Minneapolis, MN - Over 40 people joined an emergency protest here March 25 to show opposition to the U.S.-led bombing of Libya.
This was the second protest in Minneapolis to speak out against the new U.S. war.
Participants gathered at a busy intersection in the city’s West Bank neighborhood with signs and banners. Slogans included, “U.S. hands off Libya,” and “Stop the U.S. war against Libya.”
Many people driving and walking by showed support for the message of the demonstration.
After an hour, the protest moved inside to Mayday Bookstore for brief statements by some of the sponsoring organizations. University of Minnesota student and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) member Mia Overly read a newly-issued statement by SDS.
The national SDS statement says, in part: “SDS is strongly opposed to U.S. and UN intervention in Libya. The absurdly named ‘Operation Odyssey Dawn’ is nothing short of an open act of war against a sovereign state by a former colonialist power with the aims of creating a stronghold over the trade of oil. This attack should also be clearly seen as a ruthless attempt to stop the revolutions and uprisings happening within the Arab world.”
The SDS statement continues, “War and occupation is ongoing and has ravaged the livelihoods of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. A new battle in Libya not only means more lives lost at the aims of procuring oil, but it also means social services here at home will be slashed.”
Alan Dale, one of the organizers of the protest said, “The U.S. war against Libya has nothing to do with protecting civilians or human rights. The big powers intervene not for the people, but for the economic interests of the economic elite. The intervention in Libya is about trying to maintain control of the oil resources of the region.”
Organizers urged participants to attend the April 9 national anti-war march being held in New York City. Activists are organizing bus transportation from Minneapolis to the event.
The March 25 protest in Minneapolis was supported by Anti-War Committee, Emergency Committee to Stop U.S. War in Libya, Mayday Bookstore, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Peace Campaign and Women Against Military Madness.
The protest was part of a series of nationally coordinated anti-war protests March 23-26 organized in cities across the U.S. by the ANSWER Coalition and other groups.
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I would like to state that
I would like to state that regardless of what one feels about President Mu`ammar al-Qadhafi of Libya I will say that he did support many progressive leaders in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is a good friend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President, Daniel Ortega. He was also a strong supporter of former President Hailie Mengistu Mariam of Ethiopia from 1976 to 1991 and he also befriended many national liberation movements like the Palestine Liberation Organization, Irish Republican Army, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Baader-Meinhoff Group, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and others. He was also trying to help the Palestinian people free themselves and become independent of imperialism and capitalism and colonialism. President Mu`ammar al-Qadhafi was instrumental in helping President Robert Mugabe take power in Zimbabwe in 1979 and also helping the Sandinistas come to power in Nicaragua in 1979. Women have more rights in Libya than they do in other Arab countries and all Libyans have access to social services like free healthcare, free housing, free education and job training. The standard of living in Libya is the highest in all of Africa and people in Libya are paid the highest in all of Africa. President Mu`ammar al-Qadhafi has done a lot of good for the people of Libya. More than what former colonial states like Italy, the United States, France or Great Britain would ever do.
I have tremendous respect for Libyan President, Mu`ammar al-Qadhafi because he fought against the Zionist Entity and against U.S. imperialism. He resisted U.S. imperialism and he supported national liberation movements in other nations because he did not want to see other nations subjugated by U.S. imperialism and subjugation.
As far as human rights violations go, no country has a perfect human rights record. However, Libya has a better human rights record than Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or the United States.
I believe that the situation in Libya is one for the Libyan people to resolve and not imperialist countries like the United States. The Libyan people should be the ones to determine their own political futures and their own destinies without any interference from imperialism.
War Inc.
There's a group on Facebook, THE BLITZ: A Progressive Movement - discussions go round and round, terrific causes to support, all worthy and all important. BUT -- if we don't unite around stopping the military industrial media complex, we'll remain divided and we will fall.
To my knowledge, there are only a handful of antiwar national orgs left: ANSWER, WORLD CANT WAIT, VETERANS FOR PEACE, IRAQ VETS AGAINST THE WAR and UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE. Ending the wars can only happen when our marches on Washington DC are 1-2 million strong. Those are the numbers it took in the 70s to stop the Vietnam "police action". I believe this kind of show of force is the ONLY thing that our non-representative non-democratic non-republic government will respond to.
I don't know what will make these massive marches possible. I only dream of the day when they happen, when the TRILLIONS of dollars begins flowing back into our states and cities instead of being meaninglessly blown up in foreign investment protection actions.
principled stand
Thank you Minneapolis and St. Paul for protesting U.S. imperialism and its attacks on Libya. U.S. imperialism is in decline and facing crisis after crisis. The White House resorts to wars because it cannot rule by other means. One by one, nations will push the U.S. out of the Middle East. The U.S. cannot fight on every front and it is beginning to show. We need the world to unite against U.S. wars and occupations in the Middle East, including "kinetic military actions"--missile strikes and bombings of sovereign countries. Now it is clear the Nobel "Peace" Prize portended the Axis of Imperialism--U.S., Britain, France.
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