This was part of an ongoing campaign to press the State Board of Investments on this issue. Activists from MIRAC, the Anti-War Committee and other organizations have spoken at several previous SBI meetings, have presented thousands of petitions, and have protested in front of Governor Walz’s mansion to demand divestment from Elbit System because of their profiteering off of border militarization at the U.S.-Mexico border and also by Israel against the Palestinians.

Mansfield told the SBI members:

“Last year I went on a human rights delegation to the border of Tucson and Mexico with MIRAC. The horrors I witnessed made me truly disgusted to be an American. I heard the stories of people who crossed the border, people fleeing violence leave their homes and families in the middle of the night, telling no one. They travel thousands of miles to make it to our southern border. There they encounter the wall that pushes them into the smoldering oblivion of the desert. When the desert becomes too treacherous for construction of the wall, mountains force you further in, then in the distance you see the Elbit surveillance towers. Their towers can spot people from miles away, so you travel further into the desert, and only travel at night to avoid being seen by the towers. With only the moonlight to guide you, you hike through miles of lethal darkness. Inevitably, someone trips and falls, breaking their leg, unable to continue the journey. There is nothing you can do for them, and if you stay with them you will die too so you walk away from your brother, your sister, your mother or your best friend leaving them to die slowly and painfully all alone in the desert. This is the system of Prevention Through Deterrence that our government assures us is working very well, and you have made the conscious and informed decision to fund this system of death, using my money. You must break ties with Elbit or live the rest of your life knowing you are a merchant of death.”

The State Board of Investments is comprised of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha, Secretary of State Steve Simon, and is chaired by Governor Tim Walz. All are Democrats who have vocally opposed President Trump’s immigration policies. In 2018 while campaigning for governor, Walz tweeted, “President Trump wants to blow $18 billion of taxpayer funds on his border wall? Give me a break.” Ellison appeared at 2018’s May Day Parade in Minneapolis wearing a “Yo no creo en fronteras” (I don’t believe in borders) t-shirt, and has stated that Trump was “unable to persuade Congress and the American people that a wall is necessary.”

Yet when presented with the fact that Minnesota has more than $1 million invested in border militarization profiteers Elbit Systems, they have thus far not taken the simple step of selling off those investments.

Activists will continue to demand that the State Board of Investments divest Minnesota’s funds from border militarization corporation Elbit Systems.

#SaintPaulMN #PeoplesStruggles #MIRAc #borderMilitarization #Elbit #StateBoardOfInvestments

St. Paul, MN – On August 22, immigrant rights and Palestine solidarity activists presented over 1000 signatures of Minnesota residents petitioning the State Board of Investments (SBI) to divest state pension funds from the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. Elbit sells cluster bombs and weaponized white phosphorus to the Israel Defense Forces, whose indiscriminate use on besieged Gaza has been widely condemned by international organizations. Elbit also manufactures surveillance equipment for the Israeli apartheid wall, and drones used in targeted assassinations of Palestinian political leaders.

Advertising its products as “battle-tested” on occupied Palestine, Elbit has won over $150 million in contracts from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security to build surveillance towers on the U.S.-Mexico border, including as part of President Trump’s racist ‘build the wall’ initiative.

Aadarsh Akula of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee told the State Board of Investments, “Since 1990, as a result of border militarization, there’s been about 7000 corpses in the desert on the southern border. The Migration Policy Institute notes that these corpses are directly correlated with increasing border militarization.”

“As a concept, border militarization totally ignores the fact that humans have intrinsic value, that they don’t just need to die if they cross a border,” Akula added. “This company cares more about its bottom line than the intrinsic value that all human beings pose.”

The SBI is comprised of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha, Secretary of State Steve Simon, and is chaired by Governor Tim Walz. All are Democrats who were elected on promises of opposing President Trump’s immigration policies. In 2018 while campaigning for governor, Walz tweeted, “President Trump wants to blow $18 billion of taxpayer funds on his border wall? Give me a break.” Ellison appeared at 2018’s May Day Parade in Minneapolis wearing a “Yo no creo en fronteras” (“I don’t believe in borders”) t-shirt, and earlier this year stated that Trump was “unable to persuade Congress and the American people that a wall is necessary.”

Speaking to the SBI, Autumn Lake of the MN Anti-War Committee elaborated on Elbit’s role in Israel’s war crimes. “Cluster munitions, white phosphorus shells and military drones have all been used by the state of Israel in their brutal campaigns against Palestinian civilian populations. Almost 10,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed since September 29, 2000. Two thousand of those killed were children. Elbit Systems bears a direct responsibility for helping maintain this cycle of colonial violence against an indigenous people.”

Lake concluded, “Simply put, the funds that are being used to bring people peace of mind in their retirement years should not be gained through investment in a company that profits from war and imperialism.”

Elbit Systems is one of several Israeli companies from which organizations of the Minnesota BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Community have long demanded the state divest. Minnesota BDS Community member Sylvia Schwarz, of Jewish Voice for Peace, spoke at the press conference activists held just before the SBI meeting.

“I urge the State Board of Investments to divest from Elbit Systems, just as the Norwegian Pension Fund, the Danske Bank, the Swedish National Pension Fund, the Dutch Pension Fund, and Deutsche Bank have done,” Schwarz said.

Despite holding a lengthy conversation over the conflict between ethical considerations and their “fiduciary duty” as state investors as it pertained to climate change, the SBI had nothing to say about Elbit Systems. Following the presentation by the activists, Governor Walz abruptly adjourned the meeting without comment.

In response, organizers have called for a militant protest outside the governor’s mansion at 1006 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, to take place on Thursday, August 29 at 5:30 p.m.

#StPaulMN #International #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Palestine #Divestment #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #Antiracism #DonaldTrump #borderMilitarization

Minneapolis, MN – The national flags of Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador fluttered above the Plaza Centenario in one of Minneapolis’s most immigrant-rich neighborhoods on May 11 as around 40 demonstrators demanded, “Stop militarization of the border!”

The protesters distributed fliers to pedestrians on bustling Lake Street and bannered their message to the honks and fists raised in solidarity of passing drivers. Group chants included, “No ban! No wall! Sanctuary for all!” and “¡Zapata vive! ¡La lucha sigue!”

Organized by the Minnesota Caravan Solidarity/Minnesota en Solidaridad con la Caravana coalition, the demonstration was endorsed by a host of immigrant rights, anti-imperialist and Latino community action groups. The event took place as the situation worsened at the U.S. -Mexico border and in the Central American countries undergoing massive refugee exoduses. Recent weeks saw armed, racist paramilitary groups rounding up people on the U.S. side of the border, the deployment of apartheid-trained Israeli troops to Honduras, and the deaths of multiple asylum-seekers in U.S. custody.

In a speech, Kent Mori of the Anti-War Committee emphasized the role of U.S. foreign policy in fueling the violent conditions causing the refugee caravans. “In Honduras, for example, the Trump government continues to support a right-wing government that came to power under President Obama in a U.S.-sponsored 2009 coup. Specifically, the Trump’s administration supplied $200 million in military and police aid to the repressive Honduran government this past year,” he said.

Mori continued, “The failed coup against the Nicaraguan government in 2018 is one recent example of the U.S. government funding unrest and violence in the region. Another example, this time in El Salvador, shows how the U.S. prepares for regime change operations by installing officials who would aid in the overthrow of popular, elected governments. Trump’s latest ambassador nominee to El Salvador, Ronald D. Johnson, shows this pattern clearly. Johnson is a former military officer and current employee of the CIA who has no experience in diplomacy. What is this guy’s purpose, if not regime change at some point in the future?”

Sherilyn Young of Hands Off Honduras elaborated on the Israeli troop deployment, saying, “Through this ten-year agreement, 1000 Israeli soldiers will arrive to train the country's army for border protection.”

“The Trump administration has demanded that the Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan and Salvadoran governments stop their citizens from leaving their countries and from coming to the U.S.,” Young explained. “It’s no surprise that the underlying goal is to train for border protection to stop migrants fleeing, especially children and Africans, as one news article stated. It’s no surprise that the Israeli army will share space with the Joint Task Force-Bravo of the U.S. armed forces at the Jose Enrique Soto Cano air base in Palmerola, south central Honduras.”

Protesters also drew attention to repression at the U.S. border. Brad Sigal from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee said, “We went on a delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border, and the only crisis we saw was the human rights catastrophe created by the Trump administration illegally denying asylum seekers into the country, as well as the native O'odham people and border communities in Arizona that live under 24/7 military occupation by Border Patrol. This is the crisis that we must end, by fighting to end militarization of the border and winning legalization for all.”

Minnesota Caravan Solidarity/Minnesota en Solidaridad con la Caravana announced plans to continue mobilizing against U.S. militarism and oppression of refugees fleeing Central America.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #MinnesotaCaravanSolidarity #borderMilitarization