New Orleans, LA - On April 15, activists and community members in New Orleans gathered in an emergency rally at the Harol Boggs Federal Building to voice their support for Iran’s calculated and warranted retaliation against Israel’s illegal attack on the Iranian embassy and officials in Damascus, Syria. The protesters further highlighted the need to oppose any U.S. military involvement in the region that could result from Iran’s retaliation.
New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, April 9, around 100 community members filed into the gymnasium of the Treme Recreational Center for a People’s Town Hall on Policing. The town hall meeting, hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police (NOCOP), interviewed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The superintendent is the local equivalent of a chief of police. Community members spent the town hall voicing their anger with police crimes, abuses of power, civil rights violations, and lack of transparency.
New Orleans, LA – Workers took to the streets on April 6, successfully blocking traffic throughout the heart of the central business district and French Quarter as they chanted for the rights of unionized public sector workers and all workers’ rights.
The rally began in Lafayette Square, when speakers from local unions such as New Orleans City Workers Organizing Committee (NOCWOC), Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), Fair Trade Musicians, United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) and New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ) emphasized the importance of organizing in the context of the political repression faced in Louisiana.
New Orleans, LA – On March 31, over 200 LGBTQ folks and allies gathered in Washington Square Park near the French Quarter. Just an hour before the annual Gay Easter Parade, the crowd came together to hear opening remarks from organizations.
New Orleans, LA – On March 22, about 30 people rallied outside the Municipal Court of New Orleans to support Felix Allen. Allen was brutalized and arrested the day before at the Port of New Orleans during a public comment session at the port. He was charged with “obstructing an officer” and “disturbing the peace.” Videos captured by witnesses of the arrest show that Allen was cooperating when he was attacked.
New Orleans, LA – On Thursday, March 21, 60 supporters of Palestine organized by New Orleans Stop Helping Israel's Ports (NOSHIP) gathered to give public comments at the monthly board meeting of the Port of New Orleans. Participants condemned the creation of the “Innovation Embassy,” a direct business alliance and technological partnership between the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Ashdod, in Israel.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from New Orleans Stop Helping Israel's Ports (NOSHIP).
New Orleans, LA – March 21, around 3:00 pm, during public comments at the Port of New Orleans monthly board meeting, local activist Felix Allen was brutalized and arrested for standing in solidarity with Palestine.
New Orleans, LA – On Monday morning, March 18, about 40 protesters gathered in front of the City of New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court to defend activist Toni Jones. The previous Saturday, police arrested Jones at a protest against Tulane University’s ties with Israel. Jones faces trumped-up charges of battery on an officer, obstructing a public place, interfering with a lawful investigation and resisting an officer.
New Orleans – On March 16, 13 courageous members of Tulane Students for a Democratic Society carried out a die-in on campus to protest the school’s partnership with Israel. The demonstrators occupied the school’s central building during the nationally attended and Tulane-hosted New Orleans Bookfest. The festival is hosted by the university once a year and brings in thousands of attendees to watch panels and talks by well-known authors and public figures.
New Orleans, LA – On Wednesday, March 13, angry New Orleans residents disrupted this year’s New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) on its busiest day. Hosted by Idea Village, NOEW is a major networking event for tech startups, with the founder of Waitr as the featured keynote this year. Protesters disrupted this event 17 times, condemning Ideal Village’s sponsorship of the “Innovation Embassy” – a technological and trade partnership between the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Ashdod in Israel.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police, Freedom Road Socialist Organization-New Orleans, Tulane & Loyola Students for a Democratic Society, and New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports.
New Orleans, LA – March 16, around 12:30 p.m., at a protest against Tulane’s aid to Israel, local activist Toni Jones was arrested for standing in solidarity with Palestine.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 14 statement from Tulane Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Official Statement on Battery of Tulane Student by Professor Walter Isaacson
On March 13th, a Tulane student and member of Students for a Democratic Society, Rory Macdonald, was assaulted by Walter Isaacson, a Tulane professor and board member. Macdonald was protesting a Tulane-sponsored New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week panel titled “Energy Innovation at Scale” featuring Louisiana State University, ExxonMobil, and Halliburton. Isaacson, an audience member, grabbed Rory and cursed at them, battering them and leaving them with bruises on their arm and scratches on their back. The encounter was captured in multiple videos. Tulane has done nothing to protect Arab students and members of SDS from repeated harassment and threats from Zionist students, and now one of our members has been assaulted by a member of the faculty.
New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, March 9, over a 100 people rallied in front of the gates of Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans to mark International Women’s Day. Over eight organizations united to demand that people everywhere stand with the women of Palestine as they witness genocide and struggle against Zionist occupation.
New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, March 2, around 50 community members packed into a community space in the 7th Ward. There, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held a forum titled “Black Power and the need for communist organization.”
New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, February 24, students and community members gathered outside of Loyola University New Orleans to protest a pro-Israel event occuring on campus.
New Orleans, LA – On February 18, thousands of protesters from across the Gulf South and beyond gathered at 11:30 a.m. in New Orleans’ historic Congo Square. The crowd gathered to rally and then march in support of the Palestinian people and in resistance to the United States’ continued bankrolling of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
New Orleans, LA – On February 7, workers at Starbucks on Saint Claude Street won their union election in a 12 to 4 vote. This is the third Starbucks to unionize in New Orleans. Baristas complain of an unsafe work environment, lack of predictable or sufficient hours, and a workplace that is falling apart.
New Orleans, LA – On February 7, New Orleanian activists held a banner drop over a busy Interstate 10. The massive banner read “End U.S. aid to Israel”.
The organizations involved were Students for Democratic Society chapters from Loyola, Tulane and the University of New Orleans, along with New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP).
New Orleans, LA– On January 29, students, faculty, staff and community members attended a vigil for Palestine at Loyola University to mourn over 27,000 Palestinian martyrs.
After months of back-and-forth struggle with the Loyola University New Orleans administration, students were finally able to hold a vigil honoring all of the martyrs in Palestine since October 7. The vigil allowed attendees an opportunity to hear from Palestinian voices and other perspectives, and allowed them the space to stand together, mourn together, pray together and cry together.
New Orleans, LA – On January 28, over 200 motor vehicles occupied the streets of New Orleans on a busy Sunday afternoon. The motorcade was organized as a memorial in honor of Tawfic Abdeljabbar and all martyrs of Israel’s genocide.
