Thank you for your willingness to bring an Israel Bonds Divestment Resolution to your precinct caucus!
Background:
Precinct caucuses are meetings organized by Minnesota’s political parties to begin the process of selecting candidates for the 2012 election and policy positions to shape the party platform. Caucuses are held in locations across Minnesota, are open to the public, and participation is encouraged.
In 2010, 41 MN BBC supporters brought this same resolution to their precinct causes and it passed in 34 of those caucuses. We are hoping to double, if not triple, our success this year!
What you need to know:
All precinct caucuses will be held onFebruary 7, 2012 at 7 p.m.
You can find your precinct caucus location (based on which party’s caucus you would like to attend) here: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=886
Click Israel Bonds Divestment Resolution to download the MN BBC-endorsed Resolution language.
At Democratic and Republican Caucuses, and possibly at others, you must hand write the resolution you are bringing on a form that will be provided at your caucus location. If the resolution is simply printed out and turned in, it will not be considered, even if it was passed. So we recommend arriving early to fill out the form and to ask any questions you might have in order to feel totally prepared!
Finally, when you submit a “Divest from Israel” resolution at a precinct caucus, you are probably going to encounter some opposition and questions, in addition to support of course. Stay calm. Answer the questions as you feel comfortable, but try not to get “trapped” by questions that are totally biased and unhelpful. For example, if someone says “This resolution is anti-semitic”, you can simply say “This resolution is in support of human rights for all people” rather than digressing into any number of arguments you might be inclined to make. Browse our Campaign Resources for more FAQ as you prepare: http://mn.breakthebonds.org/?p=339
If you are able to get the resolution passed at the precinct level, please let MN BBC know by sending a short email to mn@breakthebonds.org!
Still have questions!? Feel free to call or e-mail Bill McGrath: 507.645.7660 or billmcgrath52@gmail.com.
Additional Advice:
It’s a wise move for MN BBC supporters to volunteer during the precinct caucus and to become delegates to the next higher level, a convention that usually happens about a month later. At that second convention, there will be a long list of resolutions that were previously approved at the precinct level. The convention will not have time to debate all of these resolutions. But you may be able to request that the “Divest from Israel” resolution be brought to the floor for debate. If so, a few words from you through the microphone is apt to help the resolution pass. Delegates (including you) will probably be able to vote on paper as to which of the many resolutions should be passed.
Finally, it would be great to have some MN BBC people on the Resolution Committee. This is a group that will look at resolutions that have been passed. The committee tries to whittle down the number of resolutions, by combining some of them that are related. For instance, there may be one that says “Divest from Israel” and another resolution that says “Restrict U.S. aid to Israel.” The Resolution Committee might try to combine those two into one. Then you could wind up with something that merely says “The U.S. should examine its economic ties with Israel.” That is not what MN BBC had in mind!
Thank you again for participating in this important action! Questions can be directed to Bill McGrath: 507.645.7660 or billmcgrath52@gmail.com.
Photo: housingrights.org