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Protesting AIPACRecent Protests &
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Future ProtestsSee the report of a recent protest of AIPAC in Oakland that took place in December 2007 here. Endorse this Statement of Conscience opposing the policies of AIPAC here. 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. Get on our Updates email list. Only nonviolent, anti-racist protests that support equal rights for all will be reported. See below for Recent Protests.
Monday, December 17th, 2007, Oakland, at Marriot City Center,
11th and Broadway (Map) Recent Protests
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, 2006Young Boston Jews
hold Passover Seder outside AIPAC offices.
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| 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.
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| 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.
Originally from Electronic Intifidah
Stop AIPAC! PO BOX 11311 · Berkeley CA · 94712