Two occupations reflect the destructive force of violence - The Timberjay

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Little did I realize when I left the occupied West Bank that I would be returning home to the occupied Twin Cities. Yet, last month I watched a national news report of ICE agents attacking a man at a gas station two miles from my house as I treated a wound on my leg that I had received from an Israeli settler who attacked me while I was providing nonviolent protection for a Palestinian village.

For the past six weeks, I have been joining neighbors to provide protective presence at our local high school, some mornings in -10 degree cold, in the same way that I stood watch in 100-degree heat at the school in the village of Ras al Auja a couple of months ago. Our community collects and delivers groceries to neighbors who fear leaving their homes, similar to how Rabbis for Human Rights collects and delivers food packets to villages under siege in the West Bank. I’ve watched hundreds of videos of Minnesotans being beaten and dragged by ICE and Border Patrol agents in the same way that an Israeli police officer beat my colleague Itzhak (not their real name), an Israeli American, and then arrested and dragged them to a police car. And just like the ICE agents on the streets of my hometown, the settlers often arrived at any time of the day or night in the village where I stayed, donning masks and barging into the homes of the Bedouin shepherds.

I’m tempted to say that violence followed me home, but it was already here lurking in our contentious political discourse, awaiting the cue to thrust its racist fist. White House “Prime Minister” Steven Miller articulated how this monocultural vision of America flows through Athens, Rome, Philadelphia, and Monticello. And he clarified that the real world is governed by force and power (“Inside the White House, Stephen Miller Is Making His Vision of America Real,” Nancy Cook, Bloomberg, Jan. 9, 2026) as illustrated by the Feb. 28 attack on Iran in violation of the U.S. Constitution, UN Charter, and international law. President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Noem have demonstrated that they are willing to defend this world view with violence and lies. Just like the Israeli settlers in the West Bank, ICE is the strike force for this violent racist vision.

It would be easy if the analysis were one-sided, but it is not. Other hateful ideologies are manifested by groups like Hamas who torture and kill Israeli civilians as part of their strategy. They too believe they can enforce their authoritarian will on a broader population through ever escalating lies, propaganda and violence.

Yet, amid the roiling chaos in Minnesota, another way is emerging. We are protecting our neighbors and defending our communities, some of us are well-organized, others spontaneously, in the most multi-layered nonviolent response I have experienced in over fifty years of living here. We are giving rides to workplaces and schools for people who are under threat. Some of us are patrolling the streets of our towns and neighborhoods on the lookout for ICE agents. While others are documenting ICE agents’ activities on video. Tens of thousands are peacefully protesting in subzero weather. Some are singing on street corners. Others are frequenting businesses owned by immigrant neighbors. While still others are pressuring businesses like Target, Enterprise, and Signature Aviation to stop cooperating with ICE and join in the demand for them to leave our state. Many are praying. Others are de-escalating potentially violent situations. Attorneys are representing pro-bono those who have been unlawfully snatched from their homes. While others await those who are released without their personal belongings to give them a ride home. Hundreds of us are vigilling on main streets throughout the state. Thousands of us Minnesotans are working together at this very moment, many of whom have never seen ourselves as activists. We are stronger than we realize! It is critically important that we remain nonviolent. We keep each other safe.

The sum of our activities is having an impact as evidenced by the dramatic reduction of ICE and other federal officers but it is not time to rest. Their work is spreading more to the suburbs and greater Minnesota. President Trump is considering “federalizing” the mid-term elections. No doubt if he tries, ICE will be the enforcers of this unconstitutional foray. And the war on Iran again demonstrates the president’s habitual criminality. Yet, we are showing that we can interrupt the violent narrative coming from the White House. And by meeting brutality with disciplined nonviolence and hundreds of daily acts of community cooperation, we are showing the world what it means to defend democracy.

Mel Duncan, who lives in St. Paul, is the co-founder of the international organization Nonviolent Peaceforce. You can learn more at nonviolentpeaceforce.org