Waging Peace, Pages 48-49

Billboards Urge New Mexicans to End Military Aid to Israel

THE ALBUQUERQUE-BASED Coalition to Stop $30 Billion to Israel has erected a new billboard which urges New Mexicans to “Tell Congress: Spend Our $$ at Home Not on the Israeli Military!” The grassroots coalition of 14 groups from the state’s Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as local veterans and human rights organizations, erected similar billboards in April 2009 which were unilaterally removed by Lamar Outdoor Advertising, a Louisiana-based billboard company. The new billboard is with a different company.

The first billboards (“Stop Killing Children!”) called attention to the 350 children massacred by Israel during its winter 2009 attack on Gaza using sophisticated airplanes and missiles supplied by American taxpayers. After supporters of Israel pressured the local billboard company, the signs were taken down only three weeks into a two-month contract. (See July 2009 Washington Report, p. 62, <www.wrmea.com/archives/July_2009/0907062.html>.)

The war crimes committed by Israel were painstakingly detailed in Judge Richard Goldstone’s report for the U.N. Human Rights Council. While most members of the U.S. House voted—under heavy pressure—to condemn the report, New Mexicans are proud that their Representatives Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan refused to go along with the crowd.

The billboard was funded by donors who believe that American tax dollars are better spent at home. They also want to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people.

“Americans have ideas on how to spend $30 billion dollars. We need to focus on our needs at home,” says Iris Keltz, a retired Albuquerque Public Schools literacy specialist, and founding member of the Arab Jewish Peace Alliance and Another Jewish Voice. “It is immoral to give billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, a country with a booming economy that brags about investment opportunities; a country with nuclear capabilities and the strongest army in the Middle East. Bravo to those who get informed and speak out!”

Organizers hope that similar billboards will be put up elsewhere, and encourage interested readers to contact them for advice at <www.stop30billion.com>. So far there is interest in a half-dozen communities, with organizing efforts underway in Seattle and San Francisco. Help keep the billboard up by sending a donation to: Coalition to Stop 30 Billion, P.O. Box 10856, Albuquerque, NM 87184. For more information visit: <www.stop30billion.com>.

—Delinda C. Hanley