The authoritative Lebanese news site, Al Manar, carried this photo of the U.S. embassy in Bagdad, December 31. The spray-painting on the embassy wall reads, “Closed by the peoples command.” Demonstrators have surrounded the embassy in response to U.S. air attacks in Iraq and Syria targeting the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a grouping that played a major role in defeating ISIS. According to reports in the Iraqi press, police and soldiers were among those killed or wounded in the U.S. air attacks.
Minneapolis, MN – As we see a rising tide of struggle in this country and across the globe, the newspaper Fight Back! is expanding its reach and capacity. Each day, 365 times a year, we provide cutting edge coverage and analyses of the people’s struggle against exploitation and oppression, with the perspective of ending capitalism and replacing it with socialism – a system where political power is in the hands of the working class.
In 2019, we saw workers take to picket lines and we saw mass movements hit the streets in the U.S. and around the world. And when there’s an upsurge with lots of people hitting the streets, you can bet it will be accompanied by protest music. This year has been no exception.
There was a high tide of struggle on many fronts in 2019 – both in the U.S. and around the world. Within the U.S. there were large strikes of General Motors workers, Chicago teachers and others. There was a successful movement to defend public education from mega-charters in Los Angeles. There were mass protests nation-wide for immigrant rights and against the concentration camps at the U.S.-México border. And there were growing movements against police crimes and for community control of the police that came together to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in Chicago in November.
Tallahassee, FL – On December 21, over 50 members of the Tallahassee community joined with Jamee Johnson’s friends and family at the Eternal Flame on Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University’s (FAMU) campus to honor the life of the 22-year-old senior who had recently been killed by police.
Dallas, TX – On December 22, about 1000 people gathered at Dealey Plaza in Dallas to protest the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act. The protest was called by the Indian American Muslim Council of Dallas.
To mark the 126th anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, Dec. 26, Fight Back News Service is circulating his oft-quoted 1945 speech to the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of China, “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains.”
Milwaukee, WI – Near the end of August, a whistleblower released a document uncovering a private conversation between U.S. president Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The fact that the two of them were talking is not newsworthy; what was revealed and is of some import, however, was the specific content of their exchange.
Minneapolis, MN – Amy Klobuchar, a ‘centrist’ who is trying to become the Democratic Party standard-bearer in the upcoming elections for president, states that she will not reverse Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. There has long been a consensus among most Republican and Democratic politicians to support the Zionist occupation of Palestine.
The 52nd anniversary of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was observed with a December 7 march by tens of thousands of members and supporters in Gaza City. The PFLP is playing a leading role in the struggle to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Over the past week Israeli authorities have arrested 50 Palestinians in the West Bank and accused them of being members of the PFLP.
Washington, DC – The United Steelworkers (USW) filed a lawsuit, December 19, in the Southern District of Indiana to protest Alcoa USA Corporation’s terminating life insurance benefits for approximately 8900 union-represented retirees.
On December 18 the U.S. House of Representatives voted by a 230-197 margin to impeach President Donald Trump. The day before, thousands of people turned out at hundreds of protests across the country to support the impeachment effort.
Kenosha, WI – As of December 10, Wisconsin is now one of the 20 states that cover medically necessary gender-confirming surgeries. People in need of these procedures will receive coverage under the state’s Medicaid healthcare plan. This development comes after state officials allowed the time frame to lapse for an appeal of the 2018 lawsuit that initiated the whole process.
En todo el país han estallado protestas contra los campos de concentración de la administración Trump para refugiados e inmigrantes que cruzan la frontera de México-EE.UU. Estos campamentos albergan a miles de niños, mujeres y hombres, principalmente guatemaltecos y hondureños, cuyo único delito es tratar de escapar de las pandillas, la violencia y la pobreza extrema huyendo a los Estados Unidos. Su desesperación se puede ver en la trágica foto de los cuerpos de un hombre y su pequeña hija que se ahogó tratando de cruzar a los Estados Unidos.
On November 24, Hong Kong held local elections for all 18 district councils in the city, with 452 of the 479 council seats up for grabs. Amid the polarized political atmosphere created by the protests and riots that gripped the city this year, turnout was much higher than past local elections. In total, 2,931,745 people cast ballots for their local district councils; about 71% of the 4,132,977 registered voters.
Los Angeles, CA – On November 30, Anakbayan-USA had their Third Congress, with more than 200 members from 12 chapters across the country in attendance. They learned lessons on solidarity, talked about the economic situation in the United States and reported back on the progress being made on a national and local level.
Minneapolis, MN – On December 10, 25 protesters rallied outside of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office to mark International Human Rights Day. After chanting outside the senator’s office, Brad Sigal from the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee addressed the crowd to draw attention to Trump’s record of human rights abuses against immigrants. The protesters then marched in -10 degrees windchill to the legendary May Day Books in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
Miami, FL – UPS Teamsters across the country are participating in a nationwide moment of silence today, December 9, for #Frank Ordonez, the 27-year-old UPS package car driver killed in a police shootout after being taken hostage by armed robbers. Many Teamsters are questioning the tactics used by police, noting that the officers’ trigger-happy actions were not normal for a hostage situation and resulted in not only the death of Frank Ordonez but the death of union representative Rick Cutshaw and endangered the lives of many others.
