Detroit, MI – On Sunday, June 30, The recently formed Detroit Anti-War Committee (DAWC) announced their campaign to divest the city of Detroit from Israel, with a banner drop over a city highway.
DAWC is demanding that the Detroit city council withdraw any funds granted to or invested in companies which do business with the apartheid state. Additionally, DAWC is demanding that the Detroit Police Department be banned from any future training with the Israeli military or police.
St. Paul – On February 29, dozens of Palestine solidarity protesters packed into the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI)’s first quarterly meeting of the year to demand divestment from apartheid Israel.
St. Paul, MN – On February 28, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee organized a protest at the Eastcliff Mansion, where Governor Tim Walz currently resides. On the eve of the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) meeting, a crowd of over 100 people rallied to demand that the Minnesota governor, also the chair of the SBI, divest from apartheid Israel and weapons manufacturers.
St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) meets quarterly to review investment reports and to hear from the public. Normally the meetings start around 10 a.m., but on May 25 the SBI started their meeting over three hours late. The Executive Board, which includes Governor Tim Walz, Secretary of State Steve Simon, Attorney General Keith Ellison and State Auditor Julie Blaha, heard testimony concerning taconite mining leases until after 1 p.m.
Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, May 21, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota held a protest calling for university divestment from companies funding the Israeli apartheid.
St. Paul, MN – Over 40 people protested in front of the Governor's Residence Monday, September 16, to demand the divestment of Elbit Systems by the State of Minnesota. The protest, which was organized by the Anti-War Committee, is the latest action in their current campaign to demand the divestment of Elbit Systems from the state’s public retirement fund. Currently the Minnesota State Board of Investments, which Governor Tim Walz chairs, holds $1.2 million, or approximately 10,000 shares, in Elbit Systems.
St. Paul, MN – On August 22, immigrant rights and Palestine solidarity activists presented over 1000 signatures of Minnesota residents petitioning the State Board of Investments (SBI) to divest state pension funds from the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. Elbit sells cluster bombs and weaponized white phosphorus to the Israel Defense Forces, whose indiscriminate use on besieged Gaza has been widely condemned by international organizations. Elbit also manufactures surveillance equipment for the Israeli apartheid wall, and drones used in targeted assassinations of Palestinian political leaders.
Minneapolis, MN – Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University in Minnesota, in conjunction with over 30 UMN student organizations and faculty, is calling on Minnesota Student Association to pass a resolution urging the UMN to divest from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid.
Milwaukee, WI – On Nov. 5, the self-proclaimed “fastest growing motivational movement,” #besomebody, met the world's fastest growing boycott movement on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Letter Delivered to Administration Demands Boycott and Divestment
Chapel Hill, NC – A delegation of students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) delivered a letter to Chancellor Thorp's office, Feb. 25, demanding that UNC divest from Israel. Holding a banner that said, “End U.S. aid to Israel!” the students explained their demands to the university administrator who received the letter in place of Chancellor Thorp. “We want our university to stop investing in the murder of Palestinian civilians,” said Maddy Miller, a member of SDS.
