By ADAM RITSCHER
DULUTH, Minn.-While tens of thousands of people were protesting in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco against the U.S. war on Afghanistan and the Israeli attacks upon the Palestinians, a spirited band of activists gathered in Duluth.
Almost 100 people, including some who had never been to a protest before, turned out on the windy afternoon to show that there are people here who are opposed to Bush’s so-called war on terrorism.
The rally, which was organized by Students Against War and Youth for Socialist Action (YSA), was held under the slogans of “Stop the U.S. War!” and “U.S. Out of Central Asia!
Signs held by the protesters also called for an end to government attacks on civil liberties, racist scapegoating, and Israeli violence against Palestinians.
The rally was kicked off with the chant “Stop the Bombing, Stop the War, Not in Our Name Any More.”
This was followed by speeches from representatives of some of the co-sponsoring organizations, such as the Green Party, Amnesty International, Youth for Socialist Action (YSA), Northland Action for Peace & Justice, and the Anishinabe Student Organization.
The YSA speaker, Mark Ostapiak, used his time to put forth a call for a May 7 Palestine solidarity rally under the slogans of “Stop U.S. Aid to Israel!” and “Self-Determination for Palestinians!”
The rally was wrapped up with a very enthusiastic chant of “We’ll be back, we’ll be back!”
Organizers said they were very happy with the turnout, and said that it showed that popular sentiment, especially among young people, is beginning to shift away from support for the U.S. war effort.
