Gainesville, FL – On March 21, Palestine solidarity activists came together on the University of Florida campus to protest inhumane Israeli prison conditions and the mistreatment of political prisoner Samer Issawi. In the middle of a 24-hour solidarity hunger strike, students sat in the center of Turlington plaza with blindfolds over their eyes and duct tape over their mouths.
Chicago, IL – “Israeli soldiers torture and kill! We say we won’t foot the bill!” This chant rang out in front of the building housing the Israeli Consulate here, March 6. Close to 100 people picketed, shouting their response to the March 2 death of 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat. An autopsy revealed that Jaradat died after being tortured during interrogation by Israeli security, sustaining a total of six broken bones in his spine, arms and legs; his lips lacerated; his face badly bruised.
New Orleans, LA – Students and activists at the University of New Orleans (UNO) staged a dramatic action to protest a speaking event featuring Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers, Feb. 28. 60 people stood up from the audience toward the beginning of the soldiers’ speech and revealed red shirts they were wearing with signs taped to their chests. Each person wore the name of a different name of a Palestinian child killed by Israel’s soldiers, followed by the word “Silenced.” Wordlessly, the demonstrators walked out en masse as the two soldiers stood before a crowd that had diminished to a dozen people, including activists who remained holding a banner in the front of the room.
Justice for Arafat Jaradat, Samer Issawi and all Palestinian hunger strikers
St. Paul, MN – On March 1, people of conscience gathered here during rush hour at a busy Saint Paul intersection, to show solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian political prisoners and to demand justice for Arafat Jaradat, who died Feb. 23 as a result of being tortured by Israeli security. Many passing cars honked in support of the protest.
Chicago, IL – An Israeli legal theorist and former officer in the Israel Defense Forces spoke Feb. 25 at the University of Chicago. Professor Amos Guiora helped provide the justifications for ‘targeted killing’ programs like the one pursued by the Obama administration. 40 protesters, including ten from the campus’ Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), turned out.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A broad campaign is underway in Lebanon for the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council about the Dec. 12 raids by Israeli Occupation Forces on Palestinian NGOs.Joint Statement: The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council Condemns the IOF Raid on the Offices of Three Palestinian NGOs in Ramallah
On Nov. 29, 131 countries voted to recognize Palestinian statehood by granting Palestine “non-member observer state” status. This elevation at the UN further isolates the U.S. and Israel as they pursue the occupation of Palestine and domination over the other countries of the Middle East. Only seven countries voted with the U.S. and Israel, four of them small Pacific island nations under U.S control. Significantly, U.S. allies France, Italy and Japan voted for Palestine, and others abstained – the UK, Germany and Australia. The peoples of the world support Palestine, while the warmongers of the U.S. and Israel are further isolated and in trouble.
Minneapolis, MN – 100 people rallied here, Nov. 24, despite frigid temperatures, to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza. “While it is good that there is a cease fire in Gaza, it is important to be here today because we need to protest the Israeli occupation itself because until Palestine is free there will be more offensives like Operation Pillar. As the U.S. anti-war movement we need to keep demanding an end to U.S. military aid because U.S. money is driving and financing the Israeli occupation,” said the Anti-War Committee’s Meredith Aby in her speech to the crowd.
Milwaukee, WI – The declaration of a cease fire didn't stop 200 people from marching in downtown Milwaukee, Nov. 22, in response to a week of Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. Protesters demanded the bombing of Gaza stop and called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.
St. Paul, MN – More than 100 people joined a vigil and protest here, Nov. 21, to speak out against the Israeli attack on Gaza. Participants lined the sidewalks of the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge, which connects Minneapolis and Saint Paul, during rush-hour traffic, creating a highly visible statement against the attack on Gaza.
Chicago, IL – The military bombardment of Gaza by Israel’s military was applauded by 300 supporters of Israel at a rally organized by the Jewish United Fund (JUF) here, Nov. 20. 100 opponents of the war, including activists from Chicago’s Palestinian community and Palestine solidarity activists, held a counter-protest in response.
Milwaukee, WI – For over a week now, the Israeli government has been launching attacks on the people in the Gaza Strip. For far too long there has been evidence that the Israeli government has been treating the Palestinian people like they are less than human. The Israeli government has been kicking people off their land, making them go through checkpoints, restricting trade to the Gaza region and even bulldozing homes.
Tallahassee, FL – The Palestinian national flag waved high above Integration Statue in the afternoon breeze, Nov. 19. Below it, about 50 people gathered at Florida State University (FSU) for a protest demanding an end to the Israeli siege of Gaza. Students from FSU and Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) joined community activists in a march through the busiest parts of campus to stand with the Palestinian people.
Tampa, FL – On Nov. 17, nearly 100 people stood against Israel's ongoing bloodbath in Gaza. Students for Justice in Palestine organized the demonstration. Black-clad protesters waved Palestinian flags, held signs and stretched banners as thousands of cars drove through the intersection separating Tampa from Temple Terrace – a city with a large Palestinian community. The large contingents on all four corners of Fowler Avenue and 56th Street rotated when the lights changed, making sure that motorists got a long look at banners adorned with statistics on the brutality of occupation and its financial dependence on the U.S. government.