The Nakba is the commemmoration of the destruction of 415 Palestinian villages and the creation of almost one million Palestinian refugees in the years between 1947 and 1950. The Nakba day commemmoration is held on the day of Israel's founding.

Since the occupation of Palestine in 1948, the Israeli government has been responsible for countless violations of international human rights. Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands are increasing at alarming rates. If this continues, the Occupied Territories will become more like the Native American reservations than the South African-modeled Bantustans they are today.

The recent Israeli invasion has meant the destruction of entire Palestinian villages. The current atrocity is in the town of Jenin where no one is safe from Israeli terror. Evidence of mass graves and many more people disappeared while the bulldozers continue to raze hundreds of homes. The people of Jenin are being massacred and the international community must speak out.

U.S. tax dollars help to fund the murder of Palestinians. Israel is the biggest recipient of US military aid. Here in the US we gathered to speak out against these atrocities and end the US backing of Israel. It is the only way we can get justice for the people of Jenin.

On Wednesday, MAY 15, 2002, 150 people came to a Minneapolis demonstration where 16 of us committed civil disobedience (CD) to protest U.S. military aid and political support for Israeli war crimes in Jenin and throughout Palestine. 14 people were arrested - with 11 of us spending as much as 10 hours in jail before being released.

We want to thank all of the arrestees, as well as all the supporters and legal protesters who joined us. Especially those who stuck around to greet us (and feed us and give us warm coats) when we were finally released at 4 in the morning!

We started with a regular picket line, then the entire group did a funeral procession that marched by the Federal Building doors, in downtown Minneapolis. 16 of us planted ourselves in front of the doors with coffins, Palestinian flags, signs, bloody sheets, handprints and even shirts. We blocked all the doors for about half an hour, before three of our activists were arrested. Once their door was clear, the police seemed content to leave the rest of us sitting.

So, a couple of the guys went onto the overhang above the doors, to hang banners. We also duct taped banners to the walls of the Federal Building. For almost an our, it looked like _our_ government building. One of banner-hangers was arrested, but the rest of us were left alone. So we started marching again, to the side door where they had done the first round of arrests. They kicked us a little, but didn't remove us. Instead, they cleared our banners... away from the front doors & opened those up.

After not too long, we decided to march together, into the streets. This is about 5:30pm, in downtown Minneapolis rush hour. We proceeded with the coffins and some of our signs, and sat in the middle of a major intersection (3rd Street & 3rd Avenue), and refused to move. 11 of us were arrested almost immediately. We were locked in squad cars and paddy wagons for something like half an hour, until the legal rally seemed to be over. The women rocked the paddy wagon by stomping in rhythm with the chants outside: "The People United Will Never Be Defeated!" and "Justice for Jenin! Freedom for Palestine!"

All of the people committing civil disobedience agreed that this was a very inspiring experience for us, and many of the legal protesters felt the same. We were covered on every TV and Radio news report that night, as well as several the next day. There was a shamefully small (and inaccurate) report in the Star Tribune. Tens of thousands of Minnesotans saw and heard these reports. On top of that, an untold number of commuters saw us - they had know idea what would happen when they decided to take 3rd Street home that day!

As mentioned, 10 of us spent hours and hours in jail, with court appearances next week. Now everyone except the minor who was among us has been through court. A series of legal twitsts & turns - navigated by Jordan Kushner & Ted Dooley, of the National Lawyers Guild - had the following legal outcome: A couple folks had their charges dismissed. The rest of us pled guilty to a petty misdemeanor (which is not a crime, but more like a speeding ticket), and did not have to pay any fines.

Click here for more protest photos.

Anti-War Committee
1313 5th Street SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota
612.379.3899 * info@antiwarcommittee.org

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