Jewish Voice for Peace-Albuquerque Chapter put up seven billboards yesterday! The group is launching a campaign asking the Albuquerque City Council to issue a proclamation telling Congress to spend federal funding on Albuquerque rather than on Israel’s occupation of Palestine:
Every year, $3 billion of U.S. taxpayer money pays for Israel’s illegal repression of Palestinians through the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Over $9 million of this comes from Albuquerque pockets. This money could be and would be better spent on local health, local jobs, and local police training.
Albuquerque City Council should tell the federal government to stop the aid until Israel abides by international law and to use Albuquerque money to fund Albuquerque’s needs.
In this spirit, we urge the Albuquerque City Council to pass a proclamation calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel until the Occupation ends. We further urge the Albuquerque City Council to call for the money currently being used to oppress Palestinians to be redirected to meet our community’s needs, such as affordable housing, retraining unemployed workers, teaching reading skills to disadvantaged school children, providing basic health care to those without insurance, or pay increases and improved training for our police force.
In conjunction with the campaign launch, JVP-ALB will be hosting a panel discussion event next Thursday, October 17, featuring Sydney Levy, the director of advocacy for JVP nationally, Lora Lucero, a lawyer and human rights activist recently returned from Gaza, and author/activist Iris Keltz.
If you live in Albuquerque or know people who do, check out the JVP petition, and spread the word!
There’s an interactive map available on the internet that allows you to see how much your locality gives Israel and what it could buy to help your locality’s residents rather than Israel’s. This Fund Albuquerque’s Needs project needs to be duplicated across the US in every municipality and/or state.
Here’s the interactive map–check out how much your local community gives to Israel and what it could buy to help you and fellow local residents: http://aidtoisrael.org/section.php?id=379
I don’t know if ABQ is intentionally targeted or not, but it’s a perfect place and timing for these billboards. Half the town must be shut down at the moment with Sandia, Kirtland AFB, and even UNM there. It’s a huge federal town (state actually), and a swing district (if that matters).
Hope these have effect.
I love the message from and for the people of the town. Their constituents message stands in stark opposition to members of Congress plan to enact AIPAC’s latest sanctions against Iran.
i love albuquerque. the activists there totally rock. i attended the sabeel conference in albuquerque last fall and it completely blew me away.
and how many people remember it was albuquerque who put up the first billboards (great fantastic video here ), home to the stop 30 billion.
again, huge huge shoutout to the activists in albuquerque. just blowing me away all over again. i love how you work togther and support each other. thank you thank you thank you for all you do.
you know who you are. i’m so grateful.
and r.i.p. todd, not forgetting u