St. Paul, MN – At 7 a.m., April 20, over 300 nursing home workers from five nursing homes walked off the job and began a three-day strike. The striking workers are represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa and have been in negotiations for their next union contracts.

The strike includes workers from Cerenity Care at Humboldt, which is owned by the Benedictine Living chain, as well as workers from Estates of Saint Louis Park, Estates of Fridley, Estates of Roseville and Estates of Excelsior, all of which are owned by Monarch Healthcare Management.

The workers are striking for higher wages, safe staffing, better benefits and because that management has not bargained in good faith throughout contract negotiations, for which the union has filed unfair labor practice charges.

Rhonda Little is a striking worker and lead cook who has worked at Cerenity Care at Humboldt for ten years. Speaking on the picket line, Little said, “We want more money. We want safe staffing and we want to keep our PTO. We are bargaining for a new contract and it is not going very well because our management doesn’t want to move, they don’t want to do anything, they want to just stay at 1.5% [pay increases] and we’re worth way more than that.”

Little has been on strike three times in her ten years at Cerenity but says that this time, “The entire management team are different, even corporate are different. So it’s a whole different way of fighting now and their answers to everything is just ‘no’ instead of trying to compromise to a deal. Our strike, I think a lot of it is about respect. Care for your employees as much as we care for the residents. We have been called heroes, during COVID right, we are called heroes because we care for people, we are taking care of human beings, but we are paid like we are dog walkers, so yes it its about money but the bottom line is respect.”

This strike is a three-day strike set to end on Wednesday April 22, however when asked what they will do if management doesn’t come back to the table and bargain in good faith Little said, “Push for another strike and push them for more!”

#StPaulMN #MN #Labor #Healthcare #Nursinghome #Strike #SEIUHCMNIA #SEIU #Featured

St. Paul, MN – On April 14, members of the WAMM (Women Against Military Madness) Palestine Solidarity Committee (FPC) again attended the monthly meeting of the Saint Paul Board of Water Commissioners to demand they cut the contract with Waterfall Cyber Security Systems, an Israeli tech company that oversees the city’s water infrastructure.

Waterfall is deeply implicated in the genocide in Palestine. Lior Frenkel, the CEO and founder of Waterfall fondly remembers his experience conducting “offensive” cyberwarfare for Israel, where he served in their air force. WAMM sees the Waterfall contract as a cruel insult to Palestinians and their supporters.

FPC members organized their supporters to attend the water commission meeting to point out the irony of Israel “securing” Saint Paul’s water supply while that country simultaneously forces Palestinians to search futilely for their own clean water, and to highlight how this Israeli tech company helps prop up an apartheid system.

The cut the contract with Waterfall campaign started during the summer of 2025 and for almost a year WAMM has sustained pressure campaign to get the city of Saint Paul to hire a company not complicit in genocide. WAMM has collected hundreds of names on their petition, gotten their supporters to flood the water commission lines with phone calls, and organized for the water commission meetings to be packed with protesters several times.

There are various signs that the water board is cracking. They have publicly admitted that community pressure has had an impact on their work. Released documents show that behind closed doors, they’ve complained that even on a functional level, Waterfall’s services are not all they were cracked up to be. In January they announced they would issue a request for proposals which would allow companies to submit proposals to ultimately replace Waterfall.

On April 14, the meeting room was once again filled with FPC supporters holding signs that read, “Palestinians want water too,” “Waterfall we don’t want blood in our water,” and a banner reading, “St. Paul cut the contract, we say no to Waterfall and genocide.”

After a very short meeting, Nathan Phillips, a FPC member, delivered pages of signed petitions and said, “We are giving you these petitions demanding you cut the contract with Waterfall and we ask you to be swift. And to find a new company because Israelis are slaughtering Palestinians, Iranians and Lebanese with impunity. We don’t want Waterfall in our water infrastructure.” The room erupted in chants., “Water commission you’re out of time, No more funding genocide,” and “Water commission don’t you know, Waterfall has got to go.”

Saint Paul Councilwoman Nelsie Yang then came up to the protesters and thanked them for being there and said if it wasn’t for WAMM the commission wouldn’t know about Waterfall.

Racquel Vaske, regional manager of Saint Paul Regional Water Services, was grilled with sharp questions and comments which she defensively tried to deflect. An organizer called her out as she tried to minimize the role of Waterfall as “just a piece of hardware here on campus.” But she did disclose more information on the process to replace Waterfall to the activists, said she’d find out if activists could be a part of the evaluation process, and said she would consider making it an agenda item at future board meetings.

Mary Benrud spoke for everyone when she told Vaske, “This is the absolute worst company to provide water security for me and my family.”

WAMM will continue to mobilize supporters to attend the water commission meetings and to increase momentum in their campaign to cut the contract with Waterfall.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #WAMM

St. Paul, MN – On Thursday, March 26, 20 members of the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC)turned out to a midday rally outside Minnesota’s Retirement Systems Building, where Minnesota’s State Board of Investment (SBI) was holding its quarterly meeting.

Members of the AWC gave public testimony at the meeting. AWC members demanded divestment from apartheid Israel and weapons companies, but focused particularly on Palantir, a company whose AI surveillance software has directly facilitated human rights violations in Palestine, Iran, and Minnesota itself. As of June 2025, the book value of the SBI’s investments in Palantir was $55 million.

This marked the board’s first open quarterly meeting in nearly a year, and the first attendance of the AWC since 11 of its members were arrested during a sit-in at the Retirement Systems Building last fall — a sit-in prompted by the board declining to hold in-person, public hearings over many months. Public admittance to the meeting room was limited to just eight members of the community, not including speakers.

As of the 2025 fiscal year, Minnesota SBI managed a total of $161 billion in assets. It is funded by Minnesota public employees’ salary contributions and taxpayer dollars, and serves workers in the Teachers’ Retirement Association, Minnesota State Retirement Association, and many of the union members of AFSCME, SEIU, Education Minnesota, and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), among others.

The board emphasizes their fiduciary responsibility to pension holders and evaluates what is an “acceptable risk” investment. Governor Tim Walz serves as the board’s chair, along with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha, and the Secretary of State Steve Simon. The SBI currently invests over $586 million in weapons companies, including Elbit Systems, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

“This board has defended its continued investment in death-dealing companies like Palantir with the claim that it is a wholly apolitical body that merely does its financial duty to the state. But I have to ask, in what sense is funding the Trump administration’s agenda an apolitical act?” questioned Andrew Josefchak, union member and organizer with the Anti-War Committee. During the meeting Josefchak submitted into the record thousands of physical signatures collected from constituents who agree that Minnesota must divest from Israel and companies that facilitate war and genocide.

Public employee and MAPE member Kevin Snyder testified during the meeting and asked how the board could claim to be taking into account the interests of Minnesotans while ICE actively weaponizes Palantir tech against residents of the state.

While the AWC’s DivestMN campaign specifically demands that the SBI divest from entities and companies complicit in Israel’s crimes of genocide and apartheid in Palestine, its researchers have found that many of the same companies are complicit in ICE violence in Minnesota and across the country. Palantir is contracted by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, ICE and the U.S. military. Palantir’s products track populations on a massive scale and maintain large databases of intrusive personal information. Its software can be integrated into surveillance and weapons systems, including drones, and company executives have told concerned staff that Palantir places no restrictions on client use of its tools.

Even before October 7, the AWC’s DivestMN campaign demanded that the SBI divest from Israel (in the form of Israeli stocks and bonds) and weapons manufacturers that directly enable Israel’s destruction and genocide in Palestine. The same corporations are now profiting off of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which commenced with the bombing and murder of at least 175 school children in Minab.

AWC member Naveen Borojerdi, who testified before the SBI, is an Iranian American public employee and a member of MAPE. Borojerdi urged the board “to do better,” adding, “My people have a right to self-defense against joint American/Israeli terrorism, and I have the right to not have my own money facilitating that same terrorism against my own people.”

Jill Schurtz, the executive director of the SBI and its chief investment officer, admitted during the March 26 meeting that the “conflict in the Middle East” is “eroding gains” in their portfolio. “War destroys the working class,” Andrew Josefchak said as he took the mic outside the building and shared this information with demonstrators who had not been allowed into the meeting.

Throughout the meeting, members who were refused entry were heard and seen chanting from outside the first-floor windows. The silence and order in the room, maintained by the presence of no less than a half dozen police and state patrol officers, was broken by continuous calls directed at the SBI from outside: “Money for murder? No! Money for workers? Yes! Money for schools? Yes! Money for Palantir? No!”

The AWC will maintain their presence at SBI meetings until total divestment is reached.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #AWC #AntiWarCommittee #SBI #DivestMN #Palestine #Palantir

St. Paul, MN – On March 22, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and other grassroots organizations held a rally outside of the Minnesota Governor’s Residence to pressure Governor Walz to issue an executive order that would ban cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement.

The rally was in the wake of Operation Metro Surge, which subjected the entire state of Minnesota to a reign of terror by federal agents for nearly three months.

MIRAC member Myrka Zambrano stated, “Our so-called leaders have confidently stated that the metro surge is over. The media has moved on. Our voices are being suppressed. But nothing has changed. In the so-called ‘aftermath’ of their invasion, what is very clear is that the fight has just begun. Thousands of families are still starving. Many people will lose their homes or be evicted, through no fault of their own. Our children are traumatized. Our businesses have lost tens of millions of dollars. All of this is a direct result of our leaders' lack of action and accountability.”

La’Taya Taylor, a member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) told the crowd, “We need to put the political power to hold police accountable in the hands of the people, not in the hands of these highly paid politicians who don’t represent our interests. Lastly, we call on Governor Walz and all state legislators to heed the demands for a sanctuary state now. Ban any and all cooperation with ICE, defend protesters from political repression, provide justice for victims of ICE terror, keep ICE off state property, ban secret police, and implement a statewide eviction moratorium.”

José Luis Méndez, a member of Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, called attention to the death toll of immigrants in ICE detention since Trump took office. Thus far, federal immigration enforcement has stolen the lives of 47 immigrants, whether through reckless murder or criminal negligence. The Legalization for All network, which MIRAC is part of, will uplift their names during the nationwide No Kings protests on March 28 to ensure that their deaths will not be swept under the rug.

Méndez continued, “And it’s not just about being here in the United States. We want more freedom here in the U.S., but we want more freedom in South America, in the entire continent, and in every single continent of this world.” He followed this by condemning the U.S. for bombing Venezuela and starving Cuba.

Alissa Washington, the founder of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council, then spoke to the complicity of the local justice system, reporting how immigrants within the system have been directly transferred to ICE detention centers after serving their time. “Think about that,” Washington said. “You do your time in this state. You serve your sentence, and instead of going home to your family, you get handed off to another system. Another punishment. That is not justice, that is a pipeline, and we reject it.”

Drew Edwards, one of the Black community leaders facing federal repression after protesting against Cities Church, which hired an ICE official to lead the congregation, stated, “We’re not going to put the immigrants as a scapegoat for the ignorance of America. We’re not going to scapegoat transgender brothers and sisters. We’re not going to scapegoat Iranians. We’re not going to scapegoat all these other brothers and sisters, and we’re not going to find somebody to scapegoat for the ignorance of white supremacy, and the ignorance of imperialism, and the ignorance of capitalism. We’re not going to do that.”

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #OppressedNationalities

Saint Paul, MN – Members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) held a press conference in front of the office of Governor Tim Walz, March 11, to demand immediate action from state leaders to make Minnesota a sanctuary state. MIRAC announced their new campaign aiming to pressure Governor Walz to sign an executive order that will use every power at his disposal to protect immigrant residents.

In the wake of Operation Metro Surge, activists are wary of the announcement by border czar Tom Homan of “unprecedented cooperation” between local and state law enforcement agencies and ICE.

Speaking on behalf of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), Jae Yates stated, “We are sick and tired of ineffective leadership from the DFL and broader Democrat establishment. Ultimately, state leaders left the people of our state to fend for themselves during this crisis. Democrat politicians were willing to use this crisis to improve their images with heartfelt statements on camera, but have shown little political will to actually protect residents from ICE.”

MIRAC has already joined dozens of organizations across Minnesota working to pass sanctuary state legislation, but knows that immigrant residents can’t afford to wait. They will push for a gubernatorial executive order because there is a need for an immediate response to the urgent threats and hardships faced by thousands of the state’s residents.

Speakers outlined the demands of the campaign, some of which include: Banning all collaboration between local agencies and ICE; protecting sensitive locations from immigration enforcement; prohibiting the use of state property by federal agents; banning face coverings and requiring all agents to clearly display their agency affiliation; defending protesters against political repression by demand that state and federal prosecutors drop all charges against ICE observers and anti-ICE protesters; arresting and prosecuting the killer agents and federal agents who violated laws around warrants and excessive force; providing justice for victims of ICE terror through financial assistance, and implementing a statewide eviction moratorium.

MIRAC member Myrka Zambrano stated, “The people of Minnesota will not stand for spineless leadership that make compromises and sell us out. We make no compromises when we fight for our neighbors in the streets. We want action and we will hold leaders accountable for our livelihood and that of our neighbors.”

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Immigrant Right Action Committee (MIRAC) led a lively rally, of about 100 people, February 24, in frigid temperatures outside the governor's mansion in the Summit Hill neighborhood of Saint Paul to demand that Tim Walz take action to ensure real sanctuary for all Minnesotans.

A major focus was the call for the governor to ban 287(g) agreements across the state. These insidious programs deputize local law enforcement to work for the deportation machine by hiding kidnappings within the shadows of local squad cars and jails.

As elected officials and the mainstream media attempt to sell the narrative that the threat of ICE terror is no longer active in Minnesota, demonstrators refused to let the violence slip into the background..

Morgan Budiandri of MIRAC stated, “You know who's not able to just forget? My coworkers who are still afraid to go to work. My friends whose moms and dads have been deported and sent hundreds of miles away. My neighbors who have been tear gassed, brutalized and killed.”

Budiandri continued, “this system cannot be reformed. It is rooted in violence and terror. It needs to be abolished completely. It needs to take its ugly head out of Minnesota once and for all!”

As the sun went down, protesters cheered, chanted, waved signs, and jumped up and down to stay warm in the dropping temperatures. Chants of “Walz, eschucha! Estamos en la lucha!” echoed down the street.

Alissa Washington, founder of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council, addressed the governor directly: “Governor Tim Walz, we are watching you. Minnesota does not belong to ICE. Our counties are not holding cells for federal raids. Our communities are not bargaining chips. For years, Black, brown, and indigenous communities have asked for real leadership. Real protection, real courage. And too often what we got is hesitation, compromise and political calculation.”

“To our Minnesota community, we love you, and we're in this fight for the long haul,” said MIRAC member Sophie Breen. Minnesotans continue to come together to protect their neighbors and stand in solidarity with immigrants. The people demand that Governor Walz declare Minnesota a sanctuary state, ban all 287(g) agreements, and prohibit county jails from sharing information with ICE.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – On Tuesday, February 24, 15 activists led by the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) confronted the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) to demand that the Board divest Minnesota public pension funds from Palantir, a Peter Thiel-founded tech company that works directly with ICE and the IDF.

The action was organized as part of an ongoing campaign to pressure the SBI to divest Minnesota state pension funds not just from Palantir, but from all companies complicit in the apartheid state of Israel.

It was a cold and slippery morning, but energy was high as the dedicated crowd shouted slogans like “No more money for Israel's slaughter!” and “All they sell is death and fear: divest from Palantir!” 148 paper poppies covered the snow in front of the office, each representing 1000 of the roughly 76,000 people held in ICE detention in the U.S. and the minimum estimate of 72,000 Palestinians murdered by the Israeli regime during its ongoing genocide.

A major theme of this action was “hypocrisy.” In the wake of the notorious ICE murder of Renee Good, Tim Walz initially had some harsh words for the agency. But, according to AWC member Yossi Aharoni, this raises questions: “if Walz really believes the things he said on his national press tour, then why is he investing 55 million taxpayer dollars in Palantir, the company that designed ICE's surveillance infrastructure?”

Aharoni continued, “Israel's attacks across the Middle East, and ICE's occupation of the Twin Cities, would be unthinkable and impossible in their scale and horrific efficiency without Palantir.”

Walz has not addressed the board's investments in Palantir. In fact, the SBI has been stifling public comment, or avoiding it entirely, for over a year now. At this time, the board has not even announced if or when it will hold its next mandated quarterly meeting.

AWC organizer Andrew Josefchak stated, “How many people, and which people, are the board members willing to sponsor the execution, illegal detainment, and surveillance of?”

Josefchak continued, “Minnesota is just getting the barest taste of what it's like in Palestine – the barest taste of what Palestinians have been dealing with for decades – and we're discovering how absolutely fucking wretched it is. People are standing up in droves saying 'This must end. This is completely unacceptable!'”

It is in this spirit that, despite any obstacle, the fight to divest Minnesota from apartheid Israel will continue.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Palantir #MNAWC

St. Paul, MN – On the evening of February 6, hundreds of protesters gathered outside of Governor Tim Walz’s mansion. The event, organized by The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), was held to demand that elected office holders do not sell out for ICE.

The rally responded to the announcement from “Border Czar” Tom Homan that 700 of the 3000 federal agents currently occupying Minnesota would be leaving. A decision that came after private meetings that included Governor Tim Walz. Homan stated that this decision was made due to the “unprecedented” level of cooperation between counties and federal law enforcement. But twin cities residents showed up, demanding that there be no cooperation between elected officials, and the federal entities who want to kidnap and terrorize residents.

Chants of “The people united will never be defeated!” rang through the streets as cars honked in support as they drove by the crowd outside the mansion. MIRAC member Robyn Harbison asked the crowd: “Is this the best result that Governor Tim Walz and other elected officials can come up with after meetings behind closed doors with Tom Holman? Shame!”

Alissa Washington from The Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Family Council Minnesota stated, “This is a moment of choice. This is a moment history will remember, and we are saying clearly do not sell us out!”

Homan also met with the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association and Minnesota County Attorneys Association to discuss a basic ordering agreement (BOA). This would allow county jails to hold immigration enforcement targets for up to 48 hours after their scheduled releases from state custody and give ICE “reasonable access to all detainees and inmates” for the purposes of immigration enforcement. The BOA deprives individuals of due process and violates state law. Eight Minnesota counties had already signed similar 287(g) agreements with ICE prior to Homan’s arrival.

Elected officials continue to show that they can be bought and bullied by Trump. MIRAC is insisting that Governor Tim Walz and other representatives of the state refuse to cooperate with ICE and federal law enforcement agencies. MIRAC demands an end to deportations and legalization for all.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – On January 22, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) held a rally for reproductive justice near the Minnesota State Capitol. Pro-abortion, pro-bodily autonomy activists and community members gathered to renew their commitment to fighting for true reproductive justice beyond Roe.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade represents a loss to the reproductive justice movement. MNAAC activists explained that Roe itself was never enough. Although some abortions were made legal by the passage of Roe, it still allowed for gestational age restrictions, waiting periods, disinformation counseling sessions, and other restrictions.

MNAAC member Kristen Bledsoe described that the high cost of healthcare in America itself presents a barrier. “[Roe] still allowed for people to pay exorbitant amounts for this essential health care,” Kristen Bledsoe explained, “[Roe] still allowed for employers to choose whether they wanted insurance plans to cover abortion care, and to choose whether they’d allow sick leave to cover their employees’ appointments and recovery times. Even before the Dobbs decision, there were endless roadblocks for so many people who were trying to access abortion.”

Other groups organizing to enhance abortion access were in attendance. Omi Ifemi, a director at Our Justice, the country’s oldest abortion fund, explained that “Roe was the floor and not the ceiling.” Our Justice provides direct financial and logistical support for people seeking abortion care.

Alissa Washington of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council of Minnesota stated, “This is where we move from listening to action. Fight for people locked away in cages, targeted by ICE, or arrested for protesting. Freedom that excludes the most vulnerable is not freedom at all.”

Hayley Peterson, a board member at Pro-Choice Minnesota said, “Bodily autonomy of course includes access to abortion, but it also includes the ability to go to shops, work, places of worship, and anywhere else without fear of abduction.” Other speakers detailed the reproductive health effects of chemical weapons used by police and ICE to control crowds and the ways that ICE routinely denies access to menstrual health products for detained people.

Zara Anderson, a member of MNAAC, declared that “when we say reproductive justice, we mean the right and ability to have a child, to not have a child, and to parent our children in safe and healthy communities. That’s why we’re fighting to defend and expand women’s and reproductive rights, including full abortion access for all, and that’s why we’re here to demand ICE out of Minnesota.”

Manny Pascual, an organizer with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and a nurse by trade, demanded an end to immigration raids and deportations, an end to all anti-immigrant laws, and full equality in all areas of life.

Manny Pascual stated, “Reproductive justice and immigrant justice are connected. You can’t have bodily autonomy if people cannot walk into a hospital without fear. You cannot talk about choice if people are hunted for who they are or where they come from. A world where women and queer people are free must be a world where all bodies and people are respected.”

MNAAC is a grassroots, all-volunteer reproductive justice organization that fights for reproductive and trans rights including abortion access, bodily autonomy, and gender-affirming care. Originally formed as a coalition of groups after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, MNAAC maintains that any attempts to limit, ban, or prevent access to abortions are fundamentally attacks on bodily autonomy.

MNAAC organizes to disrupt groups like Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, which claims to be “Minnesota’s largest pro-life organization.” Historically, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life has taken January 22nd as a “day of mourning” due to the passage of Roe v. Wade. MNAAC reclaimed this day as a day of action and renewed commitment to fight for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy for all.

MNAAC continues to organize around abortion access, trans liberation and bodily autonomy for all, including incarcerated people and immigrants. Their next action is planned for March 8, International Women’s Day, where they will take to the streets to demand women’s and reproductive rights. You can follow MNAAC’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

Dan Michael Fielding is a member of the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC).

#StPaulMN #MN #WomensMovement #ReproductiveRights #Abortion #MNAAC #RoeVWade

St. Paul, MN – On Tuesday, January 13, about 20 protesters attended the Saint Paul Board of Water Commissioners meeting to demand that the city cut its contract with Waterfall Security Solutions, an Israeli cybersecurity company with direct ties to the IDF.

Activists held up signs and banners with slogans such as “Waterfall – no blood in our water” and “Dump Waterfall Security.” Later, they chanted “Hey, Saint Paul, heed our call: Cut your ties with Waterfall!” before presenting a stack of signed “Cut the Contract” petitions to the Water Board.

This action was organized by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM).

The campaign to cut the Waterfall contract began last summer. At that time, Saint Paul Water Board officials quickly claimed that Waterfall was the only company in the world that could meet Saint Paul's specific water security needs, but as pressure from the community mounted, including call-ins, emails, and actions to pack the meeting room – the board began to more seriously explore its options.

At the Tuesday meeting, the Water Board ultimately approved a “Request for Proposal,” the next step towards formally selecting an apartheid-free alternative to Waterfall.

Activists understand this to be a partial victory for their campaign, but they are not taking it as an opportunity to rest. According to Kim DeFranco, an organizer with WAMM, “We demand that the board cut the contract immediately. We do not want our city to be complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people, especially when Israel has continually denied the Palestinians access to water. No blood in our water!”

As Minnesotans reel from murderous ICE raids at home and criminal U.S. attacks on Venezuela, Tuesday’s action shows that even through times of chaos and uncertainty, Saint Paul residents have their eyes glued to the issue of Palestine and that they will not stop until their city cuts the Waterfall contract and ends its support for genocide.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #WAMM

St. Paul, MN – On a cold Sunday, November 30, Palestine advocates held a rally at Governor Tim Walz’s mansion to protest his and the other members of the State Board of Investment’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Palestine. The SBI manages the pension funds of Minnesota public employees and invests $5.6 billion of public assets in entities complicit in or profiting from Israeli apartheid and genocide.

Advocates and Minnesota public employees demanded that the SBI divest from genocide and apartheid as Israel continues to violate the October 2025 ceasefire agreement and use U.S.-made weapons to carry out strikes in Palestine and Lebanon. The Israeli military has killed more than 345 Palestinians in Gaza since signing the ceasefire, and it killed 13 people in the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on November 18, in violation of its 2024 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

Lina Jebara, a member of the Minnesota Chapter of the US Palestinian Community Network, spoke about Israel’s continued atrocities and ceasefire violations in Palestine and Lebanon. “We’ve seen over the course of the last several months that Israel only reacts to peace deals and ceasefire agreements with brazen violations. These deals and agreements act only to stifle the right to resist for those living under Israeli aggression and occupation. So long as Israeli violence continues to go unabated, those who are subjugated to it have every right to take up resistance and fight to protect their homelands,” said Jebara.

The SBI, which Governor Walz chairs, quietly reduced its holdings in Israel Bonds by about 96% over the past several years by choosing not to renew a $10 million bond that expired in July and by selling other bonds years before their maturation dates at a loss.

Wyatt Miller, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, spoke to the fact that the SBI divested from almost all of its holdings in Israel Bonds as a direct result of public pressure from advocates, Minnesota taxpayers, pensioners and people of conscience across the state, unified against the board’s investment of public funds in apartheid and genocide. Miller said, “Instead of taking credit for a good decision, [the SBI] tried to deny that anything newsworthy had happened at all. This has been the pattern of BDS victories for years.”

Noting this recent divestment victory for the Palestine liberation movement in Minnesota and many examples of other government bodies divesting from Israel, Miller stated, “I think the main issue is they’re scared of emboldening and energizing our movement by giving us a clear-cut victory. Another aspect is they’re trying to avoid accountability for their bad investments in the first place.” This push for divestment from Israel bonds has been going on for years and has been led by many organizations, including the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, the Minnesota BDS Community, Minnesota Labor for Palestine, and the US Palestinian Community Network.

Fueled by the growing frustration with the board’s lack of action and further complicity in genocide, advocates reminded the crowd that the fight for full divestment from Israeli apartheid and genocide continues in Minnesota. After hearing Walz speak at a recent event, Minnesota Anti-War Committee member Sam Ball spoke to Governor Walz’s hypocrisy, “He spoke about human rights violations, about gun violence in our communities, about starvation and food insecurity. While he was performing, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Israel forces all of those things on Palestinians.”

Advocates in the crowd demanded divestment of the remaining public investments in other complicit corporations, weapons manufacturers, and Israeli companies as event emcees listed off remaining target investments of the Divest MN campaign and how these companies shamefully profit off genocide with the support of our elected officials like Walz and the other members of the SBI.

Regarding the continued push for justice, Jebara reminded the crowd, “Here in Minnesota, that means pushing the State Board of Investment to divest from Israel and the corporations that enable its genocide. It means cutting Israel off from its financial lifeline that enables it to commit atrocities without repercussions. It means calling on the likes of Governor Walz to stop being cowards and stop hiding from their constituency, to acknowledge the role that they play in this genocide, and to heed the demands of Minnesotans who are making it clear that we do not want our money funding these atrocities and that we are not going anywhere until the SBI divests.”

The SBI was set to hold one of its mandated quarterly public meetings on December 3, the Tuesday following the rally, but it removed the meeting details from its website. This follows a yearlong trend wherein the SBI has postponed, cancelled, or put other significant restrictions on every scheduled public meeting, shutting the public and pension holders out from their right to weigh in on the allocation of public funds directly to their representatives.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

St. Paul, MN – Dozens of Minnesotans gathered in the pouring rain on Tuesday, November 25 to show their solidarity with those affected by federal immigration raids. The Trump administration is launching racist attacks through ICE in Saint Paul. Meanwhile there are no official protections for the most vulnerable against this violence.

The rally by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) took place outside of Bro-Tex Inc. in Saint Paul. It is a manufacturing company where an ICE raid took place one week earlier on November 18. There was another federal raid by ICE at a residence in the city’s East Side on the morning of the rally. ICE arrested one resident of the home, and then three more observers. There were several injuries from the “non-lethal munitions” deployed by federal agents and the Saint Paul Police Department.

The protest sought to demonstrate community support for families whose loved ones were recently detained by federal immigration officers. Karla Alarcon is one of those whose father is still in detention after being arrested at the Bro-Tex Inc. operation.

Alarcon said, “Every family impacted has a history, a dream, a purpose, and a place in this community. And today Minnesota has a choice to make: are we a state that allows families to be torn apart in broad daylight? Or are we a state that stands up and says, ‘Not here! Not to our people!’”

Alarcon called upon politicians at all levels to take action to prevent more families from going through the same trauma.

MIRAC member Miguel Hernandez spoke of how local police escalate tensions during raids, like the morning November 18. Police used tear gas, pepper balls and other violent crowd control tactics.

Hernandez said, “It’s a lot better when the police are not around. They showed up today and we saw the clear difference of violence. It escalated way faster and way more aggressively with more police.”

Hernandez highlighted the demand “Real Sanctuary Now!” The movement is urging stronger sanctuary policy in the Twin Cities to keep local police from collaborating with for the safety of everyday residents. 

Other organizations represented among the speakers at the rally were West Side Community Organization, Anti-War Committee, and Minnesota Workers United.

At the end of the protest MIRAC urged attendees to join them at the Minneapolis City Council hearing on December 9 at 1:30 p.m. to pack the room and demonstrate support for a proposal to amend the city’s separation ordinance in accordance with the needs of the immigrant community.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #ICE

St. Paul, MN – At around 8 a.m. on November 18 immigrant rights organizations received reports of federal immigration agents staging in a public park gearing up for what turned out to be a large raid at Bro-Tex INC., a paper distributor in Saint Paul.

Immediately after getting the report, members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), as well as others, arrived on the scene and followed the officers to the Bro-Tex building. After confirming Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE presence, MIRAC put out an urgent call for observers to come to the scene. Within the hour, hundreds of community members showed up, chanted, and put their bodies on the line to show ICE that they are not welcome in Saint Paul.

What unfolded was what responders believe to be solely an immigration related raid. Protesters linked arms attempting to block ICE vehicles from leaving the scene with detained workers. ICE and federal law enforcement agencies used tear gas and pepper ball guns on the crowd, injuring multiple people. They ran into protesters with their cars, including one person who was using a cane. The officers grabbed people, then pushed and threw them onto the pavement in an attempt to break the human chain and drive away. Responders reported seeing officers from HSI, ICE, FBI and DEA.

“We saw clearly today how Trump is using every federal agency at his disposal to carry out his inhumane mass deportation campaign. The strong force of resistance that came out today proves that people will never buy into his anti-immigrant hate speech. More than not buy it, we won’t tolerate it. Families were destroyed today. We will do everything in our power to destroy their ability to carry out their work in the future,” says MIRAC member Esper Garcia.

The federal agents eventually broke through the crowd of responders, driving off with kidnapped workers, all of whom were undocumented. Some of their family members were on the scene, confirming what happened. The crowd dispersed and an all clear was publicized as activists began the process of tracking down those who were taken, later finding out that approximately 13 workers were taken into immigration custody at Saint Paul’s ICE headquarters and one protester was even arrested by a U.S. marshal and detained there for hours before being released with no charges.

When ICE enters our neighborhoods, the people are ready to stand up and fight back. The people of the Twin Cities showed that they were ready to kick ICE out of their cities, just like when ICE was present at another federal raid in Minneapolis on June 3. This time, federal agents pushed through the line of protesters by deploying tear gas, pepper balls, physical force and even hitting some protesters with their vehicles.

More and more people are getting trained on their rights and on how to respond to an immigration raid because they are ready to take to the streets and demand ICE out.

On November 19 protesters noted absence of the Saint Paul Police Department, which was very different from the federal raid that happened in Minneapolis in June, where Minneapolis police were on the scene taping off streets from the beginning and harassing community members throughout, claiming they were there for “crowd control”. MIRAC’s main campaign is currently to strengthen the separation ordinance in Minneapolis that says local law enforcement cannot assist ICE.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – Palestine solidarity advocates vowed to press ahead with demands for Minnesota divestment from Israel’s crimes after the State Board of Investment (SBI) released data showing it held just one remaining Israel Bond after a series of bond sales and non-renewals. At a Monday, November 10, press conference at the State Capitol rotunda, speakers from local organizations explained the significance of the disclosure and outlined next steps for divestment.

The press conference was organized by local groups Minnesota BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] Community and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC).

Israel Bonds are debt securities that function as loans to the state of Israel. The SBI – chaired by Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha and Secretary of State Steve Simon – manages assets worth around $150 billion on behalf of state pension systems and other public funds.

In late October, the SBI responded to a months-old Data Practices Act request submitted by MN BDS Community for information on the SBI’s Israel Bond holdings. It provided data showing Israel Bond transactions dating back to 2009, culminating in the non-renewal of a recurring $10 million bond that matured in July 2025, and a flurry of bond sales beginning in 2021. The most recent bond sale was dated October 9, 2025.

The data showed the bond sales totaled at a loss of around $810,000. The agency that issues Israel Bonds, the Development Corporation of Israel (DCI), states on its international sales website that “Israel Bonds are intended as a long-term investment [...] investors should expect to hold Bonds to maturity,” explaining that there is no secondary trading market for Israel Bonds.

The SBI did not explain the unusual bond sales nor its decision not to renew the $10 million bond in July – which itself had been renewed from a previous ten-year maturing bond in 2015.

Instead, after the press conference, the SBI emailed reporters claiming that it had “not changed its investment policy.” Oddly, the email included outdated data dated September 30 – omitting the more recent Israel Bond sale on October 9.

“They chose to do it quietly. They chose to do it cowardly. Because they didn’t want to publicly confess to the power of our movement,” said Sana Wazwaz, a Palestinian American organizer with American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota. “They didn’t want to testify to how much civic pressure that we can leverage over them.”

Wazwaz explained that in 2024, she had been part of a Palestinian families delegation that was set to meet with Governor Walz, but the governor’s office canceled the meeting just before it was set to take place, after the Palestinian families made clear they would be calling for divestment.

“Governor Walz, this is my message to you: stop hiding. Just admit you messed up,” Wazwaz said. “We call on you to publicly condemn Israel’s genocide. Stop with this quiet, coy divestment.”

Karen Schraufnagel is a financial analyst and an organizer with Minnesota BDS Community. “While the SBI was losing money on these investments, they continued to argue publicly that fiduciary responsibility required them to make and hold these investments,” Schraufnagel said. “The revelation of substantial and repeated losses seems to indicate that buying and holding these bonds was never about fiduciary responsibility.”

The Development Corporation of Israel’s website openly markets Israel Bonds as a way to “stand with Israel.”

Organizers at the press conference emphasized that the reduction in Israel Bond holdings was just the beginning of their demands, pointing to the Minnesota SBI’s sweeping divestment policy in 1985 that targeted not only South Africa itself, but companies around the world that enabled its racist apartheid system.

The DivestMN.com website shows ongoing SBI investments worth $5.6 billion in companies that human rights monitors deem to be profiting from or complicit in Israel’s crimes. These include banks that fund illegal West Bank settlements, and weapons manufacturers and big tech companies that equip the Israeli occupation.

A joint statement released Monday by the AWC and U.S. Palestinian Community Network – Minnesota said, “We call on the Palestine solidarity movement to seize this moment, sharpen our demands and fight for complete divestment from apartheid Israel – just like Minnesota did with apartheid South Africa. As Israel continues to conduct horrific war crimes, and as more institutions across the country and world pull pensions and public funds out of Israel, the risks of Minnesota’s investments in Israel will only grow.”

The SBI’s Israel Bond disclosure follows two years of unprecedented protests by public pension holders and pro-Palestine community members at the SBI’s quarterly board meetings. Steps taken by the SBI to avoid protesters – including postponements and legally dubious virtual meeting formats – prompted an all-day sit-in held by the AWC on October 21 that led to eleven arrests.

“We know the truth. Israel is the aggressor and the occupier. The veil is lifted, and we in Minnesota have had enough,” said Chelsey Sondeland of the AWC. “Take our money out of apartheid and genocide. We do not support it, and our money should not fund it.”

The next meeting of the State Board of Investment is set to take place on Wednesday, December 3, at 10 a.m. The SBI has yet to announce a venue or format for the meeting, though SBI board member State Auditor Julie Blaha recently told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, “I expect we’ll be back in person.”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

St. Paul, MN – On October 29, the world came together to support of the United Nations voting on Cuba’s resolution to end 63-year U.S. blockade on Cuba. Participating in the national day of action, the Solidarity Committee on the Americas (SCOTA) and Minnesota Cuba Committee gathered at the Women Against Military Madness’ End War weekly vigil on the Marshall Avenue/Lake Street bridge.

About 45 people rallied to expose the United States government’s brutal blockade on Cuba. It was a pleasant and sunny day as supporters walked up and down on the bridge that goes over the Mississippi River between Saint Paul and Minneapolis. They carried carrying signs expressing their message, “Cuba si, bloqueo no,” “Hands off Cuba,” “Take Cuba off the U.S. terrorist list” and “Say yes to the U.N. resolution.”

As people continued to cross back and forth, they cheered and waved when cars and buses honked in support.

As the rally ended, Sarah Martin, member of SCOTA (WAMM) called the group together by chanting, “Cuba si!, ¡Bloqueo no!” along with “When the people of Venezuela are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Martin addressed the crowd, “That's why we're here tonight, right? Two pretty outrageous things going on in the Caribbean and in our backyard. The blockade on Cuba and Trump’s bombings on boats in international waters and threatening Venezuela. All of this really has been alarming and we want to highlight Venezuela along with supporting Cuba.”

Rebecca Pera from Solidarity Community of the Americas stated, “As we draw awareness to the 33rd annual vote to remove Cuba off of the SSOT and to end the over six-decade illegal and inhumane embargo and blockade against our Cuban neighbors. We know that Ronald Reagan put Cuba on the U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT) originally for when Cuba accepted people who were being persecuted by racist, illegal persecution in the United States, like Assata Shakur.”

Pera continued, “They can't get medical supplies. They can't get food, construction supplies, or infrastructure supplies. We know that Cuba's medical brigades and medical professionals are the best in the world.”

Sandi Sherman, member of the MN Cuba Committee, talked about the solidarity of countries standing with Cuba. “This was demonstrated before the United Nations General Assembly when 165 countries voted to oppose the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba.”

Sherman continued, “Cuba makes a new call to mobilize the international community to stop military action against Venezuela. Once again, this is their statement, we declare our firm and unwavering support for the Bolivarian and Chavista government of Venezuela and for the popular and military unity of the Venezuelan people. Latin America and the Caribbean must remain a zone of peace.”

As the Trump administration heightens their attacks in the Caribbean, the Solidarity Committee on the Americas (SCOTA) and Minnesota Cuba Committee will continue to speak out for Cuba and Venezuela.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Cuba #Venezuela #SCOTA #WAMM

Saint Paul, MN – On Tuesday, October 21, the typically quiet Retirement Systems Building was filled with chants of “Free Palestine” as advocates of divestment from Israel staged an all-day sit-in. The building houses the staff offices of the State Board of Investment (SBI), whose long-delayed quarterly meeting was held that morning in an online-only format in the board’s latest effort to avoid Palestine protesters.

The SBI is chaired by Governor Tim Walz, joined by Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha and Secretary of State Steve Simon. Growing numbers of public employees, pension holders and other community members have spoken at quarterly SBI meetings, calling on it to divest state-managed funds from the state of Israel and companies complicit in Israel’s apartheid system and genocide in Gaza.

Tuesday’s meeting had originally been scheduled for August 20, but was abruptly postponed by the SBI as soon as divestment advocates posted a call to pack the physical meeting room. The two-month delay and switch to a virtual-only format followed a year of similar moves by the SBI.

The action at the Retirement Systems Building began just after 8 a.m., when participants discreetly entered the building, hours before the SBI meeting and before security restrictions were implemented.

The group, which included public pension holders and Palestine solidarity activists, soon began their sit-in just outside the SBI’s offices, in the building's front lobby. They announced they would not leave until the SBI met their demands to immediately divest from Israel Bonds, create a task force to publicly state risks associated with Minnesota’s investment ties to companies complicit in Israel’s crimes, and pledge to hold all future meetings in person and fully open to the public.

It marked the beginning of what would be nearly 16 hours of continuous protest. At 10 a.m., a rally in support of the sit-in began outside the building, coinciding with the SBI meeting itself.

Several divestment advocates gave public comment at the SBI meeting, during which the SBI also approved new public engagement rules that formalized many of the arbitrary restrictions the SBI had imposed over the previous two years. In protest of the online-only meeting format, some speakers made their comments to the SBI while physically present at the rally outside the building.

Anna Madison, a member of Families Against Military Madness, highlighted a September 16 report by the United Nations (UN) Commission of Inquiry that found Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. “The UN has handed you a gift with this report. It provides you with the moral clarity and diplomatic cover to completely divest from Israel and all related entities complicit and/or profiting from genocide,” Madison said.

“My mother has a Minnesota state pension fund, and I don’t want it soaked in the blood of the Palestinians any more than Governor [Rudy] Perpich in 1985 wanted our state’s pension funds soaked in the blood of Black South Africans,” Nathan Phillips told the SBI. In 1985, the SBI passed a resolution initiating broad divestment from apartheid South Africa.

Mary Ford is a retired teacher who receives a Teachers Retirement Association pension, managed by the SBI. “With the current, violated, ceasefire, there is a good chance that Gaza will go back to what it used to be: an open-air prison, this time with no buildings,” said Ford, who also shared an anecdote of trying to explain to her students when her Palestinian friend’s entire family was killed by an Israeli bomb in Gaza.

Several members of the Minnesota Association of Public Employees (MAPE) statewide labor union spoke in favor of divestment. In 2024, MAPE passed a resolution calling for the SBI to divest.

Hannah Gary, a state employee and labor unionist with AFSCME 668, highlighted that the state of Minnesota’s One Minnesota Plan includes a guiding principle of “do the right thing, especially when it’s difficult.” Gary explained: “We are asking you to follow the same commitments that we as public servants are holding up.”

In her comments to the SBI, Kim DeFranco, a community activist with Women Against Military Madness, estimated that the SBI has heard at least 600 public commenters calling for divestment from Israel since its current members took office in 2019. Groups have also submitted tens of thousands of petitions.

Cullom McCormick from the Climate Justice Committee highlighted ecological destruction associated with Israel’s occupation and genocide. “There is not a world in which the Minnesota SBI can remain consistent with its stated values of sustainability while remaining invested in Israel,” McCormick said.

When one sit-in participant called the SBI’s office to announce the demands, they were hung up on. Ultimately, both the sit-in and the rally outside the building continued up to 4:30 p.m., when state troopers initiated arrests.

In total, 11 people were detained and taken to the Ramsey County jail, where they were booked and held for hours. The support rally relocated from outside the Retirement Systems Building to outside the jail — despite cold, rainy weather.

While nine were released around midnight, two alleged sit-in participants were arbitrarily held overnight. They appeared in court the following morning, when a judge ordered their immediate release after prosecutors failed to justify their continued detention.

Maeve Aickin is a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and a public educator who holds an SBI-managed pension. “I participated in the sit-in because the SBI invests the money I earn by creating a safe and healthy space for children, in an apartheid state that has spent the majority of the past century trying to make every space a Palestinian child can access into a dangerous one,” said Aickin. “Israel’s all-out assault on Palestinian children and their right to safety and education has culminated in its destruction of over 2300 schools. It makes me feel sick to know that my pension is invested in corporations that facilitate the murder and orphaning of children the same age as my students.”

Aickin added, “The state’s response to our peaceful protest registered to me as a spiteful mismanagement of public resources and taxpayer money.”

Organizers were undeterred by the arrests, announcing that Minnesota’s fight for divestment from genocidal, apartheid Israel would continue.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

St. Paul, MN – On October 2, about 15 protesters held a bannering in support of Palestine on the Snelling Avenue bridge over Interstate 94.

The action was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) of Women Against Military Madness.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held up banners reading “Divest from genocide! Dump Waterfall Security” and “St. Paul: Cut the contract,” raising public awareness for a new campaign against Waterfall, an Israeli tech company that directly oversees the security of Saint Paul's water system.

The amount of support this action received from passersby highlights just how repulsed Minnesotans are by U.S. support for the genocidal Israeli regime. Waterfall, whose CEO has bragged about how “fun” it was to do offensive cybersecurity for the IDF, stands as an egregious example of this collaboration – in this case, between Israel and the city of Saint Paul itself.

Joining statewide calls to divest Minnesota from apartheid Israel, residents of Saint Paul and surrounding suburbs can get involved with the Cut the Waterfall Contract campaign to pressure the city into replacing Waterfall with a security company whose hands are not stained with Palestinian blood.

The PSC intends to continue the momentum at the October 21 Board of Water Commissioners meeting, where activists and concerned residents will make their voices heard directly to the board.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #WAMM

St. Paul, MN– On September 26, over 100 people gathered to join Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) in protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the United Nations in New York City.

The rally was part of the Anti-War Action Network’s national call for organizations to protest Netanyahu’s visit as he commits genocide against Palestinians. The protesters chanted “Stop the killing, stop the slaughter – Gaza has no food or water.” WAMM has protested at this Saint Paul location since 1991.

Allison Gunderson of the AWC and WAMM’s Palestine Solidarity Committee spoke to the crowd, saying “I am disgusted as I watch the U.S. roll out the red carpet for Benjamin Netanyahu yet again. But I am not surprised. In 2024, we saw the U.S. give Israel $17.9 billion in aid, and just this last week Trump is seeking congressional approval for another $6.4 billion weapons package. Not to mention, the Minnesota State Board of Investment alone invests $5.4 billion of Minnesota money into Israel and Israeli companies complicit in the genocide!”

Gunderson continued, “Israel could not carry out this genocide without U.S. aid. And the U.S. happily provides it, as Israel is an extension of U.S. policy in the Middle East whose aims are destabilization, resource extraction and economic domination, so of course the U.S. welcomes this genocidaire with open arms.” Gunderson was one of many arrested in 2024 for protesting Amy Klobuchar’s attendance at Netanyahu’s address to Congress.

Dr. Sima Shakhsari of Educators for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota and No Sanctions and No War in Iran recognized the passing of Assata Shakur, the revolutionary Black Panther who left the United States in exile. Shakhsari explained, “She was on the most wanted list and listed as a terrorist. Now, I find that to be ironic. A Black woman fighting against racial violence in the U.S. is put on the terrorist list and has to flee to Cuba while Bibi Netanyahu, the most dangerous and genocidal prime minister of the settler colonial state of Israel is allowed to come to the U.S., even though the International Court of Justice has recognized him and [Yoav] Gallant as war criminals.”

Many speakers reminded the crowd that public pressure is turning the tide around Palestine, forcing governments and corporations to change their policies. Speakers encouraged attendees to continue this pressure. WAMM and the AWC will both be holding protests in the next two weeks to recognize two years of resistance after Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

Saint Paul, MN – Advocates for divestment from Israel held a press conference and rally outside the Minnesota Governor’s Residence on Tuesday, August 19, over the State Board of Investment (SBI)’s decision to continuously postpone, cancel or otherwise limit public access to quarterly SBI meetings.

The action was initiated by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and endorsed by MN Labor for Palestine, a group of public employees and labor activists; and the Twin Cities-based Free Palestine Coalition, a diverse collection of local advocacy groups that coalesced in 2023.

The SBI is chaired by Governor Tim Walz, joined by Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha, and Secretary of State Steve Simon. Since late 2023, growing numbers of public employees, pension holders and other community members have spoken at quarterly SBI meetings, calling on it to divest state-managed funds from the state of Israel and companies complicit in Israel’s apartheid system and genocide in Gaza.

The SBI meeting for 2025’s third quarter had been scheduled for Wednesday, August 20. However, on July 31, when pro-Palestine groups announced plans to “pack the room” at that meeting, within hours the SBI announced that the meeting was postponed until at least October, with no firm date set as of press time.

This marked the fourth consecutive SBI meeting to have been postponed, canceled, or held in a format that restricted public engagement.

In December 2024, the SBI convened in what it termed a “hybrid” format, disallowing live public comments and allowing the public to witness the proceedings only via a video screen in a small conference room in the Department of Administration Building. In February 2025, the SBI abruptly postponed its first quarter meeting, rescheduling it in March to a smaller room with limited capacity, while arbitrarily disallowing some public comment applicants from speaking.

In May, the SBI repeatedly postponed its second quarter meeting, before canceling it altogether in June. According to a Minnesota Public Radio report, SBI Chief Investment Officer Jill Schurtz said the rescheduled June 18 meeting was cancelled due to the shootings of members of state congress Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman, for which right-wing activist Vance Boelter has been charged. The MPR report did not explain why the original May meeting date was postponed.

Curiously, Schurtz reportedly also cited the shootings, which took place on June 14, as the reason for the postponement of the August 20 SBI meeting.

Outside the governor’s mansion, divestment advocates denounced the SBI’s delay tactics. The rally highlighted an August 17 call from the nationwide Anti-War Action Network for emergency protests against the imminent Israeli invasion of Gaza City. Anti-War Committee member Wyatt Miller accused the SBI of “trying to play petty hide-and-seek games instead of acknowledging the growing call of Minnesotan taxpayers, public employees and pensioners who want their money divested from mass murder.”

“Israel has killed so many people that there are villages of orphans. There are 17,000 orphans in Gaza today during a genocide that has taken the lives of thousands of people,” explained Nadiyah Sawaldeh of U.S. Palestinian Community Network. “Tim Walz was a teacher for 20 years. Every day for the last 682 days, he has watched a classroom full of children be murdered, and continues to invest pensions in those doing the murdering. If the death of thousands of children doesn’t fill you with fury, you should have never been a teacher.”

Speaking of teachers, two members of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE) Local 59, Theresa Tauer (also of Minnesota Educators for Palestine) and Neil Radford (also of Minnesota Workers United), spoke about progress toward divesting their pensions from Israel. In April, Education Minnesota, MFE’s parent union representing 84,000 educators across Minnesota, voted to create a task force to investigate the SBI’s investment of union pensions in human rights violations, including illegal occupation and land theft.

Another statewide union, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), representing 18,000 workers across the state, recently published a statement calling on the SBI to divest from assets that provide material assistance for violations of human rights and international law – citing Israel’s war on Palestine as an example. “It’s no longer about shame, it’s about organizing,” MAPE member Jon VanOeveren said at the press conference. “If [Walz] wants to run for governor again, he better listen to the people, because we’re organized.”

The SBI manages a number of Minnesota employee pensions and other funds. Approximately $5.4 billion is invested in entities complicit in or profiting from Israel’s apartheid and genocide, according to estimates from researchers at DivestMN.com. These include investments in Israel Bonds, Israeli banks and corporations, weapons manufacturers, engineering equipment companies that provide the Israeli military with heavy machinery, tech and surveillance companies, and other companies that profit from Israel’s crimes.

“Divestment is not the ceiling. But Governor Walz and his colleagues on the SBI refuse to crawl out of the basement,” explained rally emcee and AWC member Maeve Aickin. “The time of action was yesterday. The time for action was 1948. The time for losing hope is never. We owe every inch of our hope, our energy and our grief to the people of Palestine.”

The AWC has been holding a series of divestment teach-ins across the state, with one upcoming in Sait. Cloud on Saturday, September 6, 2 p.m. at the Great River Regional Library.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

St. Paul, MN – On August 12, the Saint Paul Board of Water Commissioners meeting was adjourned just minutes after it started when Nathan Phillips, an anti-Zionist Jew with the Palestine Solidarity Committee of WAMM, stood up and loudly proclaimed, “I am Jewish, and I stand with the Palestinian people! There’s no time to be ‘reasonable’. Gazans are being starved and massacred!”

At first the board tried to ignore Phillips and carry on with business as usual. But Phillip’s voice only grew louder as he chastised the board for its failure to act on the request to terminate a contract with the Israeli cyber security firm, Waterfall Security Solutions.

When Phillips could no longer be ignored, the chair warned the audience that further disruption would result in adjournment of the meeting. That seemed to suit the crowd just fine as they then began to chant “Free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!” The meeting was adjourned, and the members of the Board of Water Commissioners left the room.

Palestine solidarity activists then marched through City Hall chanting “Board of Water Commissioners you should know, Waterfall has got to go!” as their voices echoed through the atrium.

Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) organized for over 30 supporters to pack the Board of Water Commissioners meeting to show their opposition to Saint Paul’s contract with Waterfall Security, a company based in Israel. WAMM has organized multiple call-in days this summer to show its opposition to Waterfall’s contract. Activists also attended the last water board meeting on July 15 with signs reading, “Cut the contract.” No activists were allowed to speak to the board.

Waterfall Security is an Israeli tech company which secured a contract with Saint Paul last year for $74,000. The international Palestine solidarity movement is championing boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) as the main tactics to challenge Israel’s apartheid and genocide. WAMM members want the city of Saint Paul to secure contracts with companies that do not facilitate or profit from human rights abuses.

The BDS Movement says the “tech sector is a pillar of the apartheid economy that feeds Israel’s war chest, making up 20% of Israel’s GDP (in 2023) and 53% of its exports (2023). In addition to being a pillar of the Israeli economy, tech companies knowingly provide Israel with weaponized technologies of oppression (including spyware) used to commit grave human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”

The Waterfall contract, despite pressure from the Palestine solidarity movement, was automatically renewed by the board to continue for another year.

Members from Veterans for Peace (VFP) tried to get on the board’s agenda for the August meeting but were denied. VFP member Dan Wall approached the commissioners’ table and asked if testimony on the Waterfall contract would be taken from the audience. When told it would not, he asked “Why?” The chair gave the unsatisfactory answer, “It’s not the way it’s done.” Wall insisted on a better answer. The official gave a couple more non-answers before settling on “It’s not on the agenda.”

Activists have not been given any way to get to give public comment at the public Water Board Commissioner meetings.

At the end of the meeting, the Palestine supporters gathered outside the Saint Paul City Hall and committed to continuing to call and to give public testimony, regardless of whether it was allowed, on the need to cut the Waterfall Security contract.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #WAMM #VFP