Bannering: Money for COVID relief not war! Fight COVID, Not Russia!

The Anti-War Committee will hold a visible anti-war bannering on Thursday, January 27 to call for “Money to fight COVID, not war.” The protest will speak out  against the growing war crisis between the U.S. & Russia over the Ukraine as a horrible waste of money needed to fight COVID.

Participants will hold signs and banners on the Sabo Pedestrian Bridge over Hiawatha Ave (near 26th Street & Hiawatha Ave) in south Minneapolis, the event will last from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

A statement issued by organizers says in part, “We need funds to fight COVID, not war, and certainly not a new war. A war with Russia would be a disaster for all the people of the world.”

“While the Biden Administration has sent millions of dollars of military aid to Ukraine and prepares to send thousands of U.S. troops to Eastern Europe in the the name of defending Ukraine against Russia, millions of people in the U.S. are facing the COVID crisis with low or no income, and an ever increasing income gap between the rich and everyone else.”

Last month congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act which authorizes more than $768 billion for what will be the biggest military budget ever.

The organizers statement continues, “Meanwhile, the pandemic has exploded into its third year with no US plan to help people whose lives it disrupts, much less bring it under control. The US lack of a public health response to the Omicron wave is causing chaos even outside our borders, with major outbreaks starting from US military bases in Okinawa and Korea.”

“People in countries already weakened by US economic warfare face healthcare disaster. Sanctions continue to disrupt shipments of medical supplies to countries like Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. Medical apartheid is clear in occupied Palestine, especially in besieged Gaza.”

“In a pandemic, no one is safe until everyone is safe. Join us to demand that our tax dollars go to healthcare and COVID relief, not war; and to end the cruel sanctions that prevent other nations from doing the same,” the statement concludes.

The Thursday protest is sponsored by Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Women Against Military Madness, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and others.