Few events expose the utter hypocrisy of U.S. politicians’ grand words about democracy so starkly as their praise for the recently deceased King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. For decades U.S. imperialism and all the imperialist powers have given political, military and diplomatic support to the corrupt feudal family that rules Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil.

Minneapolis, MN – As 2014 comes to an end, we pause to look back at some of the most important Fight Back! stories of the past year. 2014 has seen an upsurge in many struggles – and Fight Back! has been there on the front lines with on-the-spot reporting and timely analysis.

We celebrate the release of the Cuban Five – political prisoners held by the U.S. government for 16 years. Their freedom also marks a positive change in relations between the U.S. government and Cuba. Many anti-war and international solidarity activists who worked towards their release are raising their glasses to toast this victory!

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization is pleased to present the Main Political Report, voted on and passed at our 7th Congress in the summer. The three sections – the U.S. Economy, Domestic Political Report and the International Report – describe the societal conditions in which we organize and struggle for a new society. These documents, debated and revised over many months, provide a basis for understanding the basic conditions of life, the forces in motion in society, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the movements for social change and revolution. We ask you to read, comment, discuss and share them. Improving our understanding of how society works will strengthen our leadership of mass groups and positively impact the people’s movements.

Moscow, Russia – One of the largest circulation newspapers in the world is Stars and Stripes, produced by the U.S. Department of Defense. On Dec. 10, it ran an article about the latest anti-Russian war game held by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The article, titled “NATO Land Command Fully Operational, Says Commander” cites Lt. General John Nicholson and declares this “NATO’s largest training exercise since the end of the Cold War.” NATO was created as an anti-Soviet military alliance of U.S. and it’s junior partners.

There is no justice in America’s courts

Eric Garner was an African American man who was murdered by a white cop with the New York City Police Department. The medical examiner ruled the killing a homicide. The video that shows Eric Garner being choked to death in the street – strangled as a gang of police jumped him – has been viewed by tens of millions. You can hear his last words, “I can’t breathe.” Still, on Dec 3, a white-majority grand jury let the killer cop and his accomplices walk free.

Los Angeles, CA – Carlos Montes formally announced his intention to run for the District 14 seat in Los Angeles City Council at a campaign kickoff event held at his campaign office on Nov. 8. Surrounded by family, friends and supporters, Montes spoke to the need for progressive activism in City Hall to address the many issues facing the people of Los Angeles. Montes’ announcement was met with cheers of “Sí, se puede!” from members of the crowd, which included teachers, labor leaders and students.

Fight Back! is reposting the following article on holiday cooking. Steff Yorek is a member of Cooks for a Cause – a group of cooks who do labor-donated fundraising dinners for progressive causes such as Palestine solidarity and immigrants rights.

Legalization for All (L4A) Statement on President Obama’s Deferred Action

Fight Back News Service is circulating this Nov. 20 statement by the Legalization for All (L4A) network.

On Nov. 24, a Ferguson grand jury decision cleared police officer Darren Wilson of the murder of Michael Brown. Michael Brown was an 18-year-old African American youth shot and killed by the white police officer as he walked to his grandmother’s house in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9. Witnesses stated that Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands up in the air when officer Darren Wilson shot and killed him. With blatant disrespect to Michael Brown, his family and the neighborhood, the police left his body lying in the middle of the street for hours after the police killing.

Author’s note: Leslie Feinberg preferred the pronouns ze (vs. she) and hir (vs. her) so I use those in this piece.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Nov. 18 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 17 statement from Scott Williams. We remind all progressive activists to not speak with the FBI. The FBI came looking for me today at my family’s house

Milwaukee WI – For the first time in Milwaukee's history, an African American woman is running as a socialist candidate for the office of Milwaukee county sheriff. The following is an interview that that Fight Back! conducted with Walker. For more information about her campaign, see Angela N Walker for Milwaukee County Sheriff Fight Back! asked Angela Walker to describe her campaign. Here is her response:

Fight Back News Service is urging all progressive organizations to sign the following statement. To add your organization to the statement, please email info@stopfbi.net. The statement reads in part: “The undersigned organizations support the democratic rights of the Rasmea Defense Committee, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and other organizations to organize broad, public support to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.”

Bizarre DOJ accusations against Hatem Abudayyeh attempt to criminalize opponents of political repression

Fight Back! is circulating this important statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

¡Por un movimiento militante y de masas para la liberación!

El 17 de Julio, luego de haber ahorcado a Eric Garner, un Afroamericano padre de seis hijos, los agentes de la policía de New York decidieron revisarle los bolsillos antes de llamar a la ambulancia. Tres semanas después, el oficial Darren Wilson en la ciudad de Ferguson, Missouri mato de seis disparos al joven Michael Brown, dejando su cuerpo tirado en la calle sin llamar por ayuda médica. Por más de una semana la policía se negó a liberar el nombre del oficial Wilson y se rehusó a entregar el reporte oficial. Todo esto demuestra que también pretenden encubrir la verdad sobre el asesinato de Michael Brown.

Regular readers of Fight Back! know that on Sept. 24, 2010, Midwest anti-war and international solidarity activists woke to loud banging on their front doors and were confronted with scores of FBI agents breaking things and rifling through children’s toys and books. At the end of the day, seven homes and the office of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee were raided by the FBI, who took away boxes of books and papers on decades of political activity. At the raided homes, activists received subpoenas to a grand jury in Chicago investigating material support of terrorism.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Sept. 4 article from Workers World:

Build a militant, mass movement for liberation!

On July 17, Eric Garner, an African American father of six, was choked to death by New York City police, who then went through his pockets instead of calling an ambulance. Three weeks later, Michael Brown was shot at least six times and killed by policeman Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. His body was left in the street and no medical help was called. For more than a week the police refused to release Officer Wilson’s name and turned in no official police report. All of this shows that another cover-up is underway in the murder of Michael Brown.