Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, visited a weekly gathering of the Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) in St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 19, to express her support for the Palestine solidarity movement. The visit occurred en route to a Green Party fundraising event.
For more than a year, activists have gathered every Friday at the busy intersection of Summit and Snelling Avenues to advocate for an end to U.S.-backed Israeli actions in Gaza, calling for a free Palestine.
The protest included chants such as, “They call it a war, that’s a lie, it’s systematic genocide,” and demonstrators displayed Palestinian flags and signs demanding divestment and cessation of U.S. support for violence. Many motorists showed their support by honking in response to the rally.
Naomi Donadieu of the Palestine Solidarity Committee emphasized the disparity in priorities, stating, “As vice presidential candidate and Minnesota governor, Tim Walz argued, ‘The expansion of Israel is an absolute, fundamental necessity for the U.S.’. But is it really a necessity for those of us who work waged labor for a living? No! It is only a necessity for the fat cats sitting on the board of Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Caterpillar, who count their millions gained from bombing and crushing children.”
Meredith Aby, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and educator, concluded the rally by saying, “We have to raise the level of consciousness in this country about the genocide. The media won’t do it. We have to do it. Genocide is not just a voting issue. The money I need to teach my kids is being spent on the other side of the globe killing kids.”
WAMM organizers vowed to continue their presence every Friday, committed to the idea that their fight for justice is intertwined with the fight for Palestine.