Founding conference for Anti-War Action Network a major success!

St. Paul, MN – On February 15, Anti War Action Network (AWAN) held its founding conference at the Wilder Foundation building in the heart of Saint Paul, Minnesota. AWAN is a nationwide, grassroots, volunteer-based organization comprised of anti-war, student and Palestine solidarity groups and activists from across the U.S. – many of whom participated in national days of action during the upsurge in Palestine solidarity to stop the U.S./Israel genocide in Gaza.

AWAN began as a way for these many different groups to come together to create a network of organizations ready to respond to nationwide calls to action in solidarity with Palestine, including for Al-Nakba Day, Land Day, the marches on the RNC and DNC, and more.

The conference lasted two days and featured workshops and panels led by different leaders in the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movement from all over the country, including Jacksonville, Florida; Tucson, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; San Jose, California; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan, and Omaha, Nebraska.

The conference had over 20 workshops and panels on direct-action oriented topics like “Organizing Car Rallies,” “The Growing Divestment From Genocide Movement,” “Building The Next Generation of Activists” and “Graphic Design For Community Organizers”

The opening plenary was given by four keynote speakers: Taher Herzallah, the Assistant Director of American Muslims for Palestine; Jim Byrne of the Tucson Anti-War Committee; Nazek Sankari, the Co-Chair of the Chicago US Palestinian Community Network, and the main organizing force for the conference, Meredith Aby of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

In her opening remarks, Aby said, “Welcome to the founding conference for the Anti-War Action Network. Many participated in the national days of action during the upsurge in Palestine solidarity to stop the U.S./Israel genocide in Gaza. Some of us are newer to activism – like our friends from Seattle Against War – whereas other groups like the MN Anti-War Committee have been doing anti-war and Palestine solidarity organizing for over 25 years. We have organized national days of action because we want to work together to end U.S. aid to Israel and to increase national coordination so we can amplify our protests.”

In her opening remarks, Nazek Sankari of the USPCN addressed the crowd of over 200, with a fiery speech, declaring, “There is no going back to the status quo of the world before October 7. This genocide against the Palestinian people has exposed Israel for what it really is, a weak, white supremacist, racist, apartheid, Zionist state, determined to remove Palestinians from their ancestral homes and lands at all costs. We know it is failing and is only around because it is being bailed out by the U.S. and Europe.”

16 anti-war and Palestine solidarity groups formally choose to affiliate with AWAN. AWAN hopes to grow as large as possible over the coming years with the goal of creating a strong, nationwide movement to put pressure on state and federal governments to demand an arms embargo and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel.

When asked about the inspiration to create AWAN, Meredith Aby explained the conference as “an opportunity for us to gather as a movement and discuss how to resist Trump’s agenda. Even with the ceasefire, the Palestine solidarity movement’s work must continue. Trump’s plans for Gaza are ethnic cleansing and to send billions more weapons to Israel. We need to keep the pressure up! This conference is an opportunity to strengthen ties among the anti-war movement and strategize how to move forward with organizers from across the United States.”

The conference received greetings from the Friends of Socialist China, BAYAN USA, US Palestinian Community Network, NODUTDOL – U.S. out of Korea Campaign, International League for Peoples’ Struggle, International Women’s Alliance, Resist U.S.-Led War Movement, and the United National Antiwar Coalition.

During the conference AWAN passed a mission statement and over 12 resolutions that all organizations approved, both of which will be available on their website soon. If your organization would like to learn more about AWAN or join and participate in national calls to action, go to antiwaractionnetwork.org.

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