Yesterday we followed up tax day demonstrations for defunding Israel's genocide on Palestine with a STOP ARMING GENOCIDE action at Maine's state capitol. A smaller crew than when we staged a similar action February 23 as there were and are numerous actions for Gaza this week all over our sprawling and lightly populated state.
We saw several friendly faces there as citizen lobbyists had turned out for Tribal rights, educator rights, and gun control as the legislative session scrambles to a close today. People let me know afterwards how much they appreciated the chant, "From Wabanakiya to Palestine, occupation is a crime."
A paid lobbyist in a mint green blazer did not appreciate the chant, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
A few of us heard her say "Go f*** yourself" as she passed by. I thought she might be a legislator but, as the bell tolled for those folks to return to chambers and vote, mint green blazer was in the cafeteria across the way. She had removed her name tag by then, wouldn't say who she was, and told some other folks that they should study history. Zionist history, presumably.
I wanted to give her employer some feedback on her interaction with us but a security guard stopped me from asking her name as she exited the building saying that swearing would get me kicked out of the state house (I was quoting her i.e. "You said to me...). Trying to guess what issue she was lobbying for: gun industry? genocide profiteers General Dynamics or Pratt & Whitney? Doubtful, because those lobbyists usually wear expensive suits and shoes that stand out in Maine. I got more of a school administrator vibe, possibly there to lobby against a guaranteed minimum wage for ed techs.
Some of the gun control citizen lobbyists approached our group and expressed admiration for our die-in protesting other kinds of violence that the U.S. supports.
I stopped to speak with educators who were there with my union, the Maine Education Association. I told them I'm a retired teacher and I believe educators haven't been paid because the lion's share of spending year after year is on wars and weaponry. Several of them agreed with that. (Too bad that decades of advocating for the MEA to push back against military spending falls on deaf ears in an organization dominated by the Democratic Party.)
One funny thing that happened is a tv reporter who caught some of our die-in on video wanted to know if any of us were paid to be there. Also, were our expenses covered by our press guy's organization or any other group? Our press guy got a kick out of that and answered "no" to both on our behalf.
Under capitalism, apparently it's hard to understand that people would engage in direct action of their own volition and on their own dime. Case in point about why our group yesterday was so small: most people are at work on Tuesdays at 11am. I'm thankful for our hardy band of retirees and teachers on spring break, and for the work of activists who couldn't be there yesterday but who created this strong handout explaining Maine's role in arming the Gaza genocide.
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