Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) meets quarterly to review investment reports and to hear from the public. Normally the meetings start around 10 a.m., but on May 25 the SBI started their meeting over three hours late. The Executive Board, which includes Governor Tim Walz, Secretary of State Steve Simon, Attorney General Keith Ellison and State Auditor Julie Blaha, heard testimony concerning taconite mining leases until after 1 p.m.

San Francisco, CA – On May 19, around 100 people gathered in San Francisco State University’s Knuth Hall for the San Francisco leg of the Mandela Nakba 75 Tour. It featured the Honorable Chief Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela and member of the Parliament of South Africa.

Chicago, IL- “Let us all join hands in the inevitable march to freedom for Palestine and we dare to dream of a free Palestine where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live side by side in peace as they have done for centuries,” stated Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, South African member of parliament and grandson of revolutionary icon Nelson Mandela, to an audience of 400 at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters, on Saturday, May 20.

Minneapolis, MN – On May 20, over 200 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at Bryant Square Park in Uptown to show solidarity with the global Palestinian movement to remember Al-Nakba, or “The Catastrophe”, in which more than 750,000 Palestinians were exiled from their homes and homeland in 1948 by Israeli militia forces with the help of imperialist forces. Speakers from different movements gave messages of solidarity with Palestinians in diaspora in the Twin Cities and across the world.

Minneapolis, MN – “Today, I call on you and all freedom-loving people of the world, and boldly say to all of you, do not speak in hushed and muffled tones about the more than 7 million Palestinians in the diaspora who are being denied their right of return. Today, we call on all freedom-loving people of the world to support the global call for their return to Palestine,” said Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela, to a crowd of over 200.

Milwaukee, WI – May 15 marked the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. Over 250 community members and activists gathered in downtown Milwaukee to see Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of the great anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, in commemoration of the tragedy in Palestine.

Appleton, WI – On Monday, May 15, Appleton Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) unfurled a banner in the Lawrence University Warch Campus Center to mark the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba – the violent displacement of Palestinian Arabs that continues to this day.

Event relocated to CAIR-MN space

Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Minnesota) joins the Anti-War Committee and Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar Clark in condemning the University of Minnesota for canceling an event with Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of the late Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, due to threats received.

Milwaukee, WI – On May 13, two days before the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, over 50 community members and activists from different organizations gathered in downtown Milwaukee to demand an end to the on-going genocide of Palestinians and to put a stop to all U.S. aid to Israel. The assembled crowd chanted things like “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s war crimes!” and “Free, free Palestine! Long live Palestine!” Signs declaring support for the cause of Palestinian liberation were prevalent throughout, and members of the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) held a 30-foot long banner that read “Long live the popular Palestinian resistance, from Milwaukee to Palestine!”