Demonstrators from groups including San Jose Against War and the SJSU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society gathered outside the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on March 3 to protest ongoing United States involvement in foreign affairs.

The event also featured speakers from the Green Party of Santa Clara and the All African People’s Revolutionary Party.

Transcript:

0:08
SANGO LEVONIAN – LA VOZ MULTIMEDIA EDITOR: Protestors gathered outside the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on Tuesday, March 3rd to protest ongoing US involvement in foreign conflicts, namely with Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine and Iran.

Various speakers were invited to the event, including representatives of the Green Party of Santa Clara and the All African People’s Revolutionary party.

0:27
PHILIP NGUYEN – MEMBER, SAN JOSE AGAINST WAR: So I want to put the focus on that, no war, no US war should be happening. That being like an egregious use of our tax dollars, funding war and genocide overseas, that’s mine and your hard earned tax dollars that we send to war profiteers through bombs and aid packages to Israel.

And yeah, no war should be happening while people are living paycheck to paycheck, are drowning in health and education debt.

0:57
NASSIM NOURI – GREEN PARTY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY COUNCILMEMBER: I’m here today, not just in solidarity with the people who are being victimized by U.S. Empire, our wars, sanctions, but also in solidarity with the people who are here standing up to our own government.

It’s the US government that is reigning terror and war around the world. And they’re not all military attacks.

They are in the form of economic warfare through state sanctions and blockades that are economically starving Many countries around the world.

1:38
NOURI (SPEECH TO PROTESTORS): Every socialist country in the global south that has raised its fist, its hope, its humanity, and its resources for the people, has been subjected to crushing, crushing attacks and sanctions and deprivation by empire.

1:58
NGUYEN: Today it marks the second month that President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores has been kidnapped by the US and we are elevating the need to advocate for hands off Venezuela and the blockade on Cuba, because Cuba also relies heavily on oil from Venezuela.

And also that before, after we planned this action, Iran was also attacked by US and Israel and we wanted to also bring up that issue as well.

2:30
JOHN DUROYAN – SJSU STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY PRESIDENT: And what has happened recently along with the ongoing displacement, land theft, and murder of Palestinians, is now an open war with Iran, where in the opening hours of that war, an airstrike has killed over a hundred girls, a hundred children at an all-girls school. And it’s a war that we want no part in. It’s a repeat of wars from too many to name.

2:56
NGUYEN: No good has ever come from the US getting involved in any country abroad. It’s always bombs and sanctions and killing leaders. And you can look at history: Afghanistan and Libya, Syria.

We’ve gotten involved everywhere and they’ve never been better for it. So one of our mottoes is money for education and jobs not for war and bombs and genocide.

3:19
NOURI: I think the fallacy that we’ve been fed that, the propaganda that we’ve been raised with, that we have freedom, that this is a democratic society has to be reexamined, it has to be realistically assessed.

We have to look around and ask, why don’t we have national healthcare? Why don’t we have free colleges where a majority of other countries in not even rich countries, countries with far less resources than we do, can provide those for their citizens.

3:48
NGUYEN: We’re actually mobilizing next Tuesday at the San Jose City Council at 1:30 PM. They have about $115 million in public investments in companies that contribute to Israel’s genocide on Palestine, that contribute to enabling ICE’s terror operations.

What we want is, we’re demanding the city of San Jose pass an ethical investment policy to then divest and bar any further investments in those set companies.

4:18
LEVONIAN: La Voz will continue to cover community actions across the Bay Area. Stay tuned on our website and socials to learn more.