After the protests of AIPAC in DC that garnared wide attention (see
below), protests
continue, in Minneapolis and beyond. Please consider a
contribution to continue our work.
Upcoming possible protests include in the Bay Area in December
2011. Oakland December 5, San Francisco December 6. More Details soon.
This speech was delivered by Anti-War Committee Member J.P. Mason
at the 2011 Minnesota AIPAC Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on
June 30, 2011.
I am here today as a member of the Minneapolis-based Anti-War
Committee to denounce the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC and the war crimes
and crimes against humanity which this lobby enables and perpetuates.
The fact is, this lobbying group has manipulated and coerced American
politicians so much so that it becomes nearly impossible to get
elected unless you speak out in favor of the U.S. / Israeli bond. In
doing so, this lobby has created an air of fear in which any
politician or person speaking out against U.S./Israeli foreign policy
or the 3 billion in U.S. military aid to the Israeli government is
labeled anti-Semitic, or in the case of several members on the
Anti-War Committee, as supporters of terrorism.....(More)
We helped make history at the "Move Over AIPAC"
Summit/Protests in May 2011. Read the
summary of events and actions at the Code Pink Move Over AIPAC
website. This is just the beginning.
Click on Pics for larger versions.
Stop AIPAC is one of
more than 100 organizations that have endorsed this effort. We made a
difference. Make a donation today.
On
a chilly Sunday, about 75-100 folks gathered outside the Mittleman Jewish
Community to protest against the annual AIPAC event yesterday. The protest
was organized by AUPHR (Americans United for Palestinian Human RIghts) and
SUPER (Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights). For about 2 hours,
we shouted, chanted, and stood our ground, saying "No to AIPAC! No Support
for Occupation! No Support for Apartheid!"
We went there to let
AIPAC and its supporters know that we vehemently oppose US aid to Israel
to continue its 60+ years of brutal and illegal occupation of Palestine.
Israel would not be able to keep committing crimes and atrocities against
the Palestinian people if it weren't for US support. According to If
Americans Knew, Israel is the largest recipient of US military and
economic aid since 1976. US gives Israel about $3 billion per year, about
one-fifth of the US' entire foreign aid monies. The US currently provides
Israel with $8.2 million in military aid every day! Israel continues to
build illegal settlements on Palestinian land, demolish Palestinian homes,
farms and orchards, destroy businesses and shops, arrest and torture the
Palestinian people without due process, and bomb, shoot and kill them with
impunity. We are always told that the budget deficits make it necessary
for politicians to cut social programs, education and health care for us,
but when it comes to funding wars, occupation and attacks on civilians in
Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and other countries, there's always endless
amounts of money!
Several
protestors yelled, "Shame on you!" when they saw Congressman David Wu
drive into the parking lot. Several motorists flipped us the bird as they
drove past. A few policemen were there, but got progressively bored as we
gave them no reason to harass or arrest us.
We hope that as more
and more people find out about this AIPAC annual event, that they will
join us at the next protest. We need more people to show up and oppose
AIPAC and its supporters. It's not enough to show up at protests after
another Israeli attack on Palestinians. We also need to let our
"representatives" and politicians and the American public know that we
don't want another cent of our tax dollars to be spent on perpetrating
Israel's apartheid and occupation!
IT would have been
difficult for an attendee at AIPAC’s annual membership event in
Oakland to not see that there was serious dissent to their celebration
of support for policies of occupation and war at their annual
membership event at the ritzy Marriot Hotel. Outside more than 200
people from a wide array of groups, including antiwar groups,
Palestinian and Jewish groups, progressive Democrats and Greens, and
community organizations came together to stand for peace and justice
in the Middle East and an end of US support for the Israeli military
while human needs are neglected at home. This short video is testimony
to that diversity:
Inside the hotel,
AIPAC guests were treated to a flash mob performance protesting AIPAC’s
continued role in supporting US/Israeli policies of war and occupation
that ended with the arrest of seven participants on charges of
trespassing. You can see the video here
and one participant shares why she risked arrest
to protest the policies AIPAC is promoting.
Beyond the
protesters inside and outside the hotel, AIPAC guests that arrived via
BART may have noticed the ads protesting US
military aid
to Israel that are displayed at the nearby underground station. Or any
of them may have seen the commentary
printed in a local paper just a few weeks previous asking why
politicians present at the AIPAC event why they will be supporting
policies they supposedly oppose.
What about those
politicians? No doubt, there were some in attendance, but I suspect in
shorter supply than in years past. Previously, this was one of those
places that a politician wanted to be seen and their presence widely
advertised, no matter their office.Yet the
newly elected mayor of Oakland was a no-show. Ditto the mayor of
Berkeley Tom Bates, and his wife Loni Hancock the State Senator.Mayor Gayle McLaughlin of Richmond, just
re-elected to a new term, sent regrets that her full schedule
prevented her from joining the protest.
The article
in the local Jewish weekly following the AIPAC events is informative.
Bay Area groups critical of Israel have
ramped up their public profile in the past two weeks, initiating
street protests, placing posters in BART stations and staging a
demonstration that led to seven arrests.
On Dec. 13, while AIPAC Northern
California held its annual East Bay membership dinner at the Oakland
Marriott City Center, a group of activists from varying left-wing
organizations performed a routine in the lobby of the hotel’s
convention center.
So instead of a story about how AIPAC
once again drew support from politicians across partisan divides,
there is only a story about the protests of the event. Nowhere does J
Weekly mention any local politician that might have been in
attendance. (Incidentally, the article was originally put on the web
with this headline “Anti-Israel protesters ramp things up locally”,
and it seems that the editors backed down from the
inflammatory headline and went with the more accurate “Protesters
critical of Israel ramp things up locally.” )
Something has changed.
AIPAC doesn’t seem to have the attraction it once had, especially for
up and coming politicians, at least in the Bay Area. No longer is
association with it something to boast about, except to AIPAC members
themselves.
After years of
steady protests, politicians have learned that while there may still
be an upside to standing with AIPAC, there is also controversy, and
therefore also a clear downside.There may also
be the fact that AIPAC is growing even more right-wing, even in its
choices of speakers in the liberal Bay Area (Details here).
Surprisingly, they chose a fundamentalist Christian, DeeDee Coleman,
to keynote their event in San Francisco. The choice of Rep. Shelley
Berkley for the Oakland event, a critic of Obama’s policy of mild (and
ineffectual) criticism of Israel’s expansionist policies also put
local politicians in a quandary.Berkley is a
politician whose views of the conflict are perhaps even to the Right
of the Israeli government, who she once criticized as being “too
tolerant” of Palestinians in Gaza. How can a politician even pretend
to support Obama’s “peace efforts” and at the same time applaud one
who is such a harsh critic of Obama from the Right and supporter of
increased settlements?
AIPAC seems to be
painting itself into a rightwing corner.
Despite that, AIPAC
still wields way too much power, including here in the Bay Area. For
example, while local Congresswoman Barbara Lee often refuses to
endorse many AIPAC-initiated resolutions in Congress, they can count
on her for their all-important bottom-line support—unconditional
military aid to Israel (see a summary of her
record).
Still, we see that the winds are shifting, slowly, and our protests
are making a difference. We intend to keep “ramping things up” here in
the Bay Area and hope that these efforts are duplicated around the
country.
September 14, 2010 Protest in
Louisville, KY
From
Jewish Voice for Peace-
Nearly
40 demonstrators gathered outside the 21c
hotel downtown on Tuesday night to protest a
fundraiser held inside by the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel
lobbying organization.
The protest,
organized by Louisville Jewish Voice for
Peace, held signs supporting Palestinians and
spoke against what they see as an effort by
the committee in support of attacking Iran to
disrupt its nuclear program.
“The last thing we
need right now is an escalation of war and
bloodshed in the Middle East,” said protestor
Nadira Wallace.
Many demonstrators
made it a priority to point out that they were
speaking out against Israeli policies, not the
Israeli people, and many argued that an end to
an Israeli presence in the West Bank and Gaza
was the only way to bring security for Israel.
“There can only be
peace for Israel if there is justice, if there
is an end to the occupation,” said Sonia de
Vries.
There were two
pro-Israel demonstrators at the corner of West
Main and Seventh streets, but the peace
activists attracted most the attention,
receiving honks from passing cars and interest
from pedestrians.
It was an important
demonstration to share diversity in the views
of Jewish people toward Israeli foreign
policy, said Russ Greenleaf, an organizer with
Louisville Jewish Voice for Peace. Just as
important was to continue speaking against any
proposed aggression toward Iran, he said.
“That would be a
catastrophe for a lot of people,” Greenleaf
said.
A group of protesters in Portland, Oregon erected mock settlements, a
'Wall of Shame', and a checkpoint as part of a protest against AIPAC's
annual Oregon fundraiser on Sunday. See pics
here.
December 13th, Protest AIPAC in
Sacramento, CA. Radisson Hotel
An ad-hoc coalition of 12 groups, including
Sacramento for Democracy; Sacramento Area Peace Action, Jewish Voice
for Peace, the Palestine American Congress and the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom held a successful protest outside the hotel.
Braving the rain, over 60 people displayed panels and military towers of a
mock Apartheid Wall that stretched over 200 feet. Local elected officials Dave
Jones, Darrel Steinberg, Roger Dickinson, Kevin Johnson, Kevin McCarty and
Lauren Hammond all bought tickets to the event.
Press Release.
Read
this story about how the JCRC (a group allied with AIPAC) put the
kibosh on a sister city relationship with Sacramento. Here are some
background documents:
JCRC Letter (page 1
and 2) to City Council and
Mayor. The response from the sister city organizers
here. Story has happy
ending here.
Protest in Seattle, WA
November 15th
Airing Israel's Dirty Laundry
Press Release on Seattle Protest followed by Video and Pics:
On Sunday, November 15th, 2009, the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for
Peace is staging a theatrical protest outside the Westin in response to
the Annual Washington State Membership Dinner of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and that organization`s recent work to
suppress fair and accurate human rights reporting.
JVP Seattle is acting in the wake of last week`s vote in the US Congress
to suppress findings from the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding
Mission on the Gaza Conflict headed by Richard Goldstone. Goldstone`s
report documents war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas during the
war on Gaza last December and January. Because AIPAC helped lead the
charge to suppress the report, JVP Seattle will be `Airing AIPAC`s Dirty
Laundry` by hanging large-scale pieces of laundry up with descriptions of
Israeli war crimes from the report, such as `Bombed a mosque when prayers
were being conducted,` `Fired at Palestinians who were carrying white
flags,` and `Used white phosphorous against civilians.`
The Goldstone Report was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in
September, and recommends that the Security Council pass the issue to the
International Criminal Court if Israel and Hamas do not make `good faith`
efforts to investigate the allegations within six months.
JVP believes it is a well-researched, fair-minded report. It accuses both
Israel and Hamas of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, while
rightfully placing greater emphasis on Israeli violations of international
law, especially regarding the killing of civilians.
The investigation was led by respected South African jurist Richard
Goldstone, a former member of the South African Constitutional Court and
former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals in the
former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He also happens to be Jewish and has strong
ties to Israel. Groups like AIPAC claim this should stop him from
reporting on the country`s war crimes. Goldstone has responded by saying,
`Why should my being Jewish stop me from investigating Israel? I just
don`t see it. I think a friend should be open to criticism from friends. I
think it`s more important. I think true friends criticize their friends
when they do wrong things.`
On Sunday, JVP Seattle, a proudly Jewish organization working for a
lasting peace that recognizes the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians
for security and self-determination, will stand in solidarity with
Goldstone and against AIPAC`s distortions and attempts to silence the
truth. ####
On Wed, Sept 2, Ann Lewis a former senior advisor to Bill and Hillary
Clinton will speak to AIPAC Minnesota on “improving the U.S. relationship
with Israel.” AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a
powerful lobbying group that has great influence over American
politicians. Lewis, who has stated that “the role of the U.S. president is
to support decisions made by Israel,” will address supporters of the
U.S.-Israeli relationship regarding “how to get their message across more
effectively.” The event is described as a community program and dessert
reception that is free and open to the public.
Now is the time to let AIPAC, politicians, and the public know that
Israeli Apartheid, violence, and oppression of Palestinians is not
acceptable! Join us for a demonstration outside the event where we will
protest unjust Israeli policies, demand human rights for Palestinians
including the Right of Return, and call for an end to U.S. military aid to
Israel. We’ll have flyers to educate passersby about the issue and we’ll
also be addressing the media. Initiated by the Coalition for Palestinian
Rights. Endorsed by: International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Women
Against Military Madness, the Anti-War Committee . (From
TC Indy media)
Protest at Temple Israel coincides with Ann Lewis
visit
From
Southside Pride
About 40 peace activists demonstrated at the
front and back doors to Temple Israel at 2324 Emerson Ave. S. on
Wednesday, Sept. 2, to protest the presentation of Ann Lewis, a former
senior advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, that was sponsored by AIPAC
(American Israel Public Affair C
committee).]
The event was advertised by Temple Israel as a community program and
dessert reception that was open to the public, but attendees were asked to
RSVP to AIPAC. They denied access to Coalition for Palestinian Rights
members Sarah Martin and Karen Redleaf and to Colleen Rowley, former FBI
whistleblower and congressional candidate and current member of Women
Against Military Madness.
Sarah Martin explained: “AIPAC wants people to support the close
relationship between the U. S. and Israel unconditionally. But they know
that Israel is illegally occupying the West Bank and Gaza and perpetrating
numerous injustices against Palestinians. They’re afraid of the public
finding out how our tax dollars are being used to fund Israeli war crimes,
and they’re trying to hide from the criticism they deserve. The bombing of
Gaza that killed 1,400 civilians early this year is just one of the many
atrocities being carried out by the Israeli government.”
Colleen Rowley said, “All we want is a free and open discussion of the
Israeli and Palestinian problem.”
It's here: The 2009 AIPAC Policy Conference.
May 3-5, Washington DC
Shimon Peres was giving speech at the AIPAC
conference when he was interrupted by Desiree Fairooz of Code Pink.
This is the biggest of AIPAC events each year, with the largest number
of Congresspeople attending. As AIPAC press releases indicate, no event
attracts more congresspeople other than mandated attendance at the
State of the Union or other official meetings.
April 9, 2009 Albuquerque Billboard Campaign Against Aid to Israel.
Check out press release.
Coalition of sponsors of
campaign includes former member of AIPAC, appalled at Israel's carnage in
Gaza.
March 30, 2009 New Orleans - Dozens
protest AIPAC meeting on Palestine Land Day.
Several dozen people marched along Canal Street and into the French
Quarter to protest the meeting of a pro-Israel lobbying group at a French
Quarter hotel Sunday.
The protesters -- including members of local Palestinian, Arab and
Jewish communities -- condemned the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, which was meeting at the Omni Royal Orleans, 621 St. Louis St.
The mission of AIPAC is to help make Israel more secure by ensuring U.S.
support.
"We are deeply frustrated by the actions of the Israeli government, and
Israel defense forces and pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States,"
protester Emily Ratner said. "Our tax dollars are funding the murder of
innocent Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children. Our tax
dollars are also funding large-scale illegal evictions and demolitions in
Palestine."
Another protester, Taslima Hattium, with New Orleans Louisiana
Palestine Solidarity, said the protest was to show AIPAC "they can't come
into my community to lobby for money to commit genocide in my name."
The march also commemorates Palestine Land Day, the anniversary of the
March 30, 1976, clash between Israeli troops and Palestinians that left
six Palestinians dead.
"Hundreds of thousands of acres (of Palestinian land) have been
illegally seized and stolen," Hattium said.
Three people not associated with AIPAC stood in front of the hotel door
holding a banner that read "We stand with Gilad Shalit, held hostage for
1,000 days." Shalit is an Israeli soldier who was captured by Hamas on
June 25, 2006.
Leo Golubitsky said Shalit's family has not heard anything about his
status and that Hamas has not allowed the International Red Cross to visit
him.
"As they are protesting for human rights, they have no problem
supporting Hamas that is denying Gilad Shalit the most basic human
rights," Golubitsky said.
March 29th, 2009 Portland Oregon - Some 90 protesters
greet the annual AIPAC event of that area. A great summary and analysis of
what went on inside the event is
here in
an article by Peter Miller.
March 8, 2009
Dozens of Los
Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other allies erected a mock
checkpoint at the AIPAC event at Universal City. See
Press Release. See
Pics.
See Video. See this
news report from the Fox-affiliate in Los Angeles.
Largest protest at an AIPAC event in years took place at the
New York
event on January 29, 2009. This protest was a spectacular success. I
think they ruined Mayor Bloomberg's evening, and gave Howard Kohr
heartburn. More about the protest here...
A protest took place in San Francisco
on December
9th, 2008 More here.
Chicago, October 26-27, 2008
At AIPAC's "National Summit"
3 Days of Education, Vigils and Protest.
Details here.
Second to only the Policy Conference in the Spring, this is one of
AIPAC largest gatherings, filled with politicians pledging their loyalty
to support war and occupation.
Chicagoans Against
Apartheid in Palestine was there to protest it. Stop AIPAC
supports this effort.
Get your official Stop
AIPAC postcard and spread the word. We demand peace, not war!
Below is a list of planned protests and protest opportunities.
AIPAC holds membership dinners in many cities around the nation throughout
the year. It holds its main Policy Conference in Washington DC every
year, and that is attended by thousands, including usually most of
Congress and a few heads of State (often including the Prime Minister of
Israel). Even their smaller dinners are often attended by hundreds
of people, including many local politicians. Isn't it time they knew
attending a celebration of militarism may be controversial?
We can expose AIPAC's agenda and hold it accountable to people's desire
for a fair foreign policy.
Let us know when you hear of a AIPAC meeting/gathering,
and we will list it here. Let us share your protest plans, and then
we can help you gather support. We also can share the results.
Columbus,
Ohio, May 14th, 2007 A small but spirited group handed out
leaflets to passerby at an aipac event. See Photo left.
Sacramento, California, December 3, 2006
Over 100 gather to protest the extremist policies of AIPAC at
one of its "membership events".
Story from the SN&R, a Sacramento Weekly. Endorsers of the
protest (not mentioned in the above story, but very significant, included
Sacramento Peace Action,
Sacramento for Democracy, Veterans for Peace. Jewish Voice for Peace,
Sacramento was mentioned in the article, but they felt it had unfairly
reduced the content of their message. (see this letter
written in response to SN&R story cited above). While there
were divergent views represented at the protest, some clearly
objectionable, it was significant that mainstream peace groups such as
Peace Action and a progressive Democratic Party organization participated,
and said no to the extremist agenda promoted at the AIPAC event.
Similar protests were held in Santa Clara and Oakland that same week.
AIPAC and Me- An Activist from Progressive
Democrats of America protests at Boston AIPAC dinner. May 7, 2006
Young Boston Jews
hold Passover Seder outside AIPAC offices.
April 11, 2006
Note: As this example shows us, we don't have to wait for an
organized AIPAC activity to protest AIPAC. The folks in Boston went
to one of AIPAC's ten regional offices to protest for a justice and
peace.
Propaganda for the Insipid An opinion piece rather than an actual protest, this is an example of
the many people that are generally supportive of Israeli policies, turned
off by the extremism and simplistic propaganda of the AIPAC annual show in
Washington. From the point of view of a young Jewish High School
senior. (Outside link)
AIPAC and Me
By Bruce Taub,
Progressive Democrats of America MA State Coordinator
Friends - Last night I went to the AIPAC fundraising dinner here in
Boston, specifically intending to speak out on behalf of the Palestinian
people. This was not intended by me as an act of civil disobedience, but
as an act of conscience. When I was in the Occupied Territories/Palestine
about a month ago and asked the wonderful people I met there what I could
do to help end their oppression by the Israeli state, to a person they
said, "change US policy, expose AIPAC."
So when I heard AIPAC would be in Boston raising money I felt a
virtually uncontrollable desire to act, to speak truth to power, to be as
un-good a "good German" as I was capable of being.
The AIPAC affair itself was predictable. The room was immense, with
amazing loudspeakers, twin jumbo screens, senators, congressmen and women,
security, free flowing alcohol, and nearly 700 wildly applauding AIPAC
toadies and sympathizers. Israel was wonderful. The United States was
wonderful. The terrorists, the Muslims, the Arabs, the fundamentalists,
the mullahs, the leaders of Arab nations, Hamas, the protesters outside
the hotel, the sponsors of the divestment action in Somerville, were all
detestable abominations. The words "terrorist," "9/11," "Islamic," "Arab,"
and "enemies of freedom" ran together repeatedly like the refrain of an
advertising jingle.
During the incredibly jingoistic, intolerant, uncompromising, arrogant,
ass-kicking keynote speaker's speech by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
[R-FL], lead sponsor of HR4681, the so-called Palestinian Anti-terrorism
Act of 2006," (the one that will cut off humanitarian aid to Palestine
until the PA halts "all anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian
Authority-controlled electronic and print media and in schools, mosques,
and other institutions it controls, and replaces these materials,
including textbooks, with materials that promote tolerance, peace, and
coexistence with Israel,") it was clear to me what I needed to say.
Because believe it or not, in over two hours of speeches and declarations,
the Palestinian people, the invisible people, the suffering, oppressed,
subjugated, ethnically segregated people had never been mentioned once!!
"The people missing from this meeting are the Palestinian people," I
called out as loudly as I could. "The issue of the Palestinian people is
the painful crippling pebble in Israel's shoe. Without justice for the
Palestinians there can be no peace for Israel."
Upon which I was promptly grabbed by some heroic AIPAC supporters, the
plain clothes security detail I had identified earlier, and three guys who
appeared out of nowhere and were each the size of an SUV.
As I was being escorted out, I placed some of the handouts I had
prepared on one of the reception tables, where they were picked up by
security no sooner than I had left them. I was in no position to argue. So
here's a copy of that handout (below), with reference to the web site I
mentioned -
www.justandpeaceful.org - at the end. If you get a chance I hope
you'll read it. The site was created in an effort to help advance the
cause of peace and justice in Palestine and Israel and to provide some
modest support to the many Palestinian, Israeli, and U.S peace activists
who labor so passionately and conscientiously to realize a new vision for
Israel and Palestine. Submissions to the site are more than welcome.
There was also a peaceful protest outside the Westin Hotel in Boston.
See
here and some photos
here.
Young Boston Jews
hold Passover Seder outside AIPAC, JCRC offices
Hannah Mermelstein, The Electronic Intifada,
17 April 2006
Passover demonstration on April 11th 2006,
downtown Boston. (Photo: Jonathan McIntosh)
On Tuesday, April 11, at 5:00 pm, 20 young Jewish people gathered for a
Seder (traditional celebration of Passover) outside 126 High Street in
Boston, the building that houses the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) and Boston's Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC).
The group expressed their support for Palestinian human rights and
opposition to AIPAC's and JCRC's unquestioning support for Israel and its
governmental policies. With a banner that read "Passover means liberation
for all. Justice for Palestine," they conveyed the message to the
organizations inside and to the media that AIPAC and JCRC do not speak for
all Jews.
The group set up a Seder table and recited Passover's traditional four
questions, one of the many ways the story of Exodus is told during
Passover. The four questions include symbols and explanations for why we
use these symbols during the holiday. The group's explanations included
facts about Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes, confiscation and
destruction of Palestine's land resources for the expansion of settlements
and the Separation Wall, and malnutrition and poverty in Palestine caused
by Israeli closure and movement restrictions.
According to Marjorie Kent, one of the organizers of the Seder, "During
Passover, every generation of Jewish people is commanded to remember that
we were slaves and to tell the story of the Exodus so that we can
recognize oppression that happens today and work to stop it. Today we
committed ourselves to this task."
AIPAC pushes the US government to support Israeli policies which result in
the brutal oppression of Palestinian people and denial of their
internationally recognized human rights. JCRC, while claiming to speak for
all Jews, invests enormous time and energy suppressing any voice of
opposition to Israeli policies, especially Jewish voices. "Our generation
has had enough of AIPAC's and JCRC's complicity in Israel's human rights
abuses of Palestinians," said Hannah Mermelstein, another Seder organizer.
"Their support of these policies betray the libratory message of
Passover."
Not everyone agreed. One man walked briskly past the group and screamed,
"Race traitors! Religion traitors! I am a proud Jew and will not give my
homeland to the Arabs." Other passersby stopped to watch or ask questions.
Most people leaving the building did not engage with the group, but
clearly knew why the group was there.
Passover demonstration on April 11th 2006,
downtown Boston. (Photo: Jonathan McIntosh)
The group called on people leaving the building to take the message of
"liberation for all" home with them this Passover. They handed out
supplements for people to add to their traditional Passover Seders. The
final question of the four, traditionally asking why we recline instead of
sitting straight in our chairs, asked instead: "On Passover, we usually
sit on soft chairs. Why do we stand at this Seder?" The answer: "Avadot
hayinu. We were slaves. Because this year, it is time for each of us to
make a choice. Do we stand for justice? Or do we sit and do nothing as
others are oppressed in our name? Do we stand against the oppression of
our Palestinian sisters and brothers? Or do we sit and allow AIPAC, JCRC,
and others to betray our traditions? Do we act in the true spirit of
Passover, or do we remain silent and betray the meaning of our sacred
tradition? Today, we choose to stand!"
As the group left, the police arrived with specific instructions to arrest
them. An officer said to one member of the group, "Thank you for not
making us arrest you just before Easter."
Hannah Mermelstein is a member of the International Women's Peace
Service and co-founder of Birthright Unplugged. Originally from the
Philadelphia area, she now lives part-time in Boston and part-time in
Palestine.
On
a chilly Sunday, about 75-100 folks gathered outside the Mittleman Jewish
Community to protest against the annual AIPAC event yesterday. The protest
was organized by 
From
On Sunday, November 15th, 2009, the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for
Peace is staging a theatrical protest outside the Westin in response to
the Annual Washington State Membership Dinner of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and that organization`s recent work to
suppress fair and accurate human rights reporting. 
