Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

ChicagoIL

By John Metz

Mass sit-in on DuSable Lake Shore Drive in solidarity with Palestine. | Fight Back! News/Alec Ozawa

Chicago, IL – As the bombardment of Gaza entered its seventh week, 5000 protesters seized Chicago's DuSable Lake Shore Drive, November 18, demanding an immediate end to the Israeli genocide. The latest in a series of protests held across the city and beyond, this act of mass civil disobedience marked the first such shutdown of this important and iconic thoroughfare since the outset of the Iraq War two decades before.

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By staff

Fight Back! is circulating this statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the US Palestinian Community Network

On November 15, three FBI agents came to the Chicago home of an international solidarity activist in Chicago who had traveled to Venezuela. The activist wasn’t home, but the agent in charge gave the landlord his card. He asked to be let into the building, but the landlord refused and instead reported the visit to the tenant.

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By Kobi Guillory

Palestine solidarity march targets Biden visit to Chicago. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – When U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at a fundraiser in West Town, Chicago on Thursday afternoon, November 9, he was met by a crowd of 5000 people chanting “Genocide Joe” among other slogans condemning Biden for his role in maintaining U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

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By Joe Iosbaker

Participants in the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression conference.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – Celebrating 50 years since it was founded in Chicago, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), gathered here again, November 3-5.

The National Alliance is new wine in an old wine skin. Executive Director Frank Chapman, the legendary Angela Davis, and a small band of movement veterans from the 1970s and 1980s were surrounded mainly by a sea of college and even high school students, young workers, Gen Z and Millennials. Most of the conference attendees were Black, Latino, Arab, Asian and Pacific Islanders.

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By Liz Rathburn

Chicago students walk out, rally in support of Palestine. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago IL – On October 25, over 400 students at the University of Illinois Chicago walked out of their classes and rallied to demand that Israel end its genocidal siege of Gaza. The protest was coordinated with dozens of campuses across the country holding actions simultaneously.

UIC’s protest was called by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Students for a Democratic Society, Anakbayan, and Dissenters.

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By staff

Chicago protest confronts Zionists. | Fight Back! News/staff

Skokie, IL – On October 22, the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression mobilized nearly 500 to counter-protest a racist Zionist rally that was held in “solidarity” with Israel.

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By Shabbir Rizvi

25,000 march for Palestine in Chicago

Chicago, IL – Over 25,000 people gathered in downtown Chicago on Saturday, October 21 in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.

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By Shaine Carrol-Frey

SDS national convention held in Chicago. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – On October 14 and 15, roughly 180 members and affiliates of the New Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) from over 20 campuses met for their annual National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

The students came from all over the U.S. to unite under the slogan of “Students Defend Education, Unions Strike Back!” to highlight both the attacks of education, especially ethnic studies such as Black studies and American Indian studies, and the increased level of union activity in 2023. Attendees listened to panels and gave workshops over a variety of topics, sharing strategy and tactics with SDS chapters from across the country.

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By staff

Pictured from left to right: Joe Iosbaker of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Elijah Edwards, Tiffany Childress Price of the CTU Human Rights Committee and her two children, CTU president Stacy Davis Gates, Christly Carpio and Lauren Pineiro, Kobi Guillory, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and CTU vice president Jackson Potter. | Photo credit: Richard Berg.

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, September 26, a coalition of unions, students and community organizations kicked off the Chicago leg of the Justice for the Tampa 5 Tour. These five activists are facing serious prison time in Florida for the crime of standing up to the DeSantis agenda. On March 6, a group of students at Tampa’s University of South Florida walked into an administrative building to defend diversity, equity and inclusion. They wanted to meet with the university president but were instead attacked by 15 campus cops. The state attorney is now charging the five with multiple felonies, and they face up to 10 years in prison.

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By Zhenya Polozova

Bev Tang, a member of the International League of People's Struggle, urges mass march on the DNC.

Chicago, IL – The Coalition to March on the DNC hosted a press conference at Chicago City Hall the morning of September 19, calling on the city to issue a previously-denied permit recognizing the right of working and oppressed people to march within sight and sound of the August 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

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