No to NATO!

Speech by Meredith Aby, Anti-War Committee member, at the NATO protest of over 15,000 people on May 20, 2012 in Chicago.

As the token Minnesotan speaking from the stage today I’d like to give a shout out to all the Minnesotans at the rally and all the out of staters!

The FBI came after many of us in the Minneapolis anti-war movement because we were the main organizers of the last big anti-war protest in this country – the RNC 2008.  They raided my home and have tried to criminalize solidarity to Palestine and Colombia.

Well, they haven’t silenced us, or Carlos Montes, or any of you. Instead, they’ve made it all too clear how important our work is. And here we all are. We remain committed to opposing the wars of the US and NATO, and to supporting the struggles of oppressed people around the world.

We must be here so we can march to the NATO Summit.  The people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, and Iran should not be in the crosshairs of NATO.  NATO should not get to decide whether the people of the world die or suffer under occupation.

We must be here.  This is an undemocratic and secretive meeting and the only way we get a voice is in the streets.  We have raise our voices at McCormick Place so they will hear our opposition to war and greed!

We must be here to stand with our sisters and brothers from across the US and the world to say we oppose NATO’s wars for the 1%.

From Afghanistan to the Middle East, we demand justice, we demand peace!