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Resist!

resist-iconStrategic direct action and civil disobedience such as strikes, sit-ins and occupations can expose injustice, slow down or stop harmful practices and win specific demands. Below is an archive of articles covering resistance groups in the United States and internationally. If you are inspired by a campaign, perhaps you will join or support it. If you like the tactics being used, you can adapt them for your own struggle. Check out our Resources Page for links to tools that may be helpful in your resistance.

BU Graduate Students Reach Deal End Seven-Month Strike

Boston University and its graduate student union have agreed on terms for a new contract that would raise the graduate students’ pay, benefits, and job protections and end the longest such strike in American history. The agreement, announced jointly on Friday afternoon, concludes seven months of sparring between the administration and the union that represents 3,000 graduate students. Many teach classes, grade papers, and conduct research, and argued the school severely underpaid them for essential work. Now the first-of-its-kind contract includes provisions to raise the annual stipend PhD workers receive to at least $45,000, or $20 an hour for graduate students, which would be as much as a 60 percent bump for the lowest paid PhD students.

Arab States Are Coming Together To Prevent A Regional War

In a welcome, but under-reported, development last week, Arab states from the Gulf Cooperation Council reportedly “sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality” in the brewing conflict between Iran and Israel. The stance was expressed by Arab ministers to their Iranian counterparts at a meeting last week in Doha. It was not a formal, public declaration, but rather a commitment expressed in the meetings directly. Initially, reports—particularly the main one from Reuters on which much of the other reporting was based—also said that the Gulf states had explicitly stated that they would forbid the United States from using their airbases to attack Iran, although more recent and updated reports have mysteriously omitted this point.

Samsung Chennai Strike Completes A Month

Hundreds of striking workers of the Samsung India’s Chennai plant, including their leaders were arrested, and the venue of strike dismantled by the Tamil Nadu state police on Wednesday, October 9.  The arrested leaders include A Soundararajan, president of the Tamil Nadu state Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and E Muthu Kumar, president of Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU). The worker leaders were released on bail after a few hours of detention, as the government termed the strike illegal. Over 1,300 Samsung workers at its Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai have been on strike since September 9, demanding recognition of SIWU, better wages, and working conditions.

Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Qualified Recipient For First Time In A While

Congratulations are in order for Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. The Nobel Peace Prize has for the first time in at least six years gone to a group of people who work to reduce warmaking, people who in fact seek to abolish nuclear weapons. Nihon Hidankyo has relentlessly done the work of educating the world, thanklessly, for many years. This prize should be celebrated far and wide. Congratulations are also in order to the Nobel Committee, for somehow manintaining the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize despite how the committee has mistreated it time and time again, and for — this time — getting it right. May this mark a new principled commitment!

The 22nd Annual World Day Against The Death Penalty

Today marked the 22nd anniversary of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, amidst a year that saw 19 executions in eight states. It is a day when activists, political leaders and lawyers unite in solidarity from around the world to call for the universal abolition of capital punishment. World Day Against the Death Penalty was established in 2002, following the first World Congress at the European Parliament in France. The movement has grown to over 170 organizations in more than 60 countries in all regions of the world. However, the U.S. lacks their progress. At a time where 112 countries have fully abolished the death penalty, the United States took a step back this year by introducing lethal gas as an execution method for the first time in 100 years.

Boeing Strike Continues

Roughly 33,000 Machinists union members are now in the fourth week of a historic strike at Boeing with no obvious end in sight. While technically an unfair labor practice strike, union members have made it clear what will resolve it: pay raises that catch them up for inflation, quicker wage progression, more paid time off, and above all restoring the pension that Boeing took away in 2016. “If we can get pensions back, that could be a game changer for labor across the entire country,” said striker Scott Lacey, a member of Local Lodge 63. “People would realize that you can get it back.” On Sept. 23, Boeing announced a new contract offer, but did so in a press release and directly to members instead of to their union in bargaining.

In The Shadow Of The Obama Center, Residents Fight Displacement

When Barack Obama met with Chicago residents about his proposed presidential center in 2018, the former president downplayed the threat that gentrification might pose to their communities. “We’ve got such a long way to go in terms of economic development before you’re even going to start seeing the prospect of significant gentrification,” Obama said at a community forum where one attendee asked about the possibility of existing residents being pushed out. ​“Malia’s kids might have to worry about that.” But now, six years later, residents of Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood are fighting fears of displacement amidst looming real-estate speculation in the area surrounding the $830 million project, set to open in nearby Jackson Park in 2026.

The BDS Movement Renews Its Campaign Against Chevron

In January, the BDS National Committee (BNC) renewed its call for a boycott of the fossil fuel company Chevron. The organization had originally called for a boycott of Chevron in 2020 after it became the main operator of fossil gas claimed by Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, the new call has expanded the boycott to Chevron gas stations and the company’s affiliates, which include Texaco and Caltex. “During the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, a movement to boycott Shell oil for its complicity in apartheid gained worldwide momentum, with supporters taking part in gas/petrol station pickets and major divestment campaigns from the fossil fuel company.

Climate Activists Battle The False ‘Solution’ Of Forest Biomass

“Who will own the forests? Who will own the sky?” sang dozens of umbrella-wielding protesters as rain drizzled outside the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon on Sept. 25. Inside the building, timber company representatives, investors and others involved in deciding the fate of forest ecosystems were meeting for an event called CANOPY: Forests + Markets + Society. Billed as “the premier annual event on institutional forestland investing,” CANOPY is a conference whose 2023 attendees included Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascades, biomass energy giant Drax and J.P. Morgan.

Boston Coalition For Palestine Shuts Down Highway

Some 5,000 protesters turned out Oct. 6 on Boston Common in a massive show of support for Palestinian and Lebanese resistance to the genocidal Zionist state and its U.S. sponsor. Organized by the Boston Coalition for Palestine — whose 45 member organizations include Palestinian House of New England, Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace and Workers World Party — Sunday’s action observed the one-year anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood, when Hamas fighters broke out of besieged Gaza and attacked Israeli settlements on October 7, 2023. On that day, rally emcee Lea Kayali of the Palestinian Youth Movement explained the people of Gaza “broke down the prison doors” and exposed the weakness and complacency of the Zionist apartheid regime.

Utah Students Win Victory Against Israeli Study Abroad Program

Salt Lake City, UT – On October 3, 50 students and community members gathered on the campus of the University of Utah to demand an end to the school’s study abroad program with the University of Haifa, an Israeli military college that practices discrimination against its Arab and Muslim students. Organizers also called for the University of Utah’s full divestment from companies involved in the Israeli genocide in Gaza, reinvestment in student resources, and for the University of Utah to respect students’ right to protest for Palestine. The rally also celebrated the Palestinian resistance. Chris Loera-Peña of Mecha de U of U said, “It’s been a year of genocide, but also a year of non-stop resistance and fighting from the Palestinian people and the entire world.”

People Of South Asia Reaffirm Solidarity With Palestine

Thousands of people participated in rallies and protest gatherings all across the South Asia region as part of international calls for mobilization to commemorate a year of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, express solidarity with the Palestinian people, and to raise the demand for an immediate ceasefire. Protesters carried Palestinian flags, banners condemning the genocide, and chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance. A large number of young university students joined the protests as well, defying various restrictions imposed by their respective governments on the display of such solidarity with Palestinians.

Argentina: Hundreds Of Thousands Mobilize In Defense Of Public Education

On October 2, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Argentina to demand that Javier Milei’s neoliberal government cease its attempts to defund public university education. It was the largest protest to date against Milei’s harsh neoliberal measures, yet the libertarian head of state refused to budge. Several political parties, social movements, unions, and human rights organizations joined students, professors, graduates, and university workers in the streets demanding that Milei not veto the University Financing Law which seeks to increase the university budget given the needs faced by Argentine universities.

White Mesa Indigenous Community And Supporters Rally Against Uranium Mill

Salt Lake City, UT — On Friday, October 4, members of the White Mesa Ute community and supporters rallied at the Utah State Capitol against uranium transport and processing on Indigenous lands. White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe co-organized the rally demanding the closure and clean up of the White Mesa Uranium Mill in southern Utah. The mill, which is the only one in operation in the United States, processes uranium from nearby mines, and serves as a uranium disposal site for projects across the country. Indigenous community members who live near the mill appealed to state agencies today to close the mill, citing the known and potential health hazards that uranium poses.

Palestine Action Hit Ten Branches Of Israel Genocide-Enabler Allianz

Allianz has previously been described as Elbit’s “principle institutional shareholder”, at-one-point owning over 2% of the company. The finance company continues to hold thousands of shares in Elbit Systems Ltd, while its subsidiary ‘Allianz Insurance Products Trust’ provides insurance services for Elbit Systems UK, including employment insurance. One year on from the start of the genocide in Gaza, these nationwide action serves as a reminder that, throughout the past twelve months, Western capital has continued to profit from the mass murder of Palestinians. Allianz’ profit books, its returns on its investments, have been bolstered by the hundreds of military technologies which Elbit provides in service of genocide.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

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Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

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