Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Anti-War Movement

By Michael Graham

Protestor speaking into a megaphone, holding a "US out of Afghanistan" sign

Asheville, NC – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a demonstration at the Federal Building here, Dec. 4, to protest the escalation of the Afghanistan War and to demand an immediate end to the occupation. This action was one of many nationally-coordinated events responding to the recently unveiled troop escalation.

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By staff

Anti War Committee banner at December 5 Protest says "Stop the Surge"

Minneapolis, MN – More than 200 people joined a demonstration here, Dec. 5, to show opposition to the escalation of the U.S. war in Afghanistan announced by President Obama.

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By staff

hundreds of people protesting the Afghanistan war

Chicago, IL – 500 people rallied here Dec. 2 in response to the Obama administration’s announcement that 30,000 more troops will be sent to Afghanistan. Organized by the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, protesters demanded, “U.S. out of  Afghanistan now.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #ChicagoCoalitionAgainstWarAndRacism

By Daniel Ginsberg

Protester holding sign that says "No War No Rove"

Milwaukee, WI – Lining the entryway with banners and loud chants Dec. 3, 100 angry people arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to demand Karl Rove, former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to the Bush administration, return the $25,000 speaker honorarium allocated to him by the university to speak.

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By staff

banner reads "No more troops in Afghanistan"

Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds marched here Dec. 2 to protest the escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Along the march route, protesters cheered for a 14-foot long banner hung by members of the Anti-War Committee high up in a parking garage. The banner was still hanging two hours later, when marchers returned with more cheers.

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By Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Banner reads U.S. Out of Afghanistan and Iraq Now

Freedom Road Socialist Organization denounces the escalation of the bloody and unjust U.S. war in Afghanistan. We condemn the decision made by the White House and Pentagon to ‘surge’ over 30,000 U.S. and NATO forces into Afghanistan in an attempt to stabilize a failing occupation regime.

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By staff

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

Meredith Aby, of the Twin City based Anti War Committee at the press conference

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.

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By staff

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.

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By Beto Soto

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.

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By staff

Puppets at the SOA

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.

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By staff

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

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By staff

“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.

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By Doug Michel

Hatem Abudayyeh gives a speech in support of the actions inside the event

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.

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By staff

Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee speaks at Hands of Honduras rally

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.

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By staff

Anti-war  march in Minneapolis, October 17, 2009

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.

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By Kati Ketz

Students holding a banner that says "US out of Afghanistan"

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.

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By staff

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.

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By Daniel Ginsberg

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

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By staff

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.

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By staff

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.

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