Twin Cities peace movement responds to Obama’s West Point speech

Minneapolis, MN — At a packed press conference here Dec. 1, leaders of the Twin Cities peace movement responded to President Obama’s announcement that 30,000 more troops are being dispatched to Afghanistan. Representatives of a spectrum of peace groups came together to watch President Obama’s national televised speech and responded by demanding that U.S. troops get out of Afghanistan now.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call for students to join the protests in response to the escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

With chants of “The people, united, will never be defeated!” and “Close the SOA!” thousands marched here Nov. 21-22. Students, clergy and Latin America solidarity activists demand the immediate closing of School of the Americas (SOA), now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. The SOA is a U.S. military school for torture, disappearances and assassinations.

Fort Benning, GA – 15,000 people from across the U.S. and Latin America protested this weekend at Fort Benning, Georgia to say, “Shut down the School of Assassins.” The School of the Americas (SOA) trains military officers to run death squads in Latin America. In Colombia, these U.S.-trained military leaders conduct the dirty war against union workers. They shoot farmers and those trying to build a better life for themselves and their children.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Spokesperson Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos of the  National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Mindanao.

“Demand the pullout of American troops”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos, spokesperson for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Mindanao. U.S. troops are now fighting the New People’s Army. The New People’s Army, led by the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting to free the Philippines from foreign domination and local exploiters.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was scheduled to speak at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy about “peace and prosperity” in the Middle East. However, on Oct. 15, over 200 community members, students and Palestine solidarity activists gathered outside of the event, decrying the university for hosting the notorious war criminal. Meanwhile, around 30 activists inside, mainly from Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, DePaul University, Loyola University and Northwestern University, disrupted Olmert's speech every 20 minutes for two and a half hours.

On Oct. 24 the newly formed Hands Off Honduras Coalition, made up of anti-war and Latin America solidarity groups, organized a demonstration at the major intersection of Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue. 70 people protested in opposition to the military coup d'état in Honduras and to the de facto acceptance of the coup by the U.S. government.

On Oct. 17, 400 people joined a Minneapolis anti-war protest as part of a national day of peace actions that saw anti-war events in 50 cities across the U.S. on the weekend of Oct. 17-18.

In a day of action organized by Students for a Democratic Society, October 7 saw dozens of protests across the country against the Afghanistan war on the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion. Students marched, conducted die-ins and skits, and some were arrested as they demanded money be spent at home on education and healthcare, instead of two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Demonstrations mark 8th anniversary of Afghan War – demand immediate U.S./NATO withdrawal

On Oct. 7, students on 25 campuses across the United States will protest eight long years of war against the people of Afghanistan. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a national student organization committed to activism for peace, justice and equality, is organizing the protest.

Student anti-war activists across the country are preparing for the Oct. 7 national day of action against the war in Afghanistan.

Minneapolis, MN – The U.S./NATO military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, submitted a report to the Obama administration stating that more U.S. military forces must be sent to Afghanistan. In a Sept. 22 press conference, Twin Cites anti-war groups spoke out against the proposed escalation of the war and announced plans for demonstrations this fall against the war in Afghanistan and the continuing occupation of Iraq.

St. Paul, MN – Even though the 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC) has been over for a year, eight Twin Cities activists are still caught up in its aftermath. The weekend before the RNC, local police led raids on the Convergence Space and the homes of members of a group calling itself the RNC Welcoming Committee. Eight Twin Cities activists (Monica Bicking , Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, Luce Guillen-Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Max Specktor and Eryn Trimmer) were arrested pre-emptively and held for the entirety of the convention. Despite these arrests and other acts of intimidation, thousands of people turned out to protest all four days of the convention and a groundswell of community support has grown surrounding the group now known as the RNC 8.

Minneapolis, MN – Anti-war activists from across the Twin Cities gathered at Rosemary Williams’s house, Aug. 27, to say “Foreclose the wars! Not people’s homes!”

“Foreclose the war, not people's homes”

Minneapolis, MN – The Twin Cites peace movement organized a rally under the call of “Foreclose the war, not people’s homes, ” Aug. 27 to show support for Minneapolis homeowner Rosemary Williams and her fight against foreclosure and eviction. More than 50 people demanded a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions and for the billions being spent on U.S. wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan to be used instead to keep people in their homes.

At the 2009 national convention of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), over 100 delegates from across the country unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for the immediate U.S. withdrawal and an unconditional end to the occupation of Afghanistan.

Irak ha sido atacado por los Estados Unidos desde 1990. Hoy, a cuatro años de la ocupación actual, Estados Unidos está siendo derrotado por la resistencia iraquí, y el pueblo estadounidense no apoya la guerra. Dadas las circunstancias, el movimiento anti-guerra debe aprovechar el momento y concretar ciertos objetivos.

Bogotá, Colombia – En julio de este año, un grupo de activistas anti-guerra viajó a Colombia en una delegación de derechos humanos organizada por la Red de Acción de Colombia. La delegación se reunió con sindicatos, asociaciones de granjeros y organizaciones estudiantiles. FENSUAGRO, la Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria de Colombia, hospedó a los activistas estadounidenses. La delegación visitó regiones rurales y fue testigo de las condiciones de vida de los campesinos colombianos.

Bogotá, Colombia – U.S. anti-war activists traveled to Colombia in July on a human rights delegation organized by the Colombia Action Network. The delegation met with trade unions, peasant farmer associations and student organizations. FENSUAGRO (Federación Nacional Sindical Unitaria Agropecuaria, or the National Federation of Agricultural Farming Unions), Colombia’s national federation of peasants, hosted the U.S. activists. The delegation visited rural regions and documented the living conditions of Colombian peasants.