St. Paul, MN – On July 3, 55 people participated in Women Against Military Madness’ weekly vigil for Palestine. This week’s action was a joint call by both Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Anti-War Committee (AWC) against the Israeli government’s decision to illegally annex more Palestinian land and was a part of the international call for a Day of Rage.

Wearing masks and being physically distant in the midst of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, protesters held signs reading, “No to Israeli theft of Palestinian lands,” and “Annexation is theft! End U.S. aid to Israel!” People were standing on all corners of the intersection holding signs, so they were very visible to drivers. People honked and waved to the sounds of chanters, “Hey hey ho ho annexation has to go!” and “What do we want? End aid to Israel! When do we want it? Now!”

Kristin Dooley, director of WAMM, welcomed the crowd, “We are glad to see so many people joining us today in condemning Israel's annexation plan. We are also here to condemn the continuation of U.S. aid to Israel which aids in the stealing and occupations of Palestinian lands.”

Israel’s annexation plan codifies the expropriation of Palestinian land and may secure Israeli sovereignty over 30% of the West Bank, including the border with Jordan called the Jordan Valley. Over 500,000 illegal settlers already live in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and annexation is Israel’s attempt to make these settlements officially a part of the state of Israel. This move would not be possible without the support, financially, militarily and diplomatically of the U.S. Historically both Democrats and Republicans have allowed Israel to commit war crimes against the Palestinians with impunity.

Despite Israel’s announcement that the annexation would occur on July 1, it didn’t happen. Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a member of the AWC explained to the crowd, “Regardless of whether the annexation happens or not, Israel is in de facto control of all of historical Palestine. I traveled to Palestine on a human rights delegation in 2002 and saw firsthand that the people of the West Bank live under brutal military occupation with arrests, assassinations and checkpoints as part of their daily life. I saw that the brave people of the Gaza Strip live under siege in the world’s largest open-air prison, squeezed from both sides on an uninhabitable plot of land. And I met with Palestinians in 1948 Palestine, what is now considered the ‘state of Israel.’ Palestinians inside Israel’s boundaries have lived under 72 years of apartheid, barely second-class citizens. The best visual I can give you is to imagine the Jim Crow South in the Middle East.”

WAMM and AWC pledged to continue to stand in solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle against apartheid and occupation, including the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement being led by the Palestinian civil society organizations. The two groups have worked together to protest state of Minnesota investments from Israeli companies like Elbit Systems, which provides U.S. surveillance support with the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

#SaintPaulMN #SaintPaul #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #annexation

St. Paul, MN – Oral arguments were made before a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, June 18, in Saint Paul on behalf of Guled Omar, Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder abroad in 2016. Their lawyers argued today that the jury instructions were grounds for granting their clients’ appeal. Bruce Nestor, representing Daud, argued to the court that the jury instructions conflated wanting to join ISIS with conspiracy to commit murder and that the prosecution had never proven that his client had any intent to kill.

The court room was packed with members of the defendants’ family and supporters from the Somali community and the anti-war movement. There were so many supporters that an additional overflow room was also filled.

Nestor spoke to the crowd of supporters outside the courthouse afterwards, “I’m really thankful for the community support and for all of you coming out today. And I’m sure that my client is really thankful for that support too. Throughout this case it’s my belief based on the law that an injustice has occurred. This occurred with the prosecution and in particular with the sentence that was imposed.” “Whatever was proven in that courtroom was not anything that justified a sentence of 35 years. And the government proceeded under a legal theory which you heard us argue today was deeply flawed which allowed someone to be convicted under the most serious offense possible under the law convicted essentially of murder without proving that they really intended to take a human life or that they did take a human life. Mr. Daud was convicted of a thought crime and we are hopeful based on the arguments made today that the court of appeals will reverse the conviction and that we will have an opportunity for some measure of justice in this case.”

The appeals court will take several months to consider their ruling and could possibly rule on it in September.

#SaintPaul #SaintPaulMN #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #Islamaphobia #GuledAmar

St. Paul, MN – Hundreds of Somali American families gathered on the State Capitol grounds, Jan. 6, to protest shutdown of hawalas. Hawalas are the only way that Somalis in the U.S. can send money to relatives in their homeland. 3 million people in Somalia depended on these remittances for survival. Because of U.S. government restrictions stemming from the ‘war on terror,’ Sunrise Community Bank, the one bank that used to process funds for all of the hawalas in Minnesota, stopped working with hawalas in late December. This is a cause of great anguish for people fearful for their families in Somalia. One demand is for the U.S. to grant a waiver so the bank will resume processing wire transfers via hawalas.

#SaintPaulMN #SaintPaul #warOnTerror #SomaliImmigrants #Somalia #Hawalas #Africa

Despite freezing temperatures, 200 people of all nationalities came to the Minnesota State Capitol Jan. 3 to protest against welfare time limits. Before moving inside the building, activists stood on the outside steps giving speeches and chanting, “Tick by tick and tock by tock! Stop the 5-year limit clock!”

“In this state, in less than a year and a half, 5000 families could be cut off welfare. In one criminal swoop, up to 15,000 children could be thrown into the streets! This government isn't ending corporate welfare. Instead they are harming poor families!” said Deb Konechne.

Deedee Francis and Deb Konechne are members of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul based Welfare Rights Committee, one of the groups in the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition. Other organizations that are part of the coalition include Low Income People Organizing for Power from Duluth, People Escaping Poverty Project (P.E.P.P.) from Moorhead, Minnesotans United for Social Justice from St.Cloud, Working Poor of Mankato, the Winona Chapter of Welfare Rights Coalition, and Miikana Bimaadiziwin of Virginia.

Duke Schempp of Moorhead's P.E.P.P. firmly said, “We will not allow this attack upon our lives to continue. We are going to fight against every attack on welfare every step of the way!” Joining him from Moorhead was 11-year-old Franky Martinez who was dressed in a chin-to-knee clock costume, and who was pursued by his brother wielding a large cardboard hammer. Martinez spoke over the loudspeaker, “They say that we, the children, are the future. I say, WHAT future?”

10,000 hand-cut paper dolls representing future homeless children were thrown from the second floor of the Capitol, and fluttered down over the crowd in the rotunda below. Capitol police tried to take a bag of paper dolls from some children, but the young protesters managed to empty the bag of dolls over the balcony rail.

“This government needs to end poverty instead of ending people's right to survive! We will smash the 5-year time limit clock!” Christina Hosmer told the rally. Then, a 9-foot tall papier-mâché hammer was raised to rip a clock banner. “Politicians! We're at your door! Stop the war on the poor!”

The protest coincided with the opening day of the state legislature, and it marked the beginning of a battle that will continue throughout the legislative session. “We're fighting for a clear, simple, and just set of demands,” said Linden Gawboy of the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition. “We will not let reactionaries or poverty pimps set the agenda at the capitol,” she added. Over the past several years, a handful of fake “advocates for the poor” have worked to undermine the fight of low-income Minnesotans.

Protesters also demanded that the state government make up for the federal cuts to immigrants, along with the abolition of “sanctions”. Sanctions are grant cuts used against those who are supposedly not “in compliance” with the welfare program. Most of the sanctions are illegal and arbitrary. Sanctions mean hunger and homelessness.

The protest was attended and endorsed by many religious, youth and labor groups. Martin Goff, of the Minneapolis hotel workers' union H.E.R.E. Local 17, spoke strongly against corporate welfare and called for ending welfare time limits. According to Goff, the politicians need to “hear us or fear us.”

Jane McDonald, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, demanded that lawmakers “Serve the needy, not the greedy.” All the speakers stressed the importance of protesting. “Just because it's a law doesn't make it right. We learn from history that the only way to end injustice is to organize against it. That is what we are doing and will continue to do,” vowed Marvella Davis of Duluth's L.I.P.O.P. “If there's no justice, we will give them no peace!”

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareTimeLimit #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition #paperDolls

St. Paul, MN – The MN Welfare Rights Coalition (MN WRC) won a victory at the State Capital in the 2000 legislative session. After packing hearings, protests, and civil disobedience actions, they triumphed in killing one of worst bills. The politicians, mainly Republicans, tried to pass a law that would have forced 100% sanctions on families receiving welfare from the Minnesota Family Investment Plan (MFIP).

“If this bill had become law, it would have been the biggest attack on welfare since Clinton signed the welfare reform bill into law in 1996. It would have cut families completely off welfare and thrown them into the streets,” stated Didi Frances of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) in Minneapolis/St. Paul. “We needed to be a force there to show that they can't pass laws that would devastate families.”

Other Victories

The MN-WRC won other important victories. They were able to hold off the bill that would have cut $100 from the grants of families who live in any subsidized housing (Public Housing, Section 8) and also receive MFIP. “The MN-WRC has been fighting for the past three years to stop this $100 cut. And every year we have been successful in stopping the cut from going into effect. Politicians just refuse to eliminate it completely,” stated Deb Konechne, WRC.

MFIP and General Assistance money for some immigrants were set to stop this summer. The MN-WRC has fought for the past three years for Minnesota to make up any cuts in federal money to immigrants. “This year again, we were successful in pushing Minnesota to continue cash assistance, food stamps, SSI and welfare cuts for immigrants who would be cut from the federal programs for another year,” stated Didi Frances.

Keep the Fight Back Going

“A group of voices united in a single cause can make a difference. Members of the People Escaping Poverty Project (PEPP) and students from a nearby college rallied together against Representative Kevin Goodno's proposed 100% sanction bill. Through a flood of e-mails, picketing, phone calls, and letters, we let him know that while he may represent our district, he is not representative of those who live within it. We do not support his efforts to increase sanctions at all,” Penny Simiu, Community Organizer of PEPP in Moorhead, Minnesota.

“This just shows that when you speak out and fight against unjust laws, you can win. When we stood together as a people and a coalition, the power of the people was unstoppable!” stated Dolly Cater, Low Income People Organizing for Power, Duluth. “And we will be back next year to continue to fight and demand economic justice for all.”

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareRightsCoalition #MinnesotaFamilyInvestmentPlan

St. Paul, MN — Poor people will take over the Minnesota State Capitol on February 1, 2000, the opening day of the legislative session. While politicians try to have their opening ceremonies, angry welfare recipients will storm into the rotunda, raising loud voices for justice.

“We have to let them know that they are criminals for passing these welfare laws,” declared Brenda Boettcher of Winona. “The longer they go unattacked, the worse off we families are going to be.”

The Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition (MN-WRC) planned the opening day protest at a statewide meeting in November. Coalition members are also getting ready for a serious fight to change Minnesota's disastrous welfare law, MFIP. The February 1 protest will be the opening blow in this fight.

“I'm protesting because people's voices are not being heard. People's needs are not being met. Families are suffering. Children are not getting what they deserve. The system is not set up to help us; it's failing us. I feel something desperately and urgently needs to be done!” stated Dolly Clater of the Duluth group, Low Income People Organizing for Power (LIPOP).

A Plan for Justice

MN-WRC members also worked out plans to change the MFIP law in the year 2000. “We know what's bad in MFIP, and we came up with law changes to fix it,” said Deb Konechne, when asked how the group decided on its legislative priorities. “We are sick and tired of hearing the poverty pimps and others who make their money running the welfare system say that everything's fine. We can't count on anyone but poor people to work in the interests of poor people.”

MN-WRC will fight for several key demands this year. They are:

Stop sanctions: Sanctions are cuts to the welfare grant and food stamps that are imposed on the family when the parent is seen as not “complying” with welfare rules. The grant cuts are devastating, causing homelessness for many and misery for all. Most sanctions are imposed illegally.

Education choice: MN-WRC wants to allow parents to have education (including ESL, GED, and post-secondary) as a first choice. Currently, parents are being denied the right to go to school, and forced into low wage, dead end jobs instead.

Food stamps and welfare for immigrants: State funding for food stamps and MFIP for immigrant families is slated to end in 2001 and 2000. MN-WRC fought for this funding in the past, and will fight to see that it is continued.

Stop the time clock on welfare: Minnesota's five-year clock started ticking on July 1, 1997. MN-WRC demands that the state government stop the time clock, and use state money if needed for anyone who hits the federal time limit.

Other priorities include stopping the $100 cut to families in subsidized housing (set to take effect in 2001), and making it so that parents, not welfare workers and job counselors, have the power to decide what work activities they do.

At press time, MN-WRC had sponsors for most of its legislative priorities.

MN-WRC members are determined to never give up the fight for justice for poor people. “Politicians are hurting people. They are tearing families apart,” said Dawn Leahy, of Working Poor of Mankato.

Brenda Boettcher, of Winona, added, “We'll let the politicians know that we are not going to take their treatment of us lying down. They need to realize that we are the experts on poverty, not them. They should put themselves in our shoes. Feel what it's like to scrimp and save and scrounge for food, and to keep a roof over our heads and raise our families the best we can.”

The February protest starts at noon, on the front steps of the capitol. “The biggest reason for the protest is we want to stop the war on the poor and people of color,” said Marvella Davis of LIPOP. “We've had enough!”

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareRightsCommittee #LowIncomePeopleOrganizingForPower

MFIP is a Disaster!

On March 5, poor people from across Minnesota arrived at the Capitol to pack a meeting of the Senate Health and Family Security Committee. The huge line of people waiting to get to the hearing carried signs demanding that politicians undo the attacks on welfare. “The politicians and welfare officials say MFIP is working fine, but low income people know that's a lie and today we're going to say so,” said Konechne.

Once the inside, members of the MN-WRC testified, blasting the abuses that have come with the new welfare law. Coalition spokesperson Deb Howze stated, “When the federal government passed the welfare reform law, they declared a war on the poor. When Minnesota politicians went along with this law, and came up with MFIP, they condemned poor Minnesotans to more poverty, hunger, and homelessness.”

Howze also noted that people were systematically being forced into an immediate 30 hours per week job search, and not allowed the chance to get an education. The law allows for an education option, but in practice this is not happening. Federal law says that 30% of the case load can be in education or training programs, but in Minnesota the figure is 8%.

Chee Her testified through a translator, “I went and met with my job counselor and she told me to find a job. I told her I don't know how to read or write English. How about helping me to find an education and I will come back and find a job. She told me, stupid people like me and as old as I am, education is not for me.”

Chee Her also related that while pregnant, the job counselor ignored letters from her doctor stating that she should not be forced into work. Continuing her testimony she said, “If I'm forced to go to work, I would be forced to have my baby before the time. The counselor refused to listen to my plea.” The counselor then sanctioned Her, cutting the amount of assistance that she could receive.

Danni Haden, of Low Income People Organizing for Power, Duluth, testified, “I was in school, vocational school, and they do not recognize that... I was sanctioned and denied food stamps because of that education.”

Nafeesah McRenolds, a member of the Twin Cities-based Welfare Rights Committee told how the grant-cutting sanctions had “pushed me and my family over the edge. I am now on the brink of losing my home... Right now I am living off 69 dollars a month in food stamps with no cash for my family of four.”

Bills Introduced

A serious battle to deal with some of the worst aspects of the welfare system is under way. Some of the legislation brought forward by the MN-WRC deals with the right to education, ending sanctions, and stopping the five-year life-time limit for families on public assistance. The Coalition is also backing bills that continue food stamps for immigrants, and a repeal of the 100-dollar cut to public assistance for those in public housing.

“It's clear that MFIP isn't serving us,” said Linden Gawboy of the MN-WRC. “We have gotten that out in a big way, and the poor bashers in the legislature and Department of Human Services are on the defensive. But reality is, some reactionary politicians like Senator Samuelson won't sleep at night until every poor person has been pushed into the streets. We will fight them every step of the way, this year, next year, as long as it takes.”

All Out for April 23!

The MN-WRC is calling a Rally for Justice at the State Capitol on April 23. Tens of thousands of flyers are being distributed at the welfare offices, housing projects, and shelters across Minnesota, calling on low income people to “Tell Governor Ventura and politicians what poor families need.”

“On April 23, we will once again drive home the message that MFIP is pushing us deeper into poverty. Every senator, representative, and Governor Ventura are going to get the message: Without justice, there will not be a moment of peace,” said Gawboy.

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #PoorPeoplesMovements #News #WelfareRightsCoalition

The Solidarity Kids' Theater kicked off the Friday night program. The children of union members wowed the crowd with skits they wrote and performed on their own. The hard-hitting skits exposed how the harsh reality of global capitalism impacts on children around the world. The performance received a lengthy standing ovation.

Following that, reports from several important struggles were highlighted with a panel. Speakers included Staughton Lynd, of the Ohio's Youngstown Workers Solidarity Club and Rafael Bernabe, President of the Puerto Rican Union of Professors.

In a far-ranging talk that outlined the failure of capitalism to meet human needs, Lynd linked local issues of privatization to changes in world capitalism. Noting the lack of access to health care in the U.S., as well as poverty and underdevelopment in much of the world, Lynd called for a vision of socialism which dares to think of a better way of life.

With privatization and the struggle against it as a main theme of the Conference, remarks by Rafael Bernabe inspired the audience. He described the fight in Puerto Rico to stop the privatization of the public telephone system. The struggle of telephone workers generated a huge outpouring of public support, and triggered a general strike this past summer. Bernabe characterized the strike as the biggest labor fight in Puerto Rico since the 1930s.

Other speakers Friday night included Anne Meyer, a Teamster and Northwest Airlines flight attendant, who spoke on their continuing campaign to win a fair contract, and Mark Soderstrom from the University of MN Graduate Student Union. President of the Atlanta Central Labor Union, Stewart Acuff, talked about transforming that organization into a more militant body.

Saturday kicked off with remarks by Peter Rachleff, professor and labor activist who framed the threat of privatization as a broad problem impacting the whole economy.

He was followed by experts on privatization and deregulation, workers who are experiencing it, including members or representatives of the Iowa State Postal Union, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the International Association of Machinists Local 1833, and others.

The speakers pointed out that as long as corporate America sets the agenda, the public will suffer.

The afternoon session, focused on solutions to the problems caused by privatization and deregulation. Rafael Bernabe described in more detail the militancy shown by the population of Puerto Rico last summer in its opposition to privatization of the telephone system; and Stewart Acuff told of the successful fight waged by skilled trades workers in Atlanta to ensure the work at the 1996 Olympics was done by union labor.

“The conference was excellent,” said Steff Yorek, a steward in AFSCME Local 1164. “The process of coming together, learning from each other, and discussing different ways to fight back was invaluable.”

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #News #privatization #SolidarityKidsTheater #MeetingTheChallenge #deregulation

St. Paul, MN – Matt Conbere, a working class fighter in the Twin Cities, a union man and a friend to many, tragically died Sunday, Sept. 15, 2002. Matt worked at Alliant Foods as a driver. He worked difficult shifts with strenuous routes. People describe Matt as a very giving, thoughtful and kind man. He was an inspiration to all who knew him.

First in Matt's mind was his sense of justice. He saw the need for a strong union where he worked. Talking about change was not good enough; he needed to be involved with it. Matt participated in his union, Teamsters Local 120, actively helping fellow sisters and brothers who were on strike or had a problem at work. The union officials were never that excited about Matt's passion for rank-and-file member involvement, but that didn't stop Matt from working in the trenches to build the class struggle.

Matt was deeply involved in Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a rank-and-file organization fighting to reform the Teamsters. He worked with the Minnesota chapter of TDU and was on the executive board.

Matt deeply desired that the American working class would see a better day, and as one of the speakers at celebration of International Workers Day – May Day, 2001 – he expressed that hope.

It is with great sadness that we see our friend and brother Matt leave us. He will be missed greatly by his family and friends.

#StPaulMN #SaintPaul #News #Teamsters #TDU