Six Things You Need to Know About the Growing Anti-War Movement

Across the US, demonstrations, protest encampments, and the occupation of buildings are spreading against the ongoing US backed genocide of Palestinians by the state of Israel. Despite attempts by the Democratic and Republican parties, mainstream media, and the far-Right to falsely label the protests as “anti-Semitic,” there is growing opposition to the war amidst a draconian crackdown on protest and escalating inequality.

But despite attempts by the state to crush the growing movement with brute force, the violence by the police is instead fueling increasing opposition. Here’s why.

The encampments aren’t going anywhere and many are growing.

After exploding across the so-called United States last week, student encampments and occupations have continued to grow – both in the size of some of the physical encampments and also in their numbers across the country. Like the George Floyd Rebellion, the demonstrations aren’t just confined to the coasts or “blue states,” but are spreading across cities and towns far and wide.

While several of the initial encampments have been routed by police, attempts to brutalize students, make mass arrests, and shut-down demonstrations on campuses across the US has largely failed, and instead worked to only galvanize more people into taking action, or simply retaking “liberated zones” cleared earlier by police.

At Humboldt State, attempts by police and administrators to lock down the university and drive out the occupying demonstrators so far has failed, as more barricades and occupations have sprung up. At Portland State, Yale, UT Austin, Emory in Atlanta, and campuses across New York, demonstrations and encampments have all continued in some form despite intense brutality and mass arrests.

Finally, many faculty unions and associations have also stood in solidarity with students facing violent attacks by law enforcement.

People are taking buildings.

While much of the focus on the current wave of protests has been on encampments, often referred to as “liberated zones,” there are several campuses where buildings have also been occupied.

At Humboldt State in Arcata, CA, several buildings have been occupied by students. At Emory University in Atlanta, students occupied a hall, but have since left the property.

In New York, students at the New School and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) have also occupied sections of buildings on their respective campuses.

Finally, after having their encampment evicted by police several times, demonstrators in Portland have occupied a building at Portland State University.

Encampments are being established outside of college campuses.

On April 28th, a group of people launched an encampment in Jackson Square in New Orleans, setting up tents and banners. In the face of the movement moving off of the campuses and onto the streets of our communities, police rushed to quickly attack it and make arrests.

Will this police violence trigger the spreading of more encampments outside of the universities? Only time will tell.

People are bravely pushing back against the police – and winning.

Despite waves of police brutality against protesters that have resulted in mass arrests, protesters are standing strong in the face of this violence. Across the US, people are pushing back against attempts by police to breakup demonstrations and remove them from campus.

At UT Austin and Emory in Atlanta, protesters simply regrouped after attempts by police to raid encampments and break up demonstrations. Since the start of the movement, we’ve seen various examples of crowds de-arresting those targeted by police. At CUNY in New York, protesters rallied together and drove out police who attempted to harass demonstrators. At Humboldt State, occupiers were able to defend an occupied administration building from police, who left the area after more supporters rallied in support of the occupation. On the University of Illinois, protesters held re-enforced banners and signs and were able to push back against a police attack. Finally, in the Washington DC area, in the face of attempted arrests, protesters tore down and dismantled police barricades at George Washington University.

The far-Right has failed to make a real dent against the demonstrations.

The far-Right has attempted a variety of interventions against the growing movement – but failed to find a strategy to implement across the US. So far, we’ve seen several far-Right and fascist trolls show up to encampments and protests in an attempt to generate viral content.

Christian Nationalist preachers such as Sean Feucht, who has worked directly with the Proud Boys and promotes end-times theories that Jews will be swept away in a coming rapture, recently organized a “pro-Israel” march on the gates of Columbia university in New York, where far-Right marchers screamed, “Go back to Gaza!”

Meanwhile in Los Angeles and other cities, supporters of Israel have attempt to troll, disrupt and start fights on the edges of encampments and protests – largely without much success. On April 28th, supporters of Israel held a pro-Zionist rally next to the growing encampment at UCLA, leading to continued harassment against pro-Palestine protesters.

Despite these attempts, the far-Right has failed to make a sizeable dent in the growing movement, although larger and more coordinated mobilizations may be attempted in the future.

The protest encampments are spreading far beyond the US.

The growing demonstrations in the US are inspiring people to take action in solidarity with Palestine and the US backed genocide being carried out by the state of Israel. So far, protest encampments have popped off in the UK, Japan, Germany, Australia, Turkey, France and Canada.

Palestinians have also taken to social media to show their appreciation for demonstrators in the US and beyond for standing in solidarity with them.

Follow It’s Going Down on Mastodon, Palestine Action US on Instagram, and the Escalate Network on Twitter for continuous updates.

photo: @ChuckModi1 and @JerseyNoahx