Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace (BACP) held our monthly meeting on Monday, November 1. The meeting took place online via the Zoom website. (BACP plans to hold our monthly meetings online via Zoom until at least April 2022). Judi and Richard Schiller, Isaiah Oleson, and Doug Olson joined the BACP meeting. Meeting participants reviewed the online In Search of Justice for Palestine presentation. The Minnesota Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Community provided the speakers for In Search of Justice for Palestine: Mariam El-Khatib, Karen Schraufnagel, and John Darlington. BACP and Brainerd Lakes Area Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) hosted In Search of Justice for Palestine. In Search of Justice for Palestine took place on Thursday, October 21. A video of In Search of Justice for Palestine can be viewed at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L2mB861itcmEOTO7TCem1GKOZG_sAG7m/view?fbclid=IwAR0pO3xRLXtMHuR0x0Q_M4vSgadUOgpBpijk5LLcu49mZ4kobm6qgQy2_xs 10-21-2021 Brainerd MN.mp4 drive.google.com (There is a short technical glitch from 28:53 to 31:25 of the video during Karen Schraufnagel's presentation. John Darlington began his presentation at 31:25 after the glitch ended. Karen Schraufnagel resumed her presentation at 52:39. The video lasts nearly an hour and a half). Meeting participants agreed In Search of Justice for Palestine provided lots of good information about Israel's apartheid system and the systematic oppression of the Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel. The presenters made a convincing case for supporting the BDS movement, cutting off U.S aid to Israel, and a one state solution based on secularism, equal rights, and democracy. Everyone at the BACP meeting agreed John Darlington, a retired Methodist minister, gave the best presentation for In Search of Justice for Palestine. John Darlington talked about the twisted doctrine of Christian Zionism, the near disappearance of the Palestinian Christian community, and practical ways people can support the BDS movement. Mariam El-Khatib and Karen Schraufnagel also gave excellent presentations for In Search of Justice for Palestine. Mariam El-Khatib addressed the effects of apartheid on Palestinians. (Her family lives in the Occupied West Bank and she has personally experienced the Israeli apartheid system). Karen Schraufnagel talked about the differences between Judaism and Zionism, the history of anti-Semitic support for Zionism, and the pro-apartheid/pro-expulsion of the Palestinians majority in the Israeli Knesset (parliament). The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) isn't as powerful as it used to be. While many members of Congress still receive support from AIPAC, there is a small but growing body of Representatives and Senators opposing Israel's repression of the Palestinians. AIPAC targets these Representatives and Senators for defeat in their re-election bids. AIPAC isn't always successful in helping defeat Representatives and Senators who are critical of Israel. Minnesota Representatives Betty McCollum (4th District) and Ilhan Omar (5th District) have won re-election despite being very critical of Israel. Legislation to repeal Minnesota's anti-BDS laws didn't gain traction in the legislature but given shifting public sentiment in favor of the Palestinian struggle for justice and freedom this legislation will eventually get a serious hearing and possibly pass. A legal challenge to Minnesota's anti-BDS laws would probably succeed because the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in NAACP v. Clairborne Hardware Company (1982) boycotting is a protected form of free speech under the First Amendment. (Courts in other states, including Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas, have ruled against anti-BDS laws on free speech grounds). BACP will make $50 donations each to the Brainerd United Church of Christ (UCC), the Radiothon to End Child Abuse, the Mid-Minnesota Women's Center, and Honor the Earth. Meeting participants expressed interest in Lakes Area Move to Amend (LAMTA) member Jill Hinkemeyer's idea to hold a joint online meeting between LAMTA, BACP, DSA, and Brainerd Lakers United for the Environment (BLUE). The joint online meeting would be held in December or January, depending on which month worked better for the most groups. The meeting would discuss how the groups could get the word out in the Brainerd area community about their work and possibly hold a joint event in 2022. Doug will share Jill's idea with DSA at the DSA online meeting on Tuesday, November 9 and BLUE at the BLUE online meeting on Thursday, November 11. [DSA members enthusiastically approved the idea at the DSA meeting. DSA member Julius Kapushinski would like other organizations, including Brainerd Lakes Pride and the local AFL-CIO, to join the joint online meeting. Jill approved Julius' idea to invite other organizations into the meeting]. Doug shared information about an Armistice Day Walkathon being held on Thursday, November 11. Father Tony Kroll, a longtime peace activist, has held the Armistice Day Walkathon for the last three years. The Armistice Day Walkathon begins at 11 a.m. with a prayer at the shrine of Sister Adelaide Koetter in the cemetery next to Sacred Heart Church in Freeport. Armistice Day Walkathon participants will walk on the Lake Wobegon Trail. The Walkathon will end at the Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany. Walkathon participants are welcome to bring bells to ring along the way. The Armistice Day Walkathon will call for peace and justice. The Walkathon is being held in memory of Sister Adelaide Koetter, murdered by Japanese soldiers in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in March 1943 during World War II, and Father John Kaiser, murdered by a Kenyan death squad in August 2000. (Father Kaiser was a strong proponent of human rights and land reform). For more information about the Armistice Day Walkathon, please contact Father Tony Kroll at Tonykroll@hotmail.com Fellow BACP members Larry Fisk and Gayle Nielsen are in Nicaragua from Saturday, October 30 through Saturday, November 13. They will observe the Nicaraguan Presidential, National Assembly, and Central American Parliament elections held on Sunday, November 7. [Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega won re-election with nearly 76% of the vote]. Doug will ask Larry and Gayle after they return home if they would be interested in giving a presentation on their experiences in Nicaragua. The mainstream U.S. media and government are denouncing the Nicaraguan elections as a "sham" and condemning President Ortega as a "dictator." Though these accusations are baseless, they are the only information about Nicaragua most people receive. If Larry and Gayle gave a presentation, they could refute these allegations. If Larry and Gayle want to give a presentation on Nicargua, it could either be a stand-alone online presentation or part of the December BACP and DSA meetings. BACP may not hold our monthly online meeting on Monday, December 6. In recent years, December has become an optional month for BACP meetings. The meeting will be held if there are pressing peace and justice-related issues to discuss or if Larry and Gayle plan to talk about their Nicaragua trip at the meeting. A decision on whether to hold a BACP monthly meeting in December will be made the week before the meeting. The BACP meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. BACP Meeting Notes Submitted by Doug Olson