of student activist groups from across the local colleges and universities, including Mac for Palestine, St Kate’s Student’s for Justice in Palestine (SJP), University of Minnesota SDS and SJP, as well as students from Hamline University and Augsburg College.

A senior at Macalester college and a member of Mac for Palestine, spoke to the crowd, saying “If we cannot convince those who hold positions of power to act on their humanity alone, we must wield our collective power as students to act as an organized front against institutional complicity in genocide.”

Mac for Palestine’s main focus currently is pushing Saint Paul city council for a ceasefire resolution, having marched students to join Women Against Military Madness’ weekly rallies for Palestine every Friday for the past several months.

Emily Chu of UMN SDS, stated “It is our moral obligation to resist the imperialist, war-mongering machinations of our government and say no more to the genocide that has taken the lives of over 30,000 Palestinians.”

#StPaulMN #AntiWarMovement #StudentMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #SDS #SJP #CityCouncil #Ceasefire

St. Paul, MN – On February 21, the Free Palestine Coalition organized their Saint Paul supporters to pack the Saint Paul city council meeting for the third week in a row to show support for their passage of a ceasefire resolution.

When Palestine solidarity activists tried to speak during the public comment section they were told that their comments were not on topic and that they had to stop talking.

When Council President Mitra Jalali cut off Sana Wazwaz and said that there would not be any consideration of a ceasefire resolution, the chamber erupted with chants like “Saint Paul council you can't hide, help us stop this genocide!”

Eventually Jalali called for a recess and the entire city council, except for Council Member Nelsie Yang, who stayed to hear speeches of support from the public for a ceasefire. Yang is the only council member who has agreed to introduce and vote for a ceasefire resolution.

Even though similar ceasefire resolutions have passed in city councils in Minneapolis, Hastings, and 70 cities across the United States, six of the seven Saint Paul council members are blocking even the proposal of such a resolution.

After stopping the meeting, the Free Palestine Coalition held a press conference in front of Saint Paul City Hall where residents spoke out in favor of a ceasefire resolution.

Kent Mori is a Ward 4 resident, a member of the Climate Justice Committee and a longtime Palestine supporter who spoke to the crowd after the meeting: “We’ve been told that the issue is too complex, complicated, too this, too that, for a ceasefire resolution in Saint Paul. Well, I’m here to say, it’s simple. Do you support the mass murder in Gaza that is being perpetrated by Genocide Joe, other Democratic Party officials like Amy Klobuchar and the Israeli regime? Or do you support the Palestinian people, the overwhelming majority of the people across the world, indeed, the majority of the American people in a just demand for a ceasefire?”

Deb Konechne, a Ward 1 resident and member of AFSCME Local 34, also spoke to the crowd, addressing the irony that they are trying to persuade Saint Paul’s first all-female city council to take action, “ I have heard that members of my city council say that this is not their issue, that they don’t deal with international issues, that this is not a local issue. Since when, as women, as mothers, as humanitarians did we stop caring about the plight of women and children anywhere in the world? When did we become so shallow, so limited that we can put on blinders to ignore the atrocities, the maiming, the murder of tens of thousands, the majority of whom are women and children?”

Other speakers included Saint Paul residents Brad Sigal with the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee; Lana Barkawi with Mizna; Max Vast, president of AFSCME 3800; Ashraf Ashkar with MN Break the Bonds, and Dr. Sima Shakhsari, a University of Minnesota professor.

#StPaulMN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #MNAWC #MNFreePalestineCoalition #CityCouncil #Ceasefire

St. Paul, MN – On February 9, 60 activists rallied at the weekly Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) Free Palestine bannering to celebrate the historic victory in Minneapolis, On February 8, the Minneapolis city council voted to override the mayor's veto and passed the strongest ceasefire resolution in the country, which included a demand for the U.S. to end aid to Israel. Activists at the rally vowed to continue the work for a similar resolution in Saint Paul. The Saint Paul campaign began this week with a large rally at the Saint Paul City Hall and by packing the city council meeting the next day.

#StPaulMN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #CityCouncil #Ceasefire #WomensMovement #WeekOfAction4Palestine

Tacoma, WA – A group of about 30 people disrupted the Tacoma city council meeting Tuesday, February 6, demanding the city issue a statement of support to the Palestinian people and an end to U.S. aid to Israel.

The crowd gathered outside the Tacoma Municipal Building as the council meeting was beginning inside. Demonstrators chanted “Gaza Gaza you will rise, Palestine will never die!” and “Israel bombs, USA pays, How many kids were killed today?” while informational fliers were handed out. The fliers highlighted how over $300 billion in U.S. aid has been sent to Israel since 1948, and that money has been used to kill hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Of those killed in these attacks, 40% were children.

Demonstrator Cosmo Cali described the importance of this fight, saying “These are people's lives. These people have dreams. These people have children. These people have fears, and they are human, they have blood in their bodies, they are living breathing beings who have come here to exist not to be murdered and destroyed.”

Amira White, another demonstrator, pointed out that the city has “been silent about a lot of things. And honestly, it’s all about the power of the community at this point to continue to speak up and raise awareness.”

The crowd then moved into the council meeting. They marched to the front of the meeting, and in a call-and-response style chant made their demands to the crowded room. Mayor Victoria Woodards called a recess, and the majority of council members left the chambers – except the newly elected city council member Jamika Scott. She stayed to hear out the community's demands for a statement of support to Palestine. “Stop bombing Gaza” echoed through the municipal building as the demonstrators then marched back outside.

Once outside, community members rallied and gave speeches, many of which discussed other upcoming actions in Tacoma. This disruption was part of a week of action called by U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression. As part of this, there were several more events planned in Tacoma and Seattle including a banner drop and a road blockade later that week.

White also linked the genocide in Gaza to other struggles for liberation around the globe, stating, “It's happening here in the United States, it's happening in the Congo, Sudan, Palestine. It’s happening everywhere. And that’s what this country was based on in the first place – genocide and stealing land.”

The connection between the genocide of the indigenous people in the U.S. and Palestine was a common theme. Apo Skye Cyr described their feelings, saying “I feel angry, and ashamed of this country. As an indigenous person I am furious, frankly, that this country was stolen from my ancestors and abused to the point where now it’s happening again.” They described the connection between Israel and the U