Money for human needs NOT war!
Speech by Christine Hauschildt, member of the Anti-War Committee, on 3/4/2023 at the Stop WW3 – No To Nuclear Holocaust protest in Minneapolis
Hello I’m Christine from the Anti-War Committee.
I’ve been active in the anti-war movement in Minneasota for many years and have found that standing up to imperialism comes in many forms like resisting western propaganda, protesting in the streets, and through BDS – boycott, divest, and sanction. We can make real change here in Minnesota through divestment. Being anti-war involves realizing that in the last several centuries, and especially in the last several decades, war has become a very profitable business. Today we have only a handful of major defense contractors while just 30 years ago we had well over 50. Notably, the state of Minnesota is heavily invested in all of these.
The Anti-War Committee, along with other local coalition members have called for the Minnesota state board of investment to divest our public funds from violence and oppression. The SBI currently manages investments in General Dynamics [$53m], Northrop [$54m] Lockheed [$73m], Raytheon, Elbit [$1.6m], Rheinmetall [$6.4m], Thales [$10m], BAE [$27m], Hanwha [$0.5m], Serco [$1.2] and others.
In addition to our investment in war-profitteering, our state pensions and retirement funds are invested in companies and banks that have a direct hand in the disgusting, violent oppression of Palestinians. Of the billions of dollars that the State Board of Investment manages, $1.6 million is invested in weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems (boo) and another $23 million is invested in Israeli banks. While thinking about this amount of money makes my head spin, it is obvious that we dont need these investments in apartheid to maintain public funds. Why wont the Minnesota SBI divest from Isreal?
Do you want YOUR money to fund the killing of our brothers and sisters in Palestine? I don’t.
Apartheid Israel has sharply increased their level of violence agaisnt Palestinians. According to the UN, 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinian people since 2006, with 231 Palestinians losing their lives to Israeli forces. 2023 is on track to be even more deadly with 62 Palestinians killed so far. Oppression and death are constant threats in occupied Palestine. Here in Minnesota, our investments are complicit in this.
MN taxpayers demand that the State Board of Investment divests from companies that profit from death and destruction, particularly Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Israel is an apartheid state. MN divested from apartheid South Africa in the 1980s and it’s time to do the same with Israel.
Dozens of banks, including Deutsche and HSBC, as well as numerous national & state pension funds have divested from many arm manufacturers in the last few years. The SBI has committed to making changes for other issues like climate, however it takes no public stances on even the most controversial of weapons- like white phosphorus, fully-autonomous weapons, cluster munitions, or even nuclear weapons.
In the past few years we have presented this information to the State Board of Investment at their meetings – the most recent meeting was this past Thursday. They will continue to hear this demand from their constituents until they finally divest and end our complacency in Israeli apartheid and war profiteering.
Join the BDS movement!
#FreePalestine #BDS #BDSMovement