by Sylvia Schwartz, April 4, 2011
The Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign successfully hosted its first Day on the Hill on Wednesday, March 30th. A huge thank you to everyone who came, and to all who volunteered to help make the day possible! Over 110 people from 25 different senate districts in Minnesota attended the Day’s events, including from as far away as Harmony and Brainerd, which are respectively located 125 and 140 miles away from the Cities. These committed participants represented a variety of religions, professions, and ages, all gathering to speak with their state legislators about getting Minnesota to divest from Israel.
The day started with an opportunity for legislators to meet informally with MN BBC members and enjoy a light breakfast. Especially because of the “Great Postcard Distraction of 2011,” during which a couple of legislators falsely accused MN BBC of fabricating the amount of support there is around the state for divesting, this was an important opportunity for face-to-face discussions.
The morning training sessions, held at Christ Lutheran Church,were intended to give participants background information to answer typical concerns that might be brought up about Israel/Palestine and divestment. Many attendees commented that the energy and solidarity of the day’s organizers and attendees alike was remarkable.
Ayah Helmy presented “Palestine 101,” a very brief history of the events which shaped Israel and Palestine in the 20thcentury. Susanne Waldorf and Sriram Ananth presented “BDS 101 and MN Break the Bonds,” a description of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions as a strategy, the call from Palestinian civil society for BDS, and how MN BBC fits into this strategy. Celia Kutz and Jessica Rosenberg, members of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network of the Twin Cities (IJAN-TC) described the differences between Zionism and Jewishness and why it is important to distinguish between the two. Finally, Farheen Hakeem spoke about details members would need when meeting with their legislators, including what to expect in the meetings, what should be asked, and what time appointments were scheduled.
At noon MN BBC held a rally inthe Capitol Rotunda. One attendee remarked that this was the most exciting portion of the day for her, because it gave visibility to Israel’s international law violations in a public meeting space.The rally speakers included Flo Razowsky from theMN BBC Core Team, Amina Maamarie from American Muslims for Palestine, Fr. David Smith from the University of St. Thomas, Sanna Towns from St. Paul Public Schools, and Sylvia Schwarz and Karen Redleaf from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.
Although the majority of those in the audience were MN BBC supporters, there were hecklers*, asking “What about Hamas?” This along with the Jewish Community Relation Council’s (JCRC) opinion piece that day which appeared in the Star Tribune claiming divestment from Israel as immoral divert attention away from Israel’s human rights abuses and international law violations and are destined to fail as strategies used by pro-Israel factions. Too much informationabout Israel’s atrocitiesis being disseminated to the American public for those tactics to be successful any more.
Throughout the afternoon, Day on the Hill participants met with their state senator and representative and delivered packets on MN BBC. Meetings were usually about 15 minutes, and, though no legislator offered to sponsor a bill, they were all made aware of the growing support for the campaign. Overall, the day was a huge success and a great move forward in accomplishing the four goals of MN BBC:
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To educate Minnesotans about the situation in Israel/Palestine and our complicity in human rights abuses
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To follow the Palestinian civil society call for Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel until Israel complies with international law
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To get Minnesota to divest from the Israel bonds that it holds
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To act as a model for the 21 other states and the District of Columbia that might want to start a similar divestment campaign.
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*Our original report stated the hecklers mentioned were JCRC staff. JCRC maintains their staff were not the hecklers, so that statement has been corrected.