Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Anti-War Movement

By staff

Lebanon’s official National News Agency is reporting that 4 Israeli warplanes were tracked flying over wide areas of the country, Nov. 27.

Read more...

By staff

Dallas protest slams Texas Governor Greg Abbott's anti-refugee statements.

Dallas, TX – About 40 protesters gathered at the Grassy Knoll near downtown here, Nov. 21, to call out Texas Governor Greg Abbott's anti-refugee statements. Abbott recently declared that Texas would not accept Syrian refugees.

Read more...

By staff

Manila – Palestinian icon Leila Khaled visited the Philippines for the first time this November to attend the Fifth General Assembly of the International League of Peoples' Struggle and the launch of the Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association. She was the keynote speaker of the International Women's Alliance and she spoke before the Filipino people in Manila during the protest actions against the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. She also visited the temporary encampment of lumads (indigenous peoples) at a church ground.

Read more...

By Kait McIntyre

Havana, Cuba – After a two-day bus trip from Havana to Guantanamo Province, delegates from around the world arrived for the fourth International Seminar for Peace and Abolition of Foreign Military Bases. The bus trip included several stops in various cities and provinces, including the Che Guevara memorial. It is clear the Cuban people are proud of their country and the many accomplishments the revolution has achieved in spite of the U.S. blockade.

Read more...

By Jessica Schwartz

_Demands freedom for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad _

Columbus, GA – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from college campuses in Tampa, Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida traveled to Columbus to protest the School of the Americas (SOA) on Nov. 20.

Read more...

By Jim Byrne

Tucson, AZ – 50 Tucsonans issued a warm welcome to any future Syrian refugees. The Nov. 19 demonstration came in response to the Islamophobic statement made by Republic Governor Doug Ducey. Ducey basically accused all refugees, specifically those from Syria, as being connected to, if not actual, ‘terrorists.’ Protesters held signs that read: “Shame on Ducey,” and “AZ loves refugees.”

Read more...

By Tom Burke

SDS and Colombia solidarity activists at School of the Americas protest

Columbus, GA – A large group of anti-war and international solidarity activists passed out hundreds of flyers at the annual School of the Americas (SOA) protest at Fort Benning, Georgia on Nov. 21. The flyer calls to support the peace process in Colombia, freedom for Simon Trinidad and to close the SOA, where Latin American death squads and dictators are trained. The Colombian military trains regularly at the SOA and has the worst human rights record in the hemisphere.

Read more...

By Tom Burke

Tampa, FL – Anti-war activists and students from Florida are mobilizing to protest the School of the Americas (SOA), Nov. 20-22. The SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) a few years ago, but it is still widely known as the SOA meaning “School of Assassins.” It is based at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia.

Read more...

By staff

Minneapolis, MN – Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s Political Secretary Steff Yorek gave the following statement to Fight Back! regarding the Nov. 13 evening events in Paris.

Read more...

By staff

_ Calls on U of MN to honor boycott of Israel, drop the charges against protesters_

Minneapolis, MN – Responding to a campaign of condemnations from University of Minnesota officialdom, the Anti-War Committee (AWC) issued a statement Nov. 10 standing by the actions of protesters at last week’s Law School lecture by Moshe Halbertal, who they call a “war crimes apologist.” Criticisms were hurled at the group after protesters denied Halbertal a platform by interrupting his presentation some two dozen times, with facts about Israeli atrocities, Halbertal’s public record in defense of IDF actions and demands that the university honor the international boycott of Israel.

Read more...

By Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Fight back News Service is circulating the following Nov. 6 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Read more...

By Meredith Aby

University of MN police handcuffing pro Palestine protester

Minneapolis, MN – Over 50 supporters of Palestine shut down a Nov. 3 lecture by Hebrew University professor Moshe Halbertal, a co-author of the Israeli military code of ethics, entitled “Protecting Civilians: Moral Challenges of Asymmetric Warfare.” Organized by the MN Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP UMN), the protesters prevented Halbertal from presenting his defense of IDF conduct in last summer’s Gaza War. Three of the protesters were arrested, as police tried to maintain what they called “decorum.”

Read more...

By Jessica Wichmann

Milwaukee students stand in solidarity with Palestine

Milwaukee. WI – About 50 students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee rallied in solidarity with Palestine, Oct. 28. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized the rally in response to the increase in violence by Israeli occupation forces in which over 50 Palestinians have been killed just this month.

Read more...

By staff

Minneapolis emergency protest against the sending of U.S. Special Forces troops

Minneapolis, MN – A coalition of Twin Cities area peace groups gathered Oct. 31 for an emergency protest against the sending of U.S. Special Forces troops to Syria. The announcement of the sending of these troops was made Oct. 30. The troop deployment represents an escalation of aggression by the U.S. in Syria and Iraq.

Read more...

By Michael Sampson

Miami protest against Leonel Fernandez, ex-President of the Dominican Republic.

Miami, FL – Dozens of students in Miami converged on the campus of Florida International University, Oct. 23, to protest against Leonel Fernandez, ex-President of the Dominican Republic. Fernandez presided over the constitutional change producing the outrageous “TC 168-13” ruling. This high court ruling strips thousands of Dominicans of their nationality, affecting mostly people of Haitian descent.

Read more...

By Rasmea Defense Committee

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 14 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

Read more...

By Tom Burke

Rasmea Odeh in front of Federal Appeals Court, Oct. 14, In Cincinnati, Ohio.

Cincinnati, OH – Supporters of Rasmea Odeh could be heard chanting from blocks away in downtown Cincinnati, Oct. 14. Bus riders on their way to morning shifts crossed the street to take leaflets, while curious business people were drawn to watch the protesters chant, “Justice for Rasmea! Justice for Rasmea!” and “DOJ, let’s be clear, Rasmea is welcome here!”

Read more...

By staff

Salt Lake City, UT – Members of the Utah Anti-War Committee will gather outside Salt Lake City's downtown courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7:00 p.m. to demand justice for Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh.

Read more...

By staff

Minnesota emergency protest against the murder of  Palestinian children

Columbia Heights, MN – On Oct. 9, 75 people gathered on Central Avenue here to protest the killing of four Palestinian youth, Huthaifa Sulaiman (18), Fadi Alloun (19), Abdul-Rahman Shadi Mustafa (13) and Mohannad Shafiq al-Halabi (19), by Israeli occupation forces on Oct. 4 and 5.

Read more...

By Kent Mori

Twin Cites protest marks 14 years of U.S. war on Afghanistan

St. Paul, MN – On Oct. 7 about 100 activists from local peace groups held a special protest vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge between Minneapolis and Saint Paul under the demand, “say no to endless war!” to mark 14 years of endless U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. Protesters held signs reading, “14 Years too many” and “Zero troops in Afghanistan” while receiving supportive honks from cars passing by.

Read more...