News and Views from the People's Struggle
St. Paul, MN – Members of the Minnesota Climate Justice Committee (CJC) held a bannering, December 15, in opposition to Lawton Standard (formerly known as Northern Iron) in Eastside neighborhood of Saint Paul on Sunday.
St. Paul, MN – On the afternoon of Saturday, December 14, Twin Cities community members came together to protest outside the offices of Pro-Life Action Ministries, an anti-abortion Christian organization. The Minnesota Abortion Action Committee held a vigil to remember those who have passed away due to restrictions on abortion care, then transitioned into a rally to show that the community does not welcome Pro-Life Action Ministries and its hateful rhetoric.
By Elowyn Pfeiffer and Iemawn Chughtai
Saint Paul, MN – 110 members of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 (SPFE) gathered on Monday, November 25 for a member meeting in which a vote was held for the union local to sign on to a letter urging President Biden to enact an arms embargo on Israel and work towards a ceasefire in Gaza, and to put pressure on their national union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to do the same.
Minneapolis, MN – On December 3 and 5, activists from the Free Palestine Coalition and Students for a Democratic Society came together at the Public Service Center while the Minneapolis city council voted on a proposed resolution to stand in solidarity with the protesters arrested during the occupation of Morrill Hall – renamed Halimy Hall – at the University of Minnesota.
St. Paul, MN – On the morning of December 10, 80 members and supporters of the Minnesota Free Palestine Coalition rallied inside and outside the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) meeting. The rally came after the board’s decision to convert their quarterly open public meeting into a small hybrid in-person/online format, without live public testimony.
St. Paul, MN – On December 5, 45 people protested outside of the Minnesota Senate Building in 15-degree weather to demand that members of the board vote to divest the state of Minnesota from investments in Israel. The protest, held ahead of the board’s December 10 meeting, was organized by the Free Palestine Coalition.
St. Paul, MN – On November 29, around 50 Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) Palestine solidarity activists held their weekly bannering at the busy intersection of Snelling and Summit Avenues in Saint Paul.
The day marked the start of the holiday shopping season People driving or walking by the rally saw Palestinian flags waving in the wind and activists holding signs, as a reminder that there is still a genocide taking place in Palestine.
Minneapolis, MN – On November 22, over 100 union educators attended an informational event about Palestine, “Being an Educator in a Time of War and Genocide.” They braved a cold Friday night to attend, as well as attacks from backward groups outside their union, including smears from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Columbia Heights, MN – On Saturday, November 23, over 100 protesters gathered along Columbia Heights’s busy Central Avenue to protest U.S. support for Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. The protest called for solidarity with the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine, an end to U.S. aid and weapons shipments to Israel, and for the state of Minnesota to divest from Israel.
Minneapolis, MN – Around 50 people rallied for reproductive rights outside Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office on the brisk afternoon of Sunday, November 24. The Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) organized the protest, which came at a pivotal time given the re-election of Donald Trump, whose first-term Supreme Court appointees voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Since the election, organizers with MNAAC have emphasized the need to take action against a familiar administration, one which promises to further do away with abortion rights. Addressing the situation in Minnesota, MNAAC member Maggie Moynihan told the crowd, “Clinics that offer real help and healthcare are few and far between in Minnesota, but the people who need their services are many.”
Organizers chose Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office as the location for the rally to draw attention to the bipartisan failures of politicians to codify abortion and to end the genocide in Palestine. While Klobuchar has a commendable track record speaking in favor of reproductive rights, she has failed to meaningfully pursue her campaign promise of “reinstating Roe.” She has also failed to uphold human rights at large, voting to continue military aid to Israel as recently as November 20.
Other groups at the protest included the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Climate Justice Committee and Anti-War Committee, as well as many supporters in the movement for women’s and reproductive rights.
While the rally primarily focused on the right to safe access to abortion, speakers also drew connections to the fight for a free Palestine. Crista Ocampo of the Anti-War Committee phrased this solidarity well, stating “The politicians who are sending bombs and military aid to uphold apartheid occupation are the same politicians who are stripping our rights away here in the states.” Ocampo went on to say, “It doesn’t matter if it’s here in the U.S. or in Gaza or the West Bank, when our rights are under attack, we will use everything we have to fight back.”
#MinneapolisMN #MN #WomensMovement #ReproductiveRights #Abortion #Trump #MNAAC