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.
New Orleans, LA – On January 16, a group of students and other activists gathered in freezing temperatures outside the federal building to rally against the recent U.S./UK intervention in Yemen.
Islam Elrabieey, an Egyptian speaker representing NOLA Freedom Forums, painted a picture of Gaza, describing “men sleeping on concrete, women and children with the luxury of a tent to protect against wind.”
New Orleans, LA – On Monday, January 15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) hosted an MLK Fight Back March starting at A.L. Davis Park at noon. About 100 members of the community came out in attendance, even marching in the rain as showers briefly passed over the demonstration.
They chanted “New Orleans, we’re on a roll, we’re fighting for community control!” as they took the streets down Claiborne Avenue and MLK Boulevard.
New Orleans, LA – On January 12 at around 1 p.m., Teamsters union baristas at French Truck Coffee on Chartres Street walked off the job to demand safety at work.
New Orleans, LA – On January 12 at 11 a.m., about a dozen protesters laid on the sidewalk in front of the Hyatt Regency during an annual luncheon for Greater New Orleans Incorporated (GNO Inc).
They rolled out banners reading “End collaboration with Israel” and “Genocidal New Orleans Inc: No innovation with occupation.”
New Orleans, LA – On January 11, with 90% support, workers at Starbucks on St. Claude filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The store is located near the French Quarter and serves some tourists and locals.
“How I see it, unionizing my store will allow not only myself, but also my fellow partners to join together and create the ideal workspace for all of us. We've all decided the best way for us to see promising results is to take action into our hands and handle the situation ourselves,” said Julian Missy, an organizer and worker at the store for over a year.
New Orleans, LA – On January 7, over 60 motor vehicles in solidarity with Palestine occupied the streets of New Orleans on a traffic-filled football Sunday. The motorcade took place at the start of a busy parade and festival season in New Orleans, as the city geared itself to begin its 2024 Mardi Gras festivities.
Drivers decorated cars with signs, wrote messages on windows, and taped banners on bumpers. Among the protesters’ slogans were “Victory to the Palestinian resistance” and “End U.S. aid to Israel!”
New Orleans, LA – On December 10, several thousand protesters took to the streets in downtown New Orleans in support of Palestine. The march shut down several busy intersections around the city's central business district.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the Tulane 5 Defense Campaign.
The Tulane 5 are five courageous students and community members residing in New Orleans who face unfounded criminal charges. Zionists and Tulane University are pursuing them for protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation. The Tulane 5's only crime is opposing Israel’s genocide of Gaza.
