Milwaukee demands hands off Iran after U.S. strikes Tehran

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, June 25, 100 people gathered in Milwaukee for an emergency “Hands Off Iran” action, the second led by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) this month, and the third held in the city that same week.

The event came a few days after the Trump administration bombed three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday, June 21. Up to this point, the U.S. government had been funding and supporting Israel as it bombed Iran, but had not itself launched an attack. Saturday’s news caused concern among people in the U.S. that it would spark a wider war in the region.

The event, held at Cathedral Square Park in downtown Milwaukee, first started with speeches at the park before departing on a short march through downtown to the Sunburst Sculpture by the lake. After several speeches at the sculpture, the protesters marched back to the park.

As they were marching, cars honked in support. At one point, an ambulance driver, sirens on and headed to an emergency, stuck their arm out the window and put their fist up in solidarity, to loud cheers from the marching crowd.

The speeches covered an array of topics, particularly connecting Iran with other national liberation struggles in the world.

“Iran has been a critical ally of Palestinian liberation, training and equipping resistance forces in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria to defend the Palestinian people against Zionist occupation. This is why the U.S. and Israel want Iran destroyed – not because of ‘terrorism’ or ‘nuclear threat,’” said Christina Stradwick of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Añita Herrezuelo of Milwaukee4Yemen said “Iran is being bombed not for what it has done, but for what it dares to support – Palestinian liberation. Yemen is being bombed because it did what the world would not – it put its body in the way of genocide and said ‘No ships will pass while Gaza starves.’”

Alan Chavoya, with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) talked about how after 1979 Iranians in the United States faced hatred, attacks and repression, saying “We have to remain vigilant against any future attacks that are going to come against Iranians, and we in the Milwaukee Alliance will stand up for anyone being attacked, because attacks against Iran and Iranians are political.”

A war with Iran is deeply unpopular in the U.S. and the world, despite what the Trump administration and national media in the U.S. may want people to think. Milwaukee will keep rising up and taking the streets, knowing all struggles of oppressed people everywhere are connected.

“The anti-war movement has grown massively since October 2023, thanks to the steadfast efforts of the Palestinian resistance and the people and countries across the world that have taken up the call. We are larger now, we are stronger now. And it is up to us, the people standing in solidarity all across the globe, to make sure we keep building!” said Sara Onitsuka, chair of the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee.

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