St. Paul, MN – 20 people rallied in here July 21 to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel. Organized by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Anti-War Committee (AWC), the protest began with the echo of chants, “From the river to the sea; Palestine will be free,” and “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Aid to Israel has got to go!”

The rally was held at a busy rush hour intersection and the honks from passing vehicles, especially trucks, demonstrated a high level of support from the community. Speakers detailed both the enormous sums of money that the U.S. government has given Israel, and the results of that aid.

The U.S. has given $234 billion in aid to Israel since 1948 for the occupation of Palestine, with another $38 billion in American aid to Israel in the pipeline for the next ten years. What has been purchased with this aid? As Sara Olson from WAMM noted, “Israel has become a human rights pariah around the world in its effort to eradicate the Palestinian people from their ancient homeland.” She further stated the “Palestinians live under an apartheid system,” which the worldwide Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement is resisting.

Christine Hauschildt from the AWC spoke of her visit to Palestine, emphasizing the militaristic nature of the Israeli occupation saying, “Billions of your hard-earned tax dollars fund military aggression,” and “Young Israeli soldiers strapped with automatic weapons stop Palestinians, question them, search them, and harass them.” She noted that as the protest in Saint Paul was happening, escalating Israeli attempts to impose apartheid control over the Al-Aqsa mosque prompted thousands of Palestinians to protest in Jerusalem and across Palestine.

Simultaneously, in response to a call from Palestinians, thousands more across the world were protesting these brutal encroachments by Israel. This context added a real feeling of solidarity to the protest in Saint Paul and to the demand, “End U.S. aid to Israel!”

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