News and Views from the People's Struggle
San Jose, CA – On January 13, over 100 people gathered at San Jose City Hall to oppose the U.S. war on Yemen and demand an end to U.S. intervention in the Middle East.
Milwaukee, WI – The Coalition to March on the RNC is hosting an organizing conference on February 17 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Activists from across the U.S. will gather at the conference to unite around a plan to rally on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15.
“We are looking to consolidate plans with all forces that are against the Republicans’ racist and reactionary agenda. We are also looking to inform leaders across the country as to what the situation on the ground in Milwaukee looks like as we prepare to march to within sight and sound of the front doors of the convention,” said Omar Flores, spokesperson in Milwaukee for the Coalition to March on the RNC.
Tampa, FL- Hundreds of people in Tampa participated in the National Week of Action to End the Israeli Genocide of Gaza from January 1 – 7. Tampa community members took part in daily political actions aimed at spreading awareness about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and building a movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
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!”
Milwaukee, WI – A spirited crowd marched on U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore’s doorstep Saturday morning, January 6, to “keep the pressure up!” in ending U.S. aid to Israel.
Undeterred by the snowfall, activists called for Moore to sign on to HR 3103 as a bare minimum step in ending the genocide. The neighborhood at large was also engaged, as door-hangers circulated the area that directed to an online petition initiated by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee.
Appleton, WI – On January 5, the Green Bay joined the week of action for Palestine, by staging a banner drop over Interstate 41 during rush-hour traffic. Their banners displayed messages like “Victory to the popular Palestinian resistance” and “End U.S. aid to Israel” alongside many Palestinian flags flying proudly.
Denver, CO – On Thursday, January 4, around 70 protesters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol for a protest against Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
After a few speakers and a march around the Capitol building, protesters entered the building to protest at the governor’s office. Despite the capitol being funded by the public’s tax dollars, police only let around 30 of the 70 protesters into the building.
St. Paul, MN – About 100 activists rallied at the weekly WAMM Free Palestine bannering. Chants of “Viva viva Palestina” and “Resistance is justified, when Palestine is occupied” filled the intersection along with the unending honks of motorists.
Denver, CO – On Tuesday, January 2, over 100 people marched to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s office to demand he ends his support for the U.S./Israeli genocide in Palestine. The march was organized by the Colorado Palestine Coalition because of Bennet’s failure to recognize the genocide that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinians.
Chicago, IL – 500 protesters gathered on the evening of January 5 outside Chicago Police headquarters on the Southside of Chicago in a demonstration of Black and brown solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
Austin, TX – Around 20 Austin community members and students held a banner-drop for Palestine on Wednesday afternoon, January 3, on the overpasses above Interstate 35 at 11th and 12th Streets.
Trucks and cars on the busy highway honked with enthusiastic support for Palestine, as they drove past the several banners and flags being held on the two overpasses. Some drivers even rolled down their windows to shout “Free, free Palestine!” at the top of their lungs. Only a small handful of people had negative responses to the banner drop.
Denver, CO – On Sunday, December 31, over 750 people marched in Denver to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel and an end to Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.
The march was organized by the Colorado Palestine Coalition and came three months after October 7, when the Palestinian resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood aimed at liberating all Palestinian political prisoners, among other objectives. Since then, the Israeli government has responded by displacing the majority of Palestinians in Gaza and murdering over 20,000 Palestinians, many of them children.
Green Bay, WI – On the evening of December 23, the Green Bay Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (known as the Workers and Socialist Party or WSP on campus), held a vigil at Phoenix Park to mourn the deaths of the martyrs that have been killed in Palestine from the Israeli occupation.
Activists are calling for “A New Year Without Israeli Genocide in Gaza,” by holding a week of actions January 1 through January 7. Initiated by the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Students for a Democratic Society, and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), the nationwide protests will send the messages, “Stand with Palestine” and “End U.S. aid to Israel.”
Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, December 11, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), alongside other students and community members, gathered at the Golda Meir Library to launch their Divest from Israel campaign and to honor the Palestinian martyrs.
The event began with speeches from the representatives of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Muslim Students Association and Un-PAC. Then SDS representatives officially announced the launch of the Divest from Israel Campaign and congratulated the Tampa 5 on their recent victory against political repression. This was followed by a Muslim prayer.
Seattle, WA – On December 7, students at the University of Washington led an occupation of their administration building, Gerberding Hall.
Beginning in the Quad, students gathered for a march, with student groups joining together under the United Front for Palestinian Liberation at the University of Washington.
After arriving at the administration building, the sit-in was announced. Over 100 protesters entered the building. They announced their demands: to cut ties with Boeing; to end the repression of pro-Palestinian students, faculty and workers; and to materially divest from Israel.
Alon Lapid, a member of Students United For Palestinian Equality and Return, said, “For the last eight weeks we have been organizing on campus for an end to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Even here we are facing immense repression just for holding actions, just for speaking on social media, just for advocating for the just right of return.” Militant actions have been held on campus including vigils, marches and rallies, though the only response from administration was to send an email to the student body denouncing disruptive actions.
As the students entered the building, they rushed into the third-floor lobby in front of the administration's offices and pushed into the offices of the vice provosts. During this time UW President Ana Marie Cauce’s chief of staff, Margaret Shepherd, scrambled to address the protesters. After an extended period of time, she told students that they would only get a meeting with the university president if they vacated the premises immediately. Further, she threatened to give them citations for trespassing if they remained in the building past 5:15 p.m.
During the occupation, the police immediately escalated. They stationed officers by every single entrance and tried to prevent anyone from entering the building. Shortly after the arrival of the police, Doug Schulz, a police lieutenant employed by the UWPD, shoved to the ground a person who was getting food from the outside.
Later during the occupation, the police chief and chief of staff entered the offices and tried to remove a Black student from an office chair. Craig Wilson, the police chief of the UWPD, whispered threats in their ear including, “You don’t want to be the Black student that’s arrested.” However, after five minutes of the crowd chanting “Shame on you!” and moving closer, and having people edge their way between the police chief and the student, the police chief and his lackeys left the room to the cheers of the students.
On the outside, about 60 people remained throughout the day despite the rain, with speeches about combatting state repression, praising the resistance of the Palestinian people, and a virtual speech by Husam Marajda, the co-founder of the US Palestinian Communities Network.
During this rally, Oviya Krishnan, a member of South Asians Resisting Imperialism said, “We refuse business as usual, we refuse to be ‘burnt out’, and we refuse this institution’s complacency in genocide!” She said this while speaking out of a window to the crowd outside, refusing to give up her place in the historic sit-in.
The crowd gathered food and other supplies for the sit-in. Several times throughout the afternoon, food was lifted in through a window.
As the deadline of 5 p.m. approached, the growing crowd became more militant, and prepared to respond if arrests were made.
The community beyond the University of Washington came to support the sit-in, including high school students, community activists, and rank-and-file union organizers. Yerusalem Kamara of Nathan Hale High School SDS spoke on the importance of student organizing, saying “I was knee-deep in collaborating with my school’s MSA to organize a walkout advocating for Palestine. It was an eye-opener to the potency of student-led movements. This wasn’t just some casual event: we spent days planning for it.”
By 5 p.m., the administration began to warn the protesters that they were about to call in the University of Washington Police Department. By the time UWPD officially announced their intent to begin detaining protesters, there were 36 people remaining. However, despite warnings of dispersal at 5:15 p.m., police arrived about an hour later. The police’s threats were drowned out among chants of “SPD, KKK, IDF, you’re all the same!”
As UWPD dragged students out of the building, several protesters faced obvious abuse as they were thrown headfirst into the ground, while others saw bruises and injuries on their shins and hands after their encounters.
Mantak Singh of the Progressive Student Union, a chapter of New Students For A Democratic Society, said, “I was dragged out of there, and pushed face first onto the ground, because you know what, they don’t have the capacity to deal with us, they don’t have the manpower to drag 30 students into jail, and they don’t have the willpower to fight a people’s movement.”
During the process of dragging students out, police isolated and tried to intimidate each student individually. Police illegally searched students by emptying their pockets and going through their wallets, phones, and other belongings. They told a female student, “you’re quite the celebrity”, angry at the crowd supporting her, as they moved her away from the crowd to an empty hallway with only another male cop for an hour.
While police attempted to throw students out of the building, students blocked every entrance, prolonging the occupation, essentially, leading rallies at every entrance. Police then threatened the crowd with kidnapping charges, claiming they were forcing the protesters inside the building to remain there, despite the protesters trying to stay and police dragging them out. Police gathered at the edges of the rallies, with 20 riot cops on the other side of Red Square from the front entrance.
Each protester being processed and removed took anywhere between ten to 30 minutes in between, due to the coordinated response from the rally outside to barricade the doors. At 9 p.m., the police began to drag protesters out faster and faster, but the energy and motivation among the protesters still occupy