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

St. Paul, MN – Amid a nationwide wave of outrage against Flock automatic license plate readers, community members packed city council chambers on August 26 for a public hearing on police surveillance technology and data privacy. Dozens of community members testified to their opposition to the city’s use of the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cameras made by Flock and Axon, as well as autonomous drones manufactured by Skydio.

The public hearing was initiated after the previous week’s city council meeting, when activists with the Free Palestine Coalition (FPC) interrupted the proceedings to demand transparency around the city’s contract with Skydio and a process to end it. Organizers explained that Skydio was complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, supplying cutting-edge drones that use AI to surveil urban areas and identify potential targets.

“Skydio is a U.S. company, but the reason it scaled up its sales to institutions started when it sold hundreds of drones to the Israeli military for its genocide in Gaza,” explained FPC organizer and Saint Paul resident Wyatt Miller in his comments to the council members. “If it wasn’t necessary before a genocide, it shouldn’t be necessary now.”

In June, the FPC initiated a campaign against a proposed Skydio contract with the nearby city of Minneapolis. Hundreds of community members mobilized to urge Minneapolis not to contract with a genocide-complicit company and raised concerns around the technology’s use in the hands of the city’s infamous police department. Minneapolis City Council ultimately caved to community pressure and voted to reject the proposed Skydio contract.

The coalition then teamed up with anti-surveillance group Eyes Off Saint Paul to address the issue in that city. Advocates learned that the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) had quietly adopted a similar Skydio drone program without a public hearing, claiming the drones constituted an expansion of an existing contract, allowing it to bypass normal public process.

“We can’t find any public record of the contract. We don’t know how much money is being spent,” Miller told the council. “The only dollar amount that’s been published publicly comes as an ‘estimate’ to the media from the police department itself.”

Many speakers expressed outrage over expenditures on new surveillance tools at a time when Mayor Kaohly Her’s budget includes significant cuts and the closure of the public library in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood.

Anna Madison is a member of Eyes Off Saint Paul as well as Families Against Military Madness. “Militarized AI-powered technology continues to advance at a pace that is increasingly difficult to keep up with,” Madison explained to the council. “The only way we can ensure that this technology is not used to harm us is to end these contracts and ban AI-powered mass surveillance immediately.”

Much of the popular outrage has focused on Flock, with high-profile instances of communities destroying the stationary AI cameras around the country. At the regular Saint Paul City Council meeting that took place just before the special hearing on surveillance, the council passed a nonbinding resolution announcing the removal of two city-operated Flock cameras. However, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office reportedly continues to operate Flock cameras in Saint Paul.

Activists vowed to continue the fight, looking beyond just Flock to other city contracts with AI-powered surveillance companies. They said the oppressive nature of these technologies were demonstrated by their use during the federal anti-immigrant crackdown as well as by Israel in its oppression of Palestinians.

“Corporations cannot be trusted not to share data and recordings with immigration enforcement like what we saw with Operation Metro Surge,” Cedar Larson of Women Against Military Madness told the council. “We know that Axon recently acquired Israeli company Carbyne, which makes AI-powered emergency communications used by police. This props up Israel’s tech sector, which makes up 20% of the apartheid state’s GDP and about half of its annual exports.”

Sana Wazwaz is a Palestinian American and chapter lead of American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota, part of the FPC. “Our coalition firmly believes that no fantasy of stopping crimes is worth the greater crime of being complicit in fascism and genocide,” Wazwaz told the council. “Skydio has an active contract with the very entity that terrorized our community just this last winter. In the words of Minneapolis Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, ‘To contract with Skydio in light of what happened during Metro Surge is nothing short of morally bankrupt.’ ”

Speakers also argued that crimes committed by SPPD and other police departments showed they could not be trusted with new surveillance technologies. Officers in several states have been accused of using Flock data to stalk ex-girlfriends. An officer in Texas allegedly used the system to track the movements of a woman seeking an abortion.

Wazwaz concluded, “What we have seen with the murder of Marcus Golden here in Saint Paul, with the murders of Philando Castile, George Floyd, Jamar Clark, that law enforcement without community control over police must not be given surveillance tools.”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Skydio #Palestine #Surveillance #Flock

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 where Raytheon AST operates would represent a real blow against the Republicans’ unpopular pro-war agenda. We need to make companies profiting from war and genocide with our taxes unwelcome in our communities and demand reinvestment in people’s needs.

Johnson committed to meet UAWC again by September 16, 200 days from the start of Trump’s illegal war on Iran. It’s the perfect time for him to publicly condemn an unpopular, genocidal war-profiteer like Raytheon and call for money for Utah’s needs, not war.

We only got this meeting by months of protesting, educating, and building the anti-war movement. To strike a blow against Raytheon, we need to organize even more and stay united.

Be ready to call on Jiro Johnson to honor the progressive principles that got him elected.

Raytheon Out of Salt Lake!

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #Raytheon #BDS #Palestine #Iran

San José, CA – On August 20, the second day of the fall semester, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led a protest on the San José State University Campus. SDS has been leading a “No Tech for Genocide” campaign for several years, demanding that university administration cut all ties with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. San José State University has maintained ties with Lockheed for decades, including hosting specific engineering master’s programs tailored to send students straight to working as weapons designers.

At 1:30 p.m., students gathered at the Arch of Dignity and started chants such as “Lockheed Martin off our campus!” and “Lockheed does the killing, admin makes a killing!”

Nikki Flowers from SDS stated, “We are here to make sure our university knows we will not sit idly by. We will not allow our tuition, our resources, to be funneled into companies like Lockheed Martin.”

Flowers demanded that SJSU admin “cut all university partnerships with these war profiteers, with these defense and technology corporations, and government entities complicit with the occupation and genocide of Palestine.”

Ethan Maruyama from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “While tuition goes up every year, making living increasingly unaffordable for students, SJSU admin continues to maintain contracts with war profiteers.”

Maruyama continued, “We will not passively watch as the U.S. empire tries to consolidate the little power they can hold onto. Students on this campus and across the nation have led a long militant history of struggle, from the anti-war movement to the immigrant rights movement, and we will continue down that militant path. Through our day to day struggles, like this protest today, we can build the movement to strike blows against the enemy by continuing to put pressure on SJSU admin.”

Finally, the students stopped at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library for a speech from Jack McCann of San José Against War. “Israel continues to murder Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” McCann stated. “It is clear that institutions like San José State have made it possible for this to happen.”

The students continued to march throughout the campus, with many students joining them along the way. This action and noise demonstration called attention to SJSU's ties to war profiteers and complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. SDS will continue to pressure university administration to cut ties with Lockheed Martin, and all other war profiteers.

#SanJoseCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #StudentMovement #BDS #Palestine #LockheedMartin

Tucson, AZ – On August 20, members of the Tucson Anti-War Committee (TAWC) hosted a call-in event to tell war profiteer Howmet Aerospace that companies that profit from endless wars and genocide are not welcome in their community.

However, when TAWC members started calling, they discovered Howmet Aerospace shut down their phone lines, not even allowing voicemail messages.

As part of a national campaign, the TAWC led teach-ins on Howmet. They also flyered the community with educational information, protested outside the Howmet facility, and hosted regular call-in days. In June, TAWC members and supporters filled Howmet’s Tucson voicemail with 130 messages. They demanding that Howmet quit arming war and genocide and cut their contract with Lockheed Martin.

In response, Howmet completely shut down their phone lines for the August 20 call-in event. Howmet had the phones back up and running the next day, so TAWC members pivoted. The new tactic by TAWC is to send emails demanding Howmet stop building parts for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet and expressing outrage that tax dollars help Howmet profit off of war and genocide while people struggle to afford groceries and rent. 

Howmet primarily produces wheels and engines for commercial trucks and planes. However, 17% of their revenue comes from building specialty parts for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jets. Like all U.S. weapons, these lethal fighter jets are used to commit war crimes across the world in places like Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen and more.

They were also used in support of the murder of more than 200 fishermen off the Caribbean coast. Each jet can carry up to 18,000 pounds of bombs. These bombs strike civilian infrastructure like homes, schools and hospitals. 

Howmet shows that they prioritize profits, purposely ignore the concerns of the people. The Tucson Anti-War Committee will continue to bring the fight straight to the weapons manufacturers like Howmet.

#TucsonAZ #AZ #AntiWarMovement #TAWC #WeaponsIndustry #Palestine

Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, August 15, community members and leaders of Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN) rallied to demand an end to the U.S.-Israeli continued murder of Palestinian journalists.

The event was just five days after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Anas Al-Sharif, an award-winning frontline Palestinian journalist. Al-Sharif was murdered by a targeted airstrike on August 10, 2025, by the Israeli occupation forces.

The rally featured several speakers from JPSN who shared stories of the martyred journalists. People understand the journalists as the bearers of truth who risk their lives every day to capture the horrors of Israeli occupation for the world to see.

Reporting from Gaza has been in significant decline due to the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists. Since the start of the escalated genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, there has been a recorded 242 Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli occupation forces.

The loved ones of journalists are targets as well, with many families of journalists killed by the Israeli forces. Even after death, their stories and their voices live on through the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their unified resistance.

Immediately after the rally, JPSN hosted a vigil to honor all of the martyred journalists, reading aloud the wills of Anas Al-Sharif, Saleh Aljafawari, and Hossam Shabat. This was followed by a moment of silence. Just as Palestinian journalists resolve to report on the war and genocide in the face of death, Jacksonville protesters promised to continue their solidarity effort to not let free speech die.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Gaza #JPSN

Grand Rapids, MI – On the morning of August 19, activists walked into the Grand Rapids Retirement System board meeting with one goal in mind: “What will it take for the city pension plan to divest from Israeli companies?”

The ongoing “Grand Rapids Divest from Israel” campaign started when Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests confirmed the existence of a $1.1 million investment from the retirement system in an Israeli AI company called NiCE.

NiCE makes AI-powered software for use in anything from business management to police surveillance. 

“Word has gotten out among the broad public that our government has been funneling billions of dollars into Israel every year, and Americans are rightly upset about it,” said Nick Young during the public comment section of the board meeting. 

Young continued, “We suggest that you, as the board of the General Retirement System, communicate with your investment consultants and investment managers, directing them to eliminate all holdings in NiCE.”

Palestine solidarity activist Jessica Plichta commented, “This isn’t the police or U.S. government using and accessing our information alone, it is a foreign entity from a foreign government who is committing crimes against humanity that is using and saving our private information.”

After the meeting, trustees talked with activists, and many expressed their openness to working together to find which asset manager held the NiCE investment on behalf of the city and to continue the conversation.

“It is a great initial step,” said Anthony Hegarty. “People don’t want our economy tied up with Israel anymore. We want our city to stop conducting business with Israel and if it means chipping away at each lousy investment to get there, we will do it.”

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #BDS #Divestment

Ladson, SC – On Tuesday, August 11, more than two dozen community members joined the Elbit Out of South Carolina (EOSC) coalition’s first mass rally outside Elbit Systems of America in Ladson since the arrest of three picketers, collectively known as the Ladson 3.

The rally began with a reading of a speech written by Haley Sabados, a member of the Ladson 3, who has been barred from the premises of Elbit since her arrest and is actively fighting her trespassing charge.

The message from Sabados stated, “While sitting in state-detention for 19 hours, I reflected on this coalition and what we are building and struggling towards. How this community is showing up for one another and the people of Palestine. Your support and dedication is what liberation feels like.”

While the first EOSC rally demanding justice for the Ladson 3 was held in a location where all three arrested picketers could attend, the decision to return to Elbit was a conscious one.

“We’re out here tonight in front of Elbit because we stand in solidarity with the Ladson 3 and we refuse to be intimidated by off-duty North Charleston police officers working as security for a war profiteer,” said Nate Hubler, a member of EOSC and the Lowcountry Action Committee. “Their repression is not going to stop us from being out here and forcing Elbit employees and contractors to reckon with the death and destruction they are causing.”

Despite the picket being held in the evening, one employee left the facility to a chorus of boos from the crowd and one semi-trailer with a delivery was welcomed with chants of “Elbit, Elbit you will see! We’ll kick you out of SC!”

Many of the speakers reflected on the words and life of Anas Al-Sharif, a Palestinian journalist who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a tent outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City a year ago on August 10. Gia Ellis, an organizer with Free Palestine Charleston, read from Al-Sharif’s will, “I entrust you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be the bridges toward the liberation of the land and the people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.” They went on to say, “We take this charge seriously and it’s why we’ll continue to organize against Elbit until this factory is shut down. Gaza is our compass.”

The EOSC coalition has been picketing in front of the Israeli-owned weapons manufacturer every week since for months. The crowd chanted “Elbit, Elbit your hands are red! Two hundred thousand dead!” as passing cars honked in solidarity and flyers were handed out to cars parked at the traffic light. As the rally ended, attendees were asked to attend the upcoming EOSC community meeting on August 15.

#LadsonSC #Ladson #SC #Palestine #Antiwarmovement #EOS

New Orleans, LA – On the evening of Friday, August 7, around 30 people gathered at the downtown Hilton hotel to protest the local Democratic Party’s decision to platform Vice President Kamala Harris. Protesters demanded that Harris take a stance against the genocide in Palestine that started under her administration.

New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP) led the noise demonstration, confronting wealthy donors to the Louisiana Democratic Party, which charged up to $10,000 to attend their “Masquerade Sneaker Ball.”

“While your constituents were begging for you to condemn the genocide in Gaza and end aid to Israel, you ignored them,” Miriam Lovelace, a member of NOSHIP, declared. For Lovelace, and everyone else present, Harris and the Democratic Party’s role in the genocide already doomed her chances, but her inability to meet the material needs of the people were evident as well.

“Your stance on Gaza lost my vote, but I think a lot of people just wanted a little hope for a better future, of which you offered none. Just snarky one-liners and a Dick Cheney endorsement,” Lovelace said.

Before the demonstration, NOSHIP issued three demands of Vice President Harris: arms embargo on Israel; end all U.S. aid to Israel, and, stop the U.S./Israeli enocide in Gaza. Kamala Harris failed to endorse those positions.

Rosalina Framboise, speaking on behalf of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, criticized Vice President Harris for her role in the genocide. “Kamala Harris and Joe Biden not only ‘stood back’ and ‘stood by’ as Israel conducted a live-streamed genocide of the Palestinian people, but they have actively aided and abetted this carnage by sending billions of dollars to Israel.”

Throughout the evening, protesters were joined by supportive hotel guests who came down to hold signs and chant, hospitality workers and taxi drivers who waved and honked in support, and cyclists who rang their bells. Even the occasional fundraiser participant was sympathetic to the cause, raising their fists in solidarity or approaching to inquire about the cause.

NOSHIP members observed that this was the very same hotel and venue where they were thrown out earlier this year for demanding that the DNC and their Chairperson Ken Martin release the election autopsy report.

“The 2024 DNC postmortem told us something we already knew, that Harris’s complicity and backing of the genocide in Gaza was a major factor contributing to her loss,” Lovelace added.

Demonstrators also condemned both U.S. Representative Troy Carter and Mayor Helena Moreno for their inaction when anti genocide activists tried to stop shipments of arms from the Port of New Orleans. Other speakers invoked the name of Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, of nearby Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Jabbar was the first American killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023. There was complete silence from the local Democratic Party around his death.

Closing out her speech, Lovelace concluded, “To Kamala Harris, to Ken Martin, to Troy Carter, and every other politician who wants the support of the people, we demand you call for an end to all U.S aid to Israel. We demand you call for an arms embargo on Israel and a stop to the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Palestine.”

#NewOrleansLA #LA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #KamalaHarris #NOSHIP

Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, August 5, Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network held their first class in a series of free educational sessions, inspired by the popular education that arose as a form of resistance in the First Intifada.

Approximately 30 community members attended this teach-in to learn about the phases and effects of the First and Second Intifada, and the history of popular education in Palestine, which was necessitated by the closing of schools by Israeli occupying forces.

Attendees were provided with literature, including a collection of excerpts outlining the origin and revolutionary nature of education in Palestine. During breakout sessions groups were provided with different topics to discuss and present to the class. The conclusion drawn by each group during discussion was abundantly clear – regardless of the force exerted upon them, Palestinians will always remain resilient, and each attack by the enemy only hardens their resolve.

“We see another example of repression just breeding more resistance. Kicking people out of schools simply created another opportunity for Palestinians to root themselves in their identities and open another avenue of resistance,” stated Lindsay Bowyer of the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network.

“It caused education to seep into other areas of the resistance. They responded more fired up because of these policies,” said another attendee.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

Kent, WA – On Friday, July 31, 12 anti-war activists held an action at U.S. Representative Adam Smith’s district office to demand that he take material action to stop funding wars and to cut ties with Israel. Smith is behind the House of Representatives’ most recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) containing Section 219, which formally integrates the U.S. and the Israeli militaries.

This protest comes after Smith’s symbolic vote against the NDAA, a war funding bill he co-authored and co-sponsored. Activists emphasized that Representative Smith’s so-called “doomed-to-fail” vote is nothing more than an attempt to deceive nearly 800,000 voters ahead of a critical election into believing that he is against funding Israel and the Iran War.

Two activists attempted to deliver Seattle Against War’s petition to the office. When they arrived, the office appeared to be closed, which is unusual for a public office during office hours. The petition, with over 1400 signatures from community members, demands that Smith use his powers as Congressman and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee to take action to end all aid to Israel, end the war in Iran, and hold U.S. and Israel accountable for war crimes.

Other activists joined the petition deliverers inside the building and brought the rally to Smith’s office doorstep. Rae Lee, a member of Seattle Against War stated, “He performs support for queer communities as a clear pinkwashing tactic to paint a picture of himself as an ally. That is fucking gross, and we need to call it out when we see it. He uses BIPOC communities as PR opportunities, the pittances he leaks to struggling grassroots groups to divert our attention away from the literal billions being used for senseless wars.

Section 219, which protesters are calling attention to, enables Israel’s unfettered use of U.S. military resources, including a permanent Pentagon position to synchronize Israeli and U.S. military initiatives, an open-ended technology deal, and the ability to deploy U.S. troops to carry out their genocide against Palestinians.

Protesters then canvassed and distributed flyers at the neighboring offices in the building to raise awareness of Smith’s crimes and his recent attempt to merge the U.S. and Israeli militaries, until they were escorted by building security.

The rally continued outside the building, where activists continued to amplify demands and slogans such as “No war in Iran” and “Stop funding Israel.”

#KentWA #SeattleWA #WA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #AdamSmith

Portland, OR – Portland for Palestine (P4P) gathered in the late morning of Sunday, July 19, along Natio Parkway in Portland to join in celebrating queerness during Portland’s Pride parade, and to name and shame parade contingents who participate and enable Israel’s occupation and genocide in Palestine.

The parade was marshaled by Dykes on Bikes, throwing their choppers into full throttle to rapturous applause. As the parade contingents passed by the Portland for Palestine group, they were greeted with the message of “Happy Pride and free Palestine,” which was mostly met with joyful solidarity.

But as the grocery store corporation Fred Meyer began crossing onto SW Ankeny Street, P4P began chanting, “Fred Meyer out of pride! You retail a genocide.” P4P organizer Judas Graves took to the megaphone, shaming Fred Meyer for actively promoting the Israeli fizz-baron SodaStream and for profiting off retail goods produced in illegal settlements.

As the parade moved onward, airlines, retailers and banks all caught condemnation for continuing their operations in the apartheid state. Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Daimler, Marriott, Jacobs Solutions, and JPMorgan Chase were all highlighted.

It’s been a longtime criticism of Pride events that corporate participation dilutes the original message of queer visibility and liberation. Many spectators joined in the public shaming, echoing “Free, free Palestine” on both sides of the street. Many were shocked to learn just how complicit these companies are; “That’s so fucked” yelled one young man covered in body glitter.

“I definitely feel conflicted,” said 24-year-old parade-goer Alexis Sonner, “I came out here today to be gay, look hot, and dance with my friends. The last thing I wanna do is validate JPMorgan.”

As queer folks in the United States face erosion of civil liberties and physical safety, it is abundantly clear that members of Portland for Palestine are far from the only people who want to see, not just Pride events, but everything divested from corporations and genocide.

#PortlandOR #OR #LGBTQ #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #P4P

Salt Lake City, UT – On Friday, July 24, dozens of anti-war protesters picketed in front of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City to protest U.S. aggression against Cuba and continued funding for Israel.

The protest was organized by community members in collaboration with the Utah Anti-War Committee, responding to call from the Anti-War Action Network for a Nation Week of Action for Cuba.

Braving scorching July heat, demonstrators held banners reading “Hands off Cuba!” and “End all U.S. aid to Israel!” and marched around the intersection in front of the federal building. Chants of, “Hands off Cuba, end the blockade!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” echoed across the busy downtown streets.

“We aren’t worried about the heat. We’re worried about standing up against Trump and Rubio’s latest threats against Cuba and holding it down for Palestine,” said Adam Koritz of the Utah Anti-War Committee.

After over an hour of the roving picket, Salt Lake City Police officers moved in and tried to isolate an anti-war protester who was on a bike, alleging that he was violating rules of the road. Outraged, the rest of the demonstrators quickly surrounded the cyclist and filmed the officers. Police backed off from the picket.

The anti-war picket completed several more rounds of marching around the intersection as the pair of officers looked on.

“The police who tried to silence our protest work for the same government attacking Cuba and Palestine,” said Sebastian Miscenich of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “We in Utah have more in common with people abroad fighting U.S. aggression than we do with the rulers of this country, whose police just tried to silence our voices.”

The protest coincided with the Pioneer Day celebrations, a local major holiday commemorating the arrival of Brigham Young and the first Latter-day Saint settlers to Utah. Passing motorists and revelers approved of the anti-war message, frequently honking and giving visible gestures of support.

Organizers urged the protesters to stay involved in the anti-war movement by joining the UAWC. Those opposed to U.S. wars should make plans to attend Salt Lake County Council at 2001 S State Street on Tuesday, August 4 at 1 p.m. to demand a resolution against Raytheon AST, a war-profiteering company for the U.S. and Israeli militaries, which has an office in Salt Lake City.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Cuba #Raytheon

Chicago, IL – On July 11 and 12, the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) held its second national conference in Chicago. Reflecting AWAN’s growth of 11 more committees since its founding conference in 2025, over 250 participants gathered from more than 24 local anti-war groups from across the U.S.

As a grassroots, nationwide network, AWAN unites anti-war, pro-Palestine and student groups from across the country. The network’s growth follows a year of victorious campaigns led by AWAN affiliates and coordinated days of action responding to Trump’s aggression against Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

Among these victories, New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP) led a successful campaign to kick Chevron out of the city’s French Quarter Fest, and Palantir’s corporate headquarters was forced out of Colorado after a sustained campaign by Denver Anti-War Action.

The two-day conference reflected the geographic scale of AWAN’s growth, with speakers and panelists from cities including Denver, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Dallas, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Jacksonville, Florida; San Jose, California, and Cleveland, Ohio.

Attendees benefited from the collective experience of AWAN through nine volunteer-run workshops on topics like “Lessons in Campaign Building,” “How to be in Coalitions and Build your Work,” “Design Matters: Using graphic design and zines to build the anti-war movement,” and “Media Relations 101: Strategies, tools, and tips for organizing.”

The conference’s opening panelists included Hatem Abudayyeh, the national chair of U.S. Palestine Community Network (USPCN); Steve Ellner, an advisory board member of the Science & Society journal and associate managing editor of Latin American Perspectives; Chrisley Carpio of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression; Sara Flounders, the coordinator of the International Action Center, and Meredith Aby, a key AWAN leader, director of Women Against Military Madness, and co-founder of the MN Anti-War Committee.

Speaking of the BDS movement against Israel, Abudayyeh said, “Divestment victories are happening everywhere, including the recent one in Michigan, and the one led by USPCN and AWC right here in Illinois, when the Illinois State Board of Investments divested more than $33 million from corporations profiting off war, genocide and ICE raids.”

In her opening remarks, Aby said “The Anti-War Action Network’s guiding objective as an organization is building a broad movement opposed to the greatest cause of injustice in the world today, which is the United States and its destructive wars, sanctions and interventions.”

Aby reported that AWAN remains on a trajectory of growth, boasting 28 member organizations and many other groups planning to affiliate after the conference.

The conference received greetings from BAYAN USA, a progressive, anti-imperialist alliance of grassroots Filipino organizations across the United States, and Nodutdol, an organization of Koreans organizing for social justice, Korea's reunification and an end to U.S. imperialism.

On the second day of the conference, AWAN elected an expanded steering committee to reflect its nationwide reach and passed 12 resolutions, both of which are available on its website.

If your organization would like to learn more about AWAN or join and participate in national calls to action, go to antiwaractionnetwork.org.

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #AWAN #Iran #Palestine #Featured

Salt Lake City, UT – On Friday, July 10, more than a dozen people stood together in the record-breaking heat outside of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City, demanding a free Palestine and an immediate end to the U.S. government's attacks on Iran.

Cars honked in support as picketers held signs, turning a busy downtown sidewalk into a visible display of resistance to U.S. imperialism and war.

The picket was organized by the 71% Coalition, a volunteer-run, Salt Lake City–based progressive anti-war organization that seeks to empower the people through community engagement, policy advocacy and education. The coalition takes its name from the portion of the federal budget that goes toward militarism and war spending. Over recent months, the 71% Coalition has become a driving force in the local movement for Palestine, organizing town halls, participating in overpass rallies, and ongoing street actions that keep the demand for liberation in the public eye.

Friday's action was part of a weekly picket series the coalition has sustained outside the federal building.

The Utah Anti-War Committee joined Friday's picket in solidarity while encouraging attendees to sign their petition to oust Raytheon Applied Technologies from its office on the west side of Salt Lake County. The committee has been running a campaign targeting Raytheon, a company linked to U.S. and Israeli war crimes, calling attention to how it profits from human suffering worldwide and American taxpayer money.

The Utah Anti-War Committee's ongoing campaign against Raytheon has included protesting outside of Raytheon’s office and holding educational events where Utahns can about the role local war profiteers play in the machinery of death. The 71% Coalition and the UAWC have joined forces for several events, including overpass banner-drop protests.

As long as the U.S. government continues to bankroll genocide and threaten nations like Iran, the 71% Coalition and its allies will be on the sidewalk outside the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building every Friday, demanding justice and building the struggle.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Iran

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the unjust arrest and the U.S. Department of Justice’s extradition attempt of Fergie Chambers, a progressive philanthropist and steadfast supporter of the Palestinian cause. He was dragged away from his family in Spain on dubious charges ranging from money laundering to material support for terrorism. If extradited to the U.S., he could be facing decades in prison.

Chambers is a son of billionaires who made the legitimate choice long ago to direct his funds towards progress, from free medical clinics to legal defense for activists facing repression. Now, the Trump DOJ is fabricating a narrative of terrorist financing. They want to create an upside-down world and twist the legal system so that humanitarian aid and solidarity land you behind bars, but the architects of the ongoing genocide in Gaza walk free. Ultimately, they want to use every avenue to squash and punish the tidal wave of support for the cause of Palestinian liberation that has stretched to every corner of the globe.

We are in a period of intensifying repression, and the imperialists are constantly in search of new ways to crush resistance and silence opposition. And that means that people like Chambers who use their resources to amplify the voices that call for freedom and liberation become targets, too. All those who oppose the Trump administration’s crackdown on our movements and the erosion of democratic rights need to stand against this. Solidarity is not a crime!

#PoliticalRepression #InjusticeSystem #Palestine #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles

The Palestine Solidarity Committee of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) found out on July 7 from the Saint Paul Water Board website that they have selected Waterfall Security Solutions again for a contract.

Saint Paul provides water to Saint Paul, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Lilydale, Maplewood, Mendota, Mendota Heights, West Saint Paul, Roseville, Little Canada and Arden Hills.

Meredith Aby, the WAMM director, explains, “After a year of attending board meetings, meeting with board members, petitioning and calling, we are angered that, despite Waterfall being an Israeli company that works hand in hand with Israel in its genocide of the Palestinian people, Saint Paul wants to expand and extend their contract. The new proposed contract will be $153,611.74 and for five years. They proposed this knowing that their constituents do not support genocide.”

WAMM has been working on this campaign for a year as a part of the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement. WAMM chose this strategy because it was previously successful in pressuring the U.S. to stop supporting South African apartheid. The BDS Movement website says that the tech sector “feeds Israel’s war chest, making up 20% of Israel’s GDP (in 2023) and 53% of its exports (2023).” The goal of the BDS movement is to isolate Israel economically to pressure them to end apartheid and genocide.

Aby continued, “If you drink or use Saint Paul water, please call today – 651-266-6350 extension 7. And regardless of where you live, we need you to come out to the next Water Board meeting on Tuesday, July 14 at noon at Saint Paul City Hall, 15 W Kellogg Boulevard in room 300 to demand that they cut the contract with Waterfall!”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Divestment #BDS #Palestine #WAMM

San Jose, CA – On Friday, July 3, around two dozen people gathered for a rally and march starting at Dr. MLK Jr. Library to stand against the U.S.’s endless investment and participation in war across the globe, currently including but not limited to, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Palestine.

The crowd chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation” and “Israel bombs, U.S. pays, how many did they kill today?”

Jack McCann, member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke about the U.S.’s priority of profits over people over the last 250 years saying, “It has never been about freedom and liberty and all the other lullabies the ruling class sings to us, the working people of this country.”

McCann continued, “We have watched as they use our money to fight their wars, killing people around the world while we go hungry at home, while we struggle to pay our bills, while we fight for the scraps that fall off of their table.”

Donna Wallach, of San Jose Against War told the crowd, “Using our tax money, U.S.-made fighter jets, and high tech weaponry, Israeli soldiers bomb Lebanese villages in southern Lebanon, murdering civilians, and specifically target medical professionals and journalists. Many areas throughout southern Lebanon are flattened, everything destroyed, much like in Gaza.”

Drusie Kazanova of San Jose Against War spoke of the U.S. aggression towards Venezuela. Kazanova brought attention to President Maduro and First Lady Flores’s kidnapping in January, saying, “The U.S. is currently holding hostage the kidnapped, democratically-elected president and first lady of a sovereign country.”

Kazanova also highlighted the resilience of the Cuban people under the 64 year embargo against Cuba, saying, “Cuba has the most advanced doctors and medical training in the world, they invent and manufacture their very own vaccines but are unable to administer them because the U.S. blocks imports of medical syringes.”

Akubundu Amazu of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party, brought attention to recent repression of organizers with the Communist Party, Marxist of Kenya. Amazu noted, “We cannot let them stop us from building international solidarity. The only way we’re going to defeat this international repressive machine is with international global resistance!”

Representatives from the League of Filipino Students (LFS) at San Jose State University and the San Jose Peace and Justice Center also spoke highlighting the U.S.’s increasing efforts to develop manufacturing and AI specifically for war and genocide.

After the speaker program, the crowd began the march through downtown chanting loudly, waving signs, and passing out zines.

#SanJoseCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #July4th #Palestine #Cuba #Venezuela #Iran

Salt Lake City, UT – On July 4, dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate at the Raytheon Applied Signals Technology facility located in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city. Raytheon, a company long since linked to U.S. and Israeli war crimes, is the target of a new campaign by the Utah Anti-War Committee.

Protesters began the event chanting, “Not another nickel, not another dollar, we won’t pay for Raytheon’s slaughter!”

Speaking on behalf of the Utah Anti-War Committee, Nova Morra stated, “I am done being complicit in a genocide. I don’t know how I will leave the earth, I don’t know when, and I think I can tell you why, but I know that I will have lived my life with dignity and respect. I will die knowing I stand for the people of Gaza.”

UAWC member Amber Grace, while discussing the genocide of the indigenous population of the U.S., observed that “this dispossession is exactly what is being continued today when we manufacture weapons for land theft by Israel’s settler project.”

Delivering a speech for Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Sebastian Miscenich remarked, “Last year, Raytheon made nearly $90 billion in weapons sales to the U.S. and its allies, including a $1.25 billion contract for Israel’s Iron Dome system. A Raytheon Tomahawk missile killed over a hundred Iranian schoolgirls in February this year, mostly between the ages of seven and 12. Is this really what we want our public funds spent on?”

Miscenich continued, “250 years ago, the American Revolution won power for the richest white business owners, but today working and oppressed people in America need to take total power over our society.”

Adam Koritz from FRSO talked about the case of Nadia Topete, an immigrant rights activist In Los Angeles recently targeted by a subpoena to appear before a grand jury simply for speaking out against ICE terror in her community. “It is important to stand in solidarity with Nadia right now, as she would for any of us,” Koritz remarked.

While closing out the rally, organizers handed out leaflets and a petition that will be used to demand Raytheon’s removal from the Salt Lake City area.

The energetic demonstration was unfettered by the extreme July heat, as new contacts were brought into a growing coalition. Responses from motorists and cyclists at the rally were overwhelmingly positive.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #Raytheon #Palestine

San Jose , CA – On June 30, San Jose State University Professor Dr. Sang Hea Kil of the Justice Studies Department held a victory rally after her arbitration allowing her to return go with full backpay. This came after a protracted campaign where she bravely resisted her firing due to her vocal disapproval of the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Palestine. She was the first tenured professor to be fired from a public university for speaking against the genocide in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

At the rally outside of the Martin Luther King Library, Dr. Kil triumphantly exclaimed, “This is an incredible victory for free speech, academic freedom, student protest, freedom of assembly and pro-Palestine speech on campus and beyond.” Rallying alongside a demonstration of allies and supporters, she encouraged others to continue the fight, “Let’s use this as a watershed moment to turn the tide against targeted repression on our campus and in this nation!”

For the courageous act of joining a march and rally with Students for Justice in Palestine to protest a Zionist speaker on campus in February 2024, Dr. Kil was arbitrarily suspended with pay the following May and subsequently fired in summer 2025. Despite winning her case under the public hearing option of Article 19 of the collective bargaining agreement between her union and the California State University system, which ruled that she would receive no charges, SJSU President Cynthia Teniente Matson unilaterally overturned the ruling and forcibly removed her in November. This is in stark contrast to the now-retired Professor Johnathan Roth, who received no charges for hitting a Palestinian student and sexually assaulting Dr. Kil during that same demonstration.

Regarding President Matson, Dr. Kil noted, “I think she is doing MAGA’s work in the attack on higher education by going against people who speak against genocide.”

Dr. Kil also listed others who impeded her reinstatement, including SJSU Provost Vincent Del Castino, Skelly Officer Jennifer Sclafani, former Director of Student Involvement (now Student Union Director) John Tucker, DEI Head Kristin Dukes, English Department Head Noelle Williams, State Senator Scott Wiener, and Governor Gavin Newsom.

SJSU admin’s claims included many falsehoods, such as the notion that the embattled professor ordered students to protest, which Dr. Kil vehemently debunked. They also claimed she chanted “Kill the Jews” in a public hearing, despite herself never saying such. The misinformation campaign represented a flimsy yet relentless effort to justify an attack on free speech when it comes to human rights for Palestinians, especially for longtime activists like Dr. Kil, who had traveled to the Occupied Territories in 2016.

“We are in the belly of the beast in Silicon Valley which is collaborating to genocidal oppression and the ICE raids that are terrifying our communities by using Israeli surveillance technology that is being used to control everybody,” Dr. Kil said. “We have rights and we have a duty as citizens and residents of this nation to unite and fight back!”

Among those who had supported her, she thanked San José Against War, San José Peace and Justice Center, Silicon Valley Debug, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Palestine Action Network, Palestine-Arab-Muslim Caucus of the California Faculty Association, Bay Area Labor for Palestine, Switchboard, AP National and Anita Levy, California Scholars for Academic Freedom, Palestine Anti-Repression Network, Council on American-Islamic Relations – California, Palestine Legal, and the NAACP-SJ.

Wendy Greenfield of JVP recalled the original demonstration which took place. “I never heard anything like ‘Death to the Jews’, or to anyone, and I made it clear to SJSU admin that she was not involved with the students,” Greenfield reported. “One of the biggest points for JVP is that antisemitism is not related to anti-Zionism, and that JVP is in solidarity with all peoples who are seeking liberation, and we are so happy to see the unity; this is a huge victory for unions, faculty, students, and freedom of expression.”

Legal manager for the SF-Bay Area Branch of CAIR California Amith Gupta stated, “This is only part of the struggle; all throughout the Bay Area, students and faculty want to speak out in defense of the most basic and fundamental rights that all human beings have the right to protection from racist violence, the right to protection from genocide, the right of return to your homeland irrespective of your religion.”

Gupta continued, “SJSU decided that that right should be erased when it comes to professors, faculty and students that speak out, and we made it clear to them that that is not true, that we will fight back, that we will defend our right to speak out. It is our obligation to speak out, and when people speak out the way Sang Hea Kil does, they are censored, repressed, and fired from their jobs. It is our obligation to defend them, and we were successful.”

Jack McCann of San José Against War drew from his experiences as a student activist during the 2024 Student Intifada in Humboldt University stated, “The real criminals sit in their ivory throne in SJSU admin inviting genocide deniers and companies that are complicit into this campus, such as the AI Data Center for Civic and Social Good, which Students for a Democratic Society in SJSU says is more like, the AI Center for War and Genocide.”

Humboldt University is currently mired in its own scandal from its decision to file a case against activist Rick Toledo for his direct involvement in the student encampments and his victorious legal efforts to release his fellow protesters.

“I saw firsthand through my own university in Humboldt what professors go through in losing their jobs or coming under fear of deportation, and I want to thank Dr. Sang Hea Kil for what she is doing,” McCann stated.

NAACP-SJ President Sean Allen called out SJSU for spraying dirty water on student encampments which is, under the legal definition in California, assault and battery. “This case was never just about one professor,” Allen remarked. “It was about whether a public university can punish people, especially people of color, queer people and Muslim faculty and students for speaking out on matters of conscience.”

Allen continued, “This is not an isolated case. The NAACP had received at least two other complaints involving SJSU describing a consistent pattern: When people who support Palestinian rights, or who are Muslim or the Islamic faith speak out, they face extreme punishment. Why was one group subjugated and not treated equal as opposed to the other group?”

This is the question of the day, as the genocide continues under a nominal ceasefire, which has seen over 1000 Palestinians killed by Zionist forces, and the violence now encompasses the broader Middle East with the U.S.-Israeli wars of aggression against Iran and Lebanon.

#SanJoseCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #StudendMovement #SJSU #Palestine