News and Views from the People's Struggle
May 14 marks 77 years since Al-Nakba, or as it's known by Palestinians, the Catastrophe. Beginning on May 14, 1948, over 750,000 Palestinians were forced off their land by Israeli settlers in a matter of months, with the indispensable help of the British. No inch of land was ceded without massacres.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement of the ILPS on the commemoration of the Nakba.
The International League of Peoples’ Struggle joins Palestinians all over the world in commemorating the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, which dispossessed, displaced, and murdered hundreds of thousands of people in the name of an imperialist and Zionist project—the manufacture of “Israel “as a “Jewish State” in Palestine in order to establish a Western imperialist outpost in West Asia and North Africa.
![Die-in at the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council \[WDIC\]’s conference in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.](https://i.snap.as/U8uEl7dz.png "Die-in at the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council [WDIC]’s conference in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. | Photo: Fight Back! News")
Pewaukee, WI – On the afternoon of May 13, dozens of anti-war and pro-Palestine activists held a rally outside the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council (WDIC)’s inaugural conference at the Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee, a suburb of Milwaukee. The rally spoke out against the WDIC’s stated mission, to increase the influence of defense manufacturing in Wisconsin.
Basile, LA – On May 9, a dozen people protested outside the South Louisiana ICE processing center, demanding the release of international student Rümeyza Öztürk. At the same time as the rally, her case was heard remotely by a judge in Vermont who ultimately ordered Öztürk’s immediate release. The judge also stated that her case would set a precedent for others who have been unlawfully detained for exercising free speech under the Trump administration.
New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, May 6, New Orleans supporters packed the court for community activist Toni Jones’ trial in municipal court. Jones is chair of New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. She was arrested while doing security for a Palestine protest over a year ago.
Green Bay, WI – Undeterred by road closures and brisk evening temperatures, a dedicated group of around one dozen Green Bay, WI, activists arrived near Entrance 2 for the NFL Draft. It was April 24, the first day of the Draft, and a section of South Ridge Road at the western corner of Lambeau Field was closed to traffic; making it perfect for a banner drop. The action was organized by the Green Bay Anti-War Committee (GBAC), the small city organization that could.
Bloomington, MN – On April 25 and 26, Education Minnesota (EdMN) held its annual convention in Bloomington, Minnesota. Hundreds of teachers, paraprofessionals and aspiring and retired educators gathered for the union’s annual convention, which included more than 600 elected delegates. At the convention, the delegates elected their governing board, voted for constitution and bylaw amendments, and decided on action items put forward by EdMN’s 84,000 members. They also elected EdMN’s first Black president, Monica Byron.
New Brunswick, NJ – On Tuesday, April 29, Rutgers Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally against a speaking event hosted by Rutgers Hillel. The speech was part of “Israel Week,” a series of events intended to justify and celebrate the ongoing genocide and occupation of Palestine., New Jersey U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer, a staunch Zionist and supporter of Israel’s war crimes, was invited to meet with students that day.
Orlando, FL – A group of 20 community members gathered outside the Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando to demand charges against a pro-Palestine student activist be dropped. Chris Gibson, a student at the University of Central Florida (UCF), was arrested during a pro-Palestine demonstration that took place outside of Orlando City Hall in October 2024.
50 years ago, on April 30, the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon were broken by a tank—a tank driven by a fighter for a unified and independent Vietnam. The flag of the U.S.-backed puppet regime came down, and the flag of the National Liberation Front replaced it.
Saigon, the capital of French colonialism, and then American imperialism, was no more. Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City—named for the communist leader who stood at the forefront of Vietnam’s fight for national liberation.
On the morning of April 23, the FBI and state and local police in Michigan raided the homes of pro-Palestinian activists in at least three cities: Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Canton. These activists, including at least four people in Ypsilanti and at least one graduate student, are reported to have attended or supported protests in support of Palestine and condemning the genocide in Gaza.
New York, NY – Dozens gathered, Monday, April 21, in Manhattan’s Foley Square to protest the 40th and largest-ever Balikatan, or “shoulder-to-shoulder,” joint military exercises between U.S. and Philippine troops. Speakers from GABRIELA, Anakbayan Manhattan, Bayan USA, NYCHRP, DSA, UAW, and TWU Local 100 demanded an end to the United States’ military presence in the Philippines.
Denver, CO – On April 19, Denver joined cites nationwide in a day of action against Trump and his racist and reactionary agenda. An estimated 8000 people marched at the Colorado State Capitol in protest of the recent attacks on immigrants, and for upholding rights for Palestinians, unions, the working class, women and trans people.
Grand Rapids, MI – On Saturday, April 19, 30 people gathered at Fountain Street Church in downtown Grand Rapids to commemorate Palestine Prisoners’ Day. The event began with a teach-in on the history of Prisoners’ Day and its importance to the national liberation struggle.
Afterwards, people began writing letters to two groups of recipients. First, letters were drafted to the Filton 18. This group of activists were arrested in Britain for targeting an Elbit Systems facility and have been subjected to solitary confinement and interrogation while they await trial.
San Jose, CA – On April 19, around 30 people gathered at the Arab American Cultural Center in San Jose for an educational community event to commemorate Palestinian Prisoners Day. The event focused on the case of famed Palestinian political leader and longtime political prisoner Marwan Bargouthi, who has been imprisoned by Israel on false charges for over 20 years due to his role as a leader during the Second Intifada.
Milwaukee, WI – Thousands of people rallied across 15 freeway overpasses in Milwaukee County on April 19, as part of a national day of action to protest Trump's attacks.
A wide variety of causes were represented on hundreds of homemade signs reading “Stop the cuts,” “Due process for all,” “Fuck Trump,” “Defend Social Security and Medicare,” “Stop deportations” and more. Nearly every overpass down the main highway in Milwaukee, Interstate 43, had signs visible to those on their weekend commute.
Detroit, MI – 2500 people gathered at Hart Plaza, April 19, ready to fight back against Donald Trump and his attacks on working-class people, both at home and abroad. The demonstration was a “Hands Off” march and rally, organized by Detroit Anti-War Committee, Detroit Comité de Acción Comunitaria, Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Wayne State Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Orlando, FL – On April 3, the Knights Against Genocide Coalition held its first day of action at the University of Central Florida (UCF) campus to present its demands to university administration and mobilize students against UCF’s continued support for the genocide and occupation of Palestine. The day of action began at Millican Hall with a delivery of the coalition’s demands to UCF President Alexander Cartwright.
Minneapolis, MN – On April 15, the date U.S. residents must have their taxes submitted, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition held an energetic rally outside U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office in downtown Minneapolis to demand that Klobuchar stand with her constituents and insist Trump uses tax dollars to improve people’s lives and end U.S. aggression against countries across the world.
Since his January 20 inauguration, Trump has attempted to cut over $11 billion in funding to public health at the state level. While this has been blocked in the federal courts, that hasn’t stopped the executive administration from threatening to cut public education funding from K-12 programs, if they do not eliminate their diversity, equity and inclusion projects.
Over 75 protesters and community members held signs and chanted slogans calling for money for schools, jobs, healthcare, housing etc., “not for war!” while Minnesotans drove by and honked in support. The demands of the action included things like “Divest from Israel” “End U.S. forever wars” “Hands off Mexico and Gaza” and “Stop bombing Yemen.”
The first speaker was Vash Lamp from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, who stated, “And that's the sad reality of our situation. That not only are our taxes not used to support us in areas like housing or healthcare, but they are actively used to harm and oppress us. We are having to fight against our own money.”
Abir Ismail, a math teacher and member of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers for Palestine, stated, “While our government write checks to this brutality – the bombing of Palestinian children, they are telling our own children they don’t matter – that their reading specialist is too expensive, that the paraprofessional in their classroom has to be let go, that their special education needs are just ‘unaffordable’.”
Ismail continued, “There is no neutrality when children are being slaughtered. There is no justification for genocide. And there is no excuse for abandoning our schools while we bankroll bombs.”
Wyatt Miller of the MN Anti-War Committee stated, “The war on Yemen like all U.S. wars, is unpopular. And let’s not forget, Yemen is under attack for standing with Palestine against Israel’s genocide. Fighting a new war to protect Israel is more unpopular right now than it’s ever been. People like Amy Klobuchar want us to believe that all of the millions of people who are protesting Trump think just like her, and that only a little sliver of what Trump does is truly bad, and that maybe the problem with Trump’s wars is that he’s not waging them competently enough. I don’t believe it! People aren’t stupid, people understand that the bullshit is connected, and we in the anti-war movement need to go out and find our people, build our movement into the movement against Trump rather than silo ourselves off from it.”
At the end of the protest participants were encouraged to come to the Earth Day march to the state capitol in Saint Paul on Saturday, April 19.
New Orleans, LA – Around 60 people gathered outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in New Orleans to protest the illegal detention of Mahmoud Khalil. Attendees rallied around speakers and chanted as a judge – hours away in rural Jena, Louisiana – would decide if Khalil could be deported for his activism for Palestine.