Maryland Break the Bonds Campaign

Jan. 14, 2026

The AFSCME Local 3399 Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse the Maryland Break the Bonds campaign led by Jewish Voice for Peace and union members across Maryland. More than 420,000 public employees must contribute some of our wages to the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System where a Board of Trustees led by the state treasurer decides how to invest our retirement money.

The Board has invested more than $73 million in Israeli government bonds that directly fund the Israeli government, which has engaged in genocide and war crimes in Gaza where more than 71,000 innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed.

Israel also is ramping up its apartheid campaign against the Palestinian minority, including ethnic cleansing, theft of land, and imprisonment in Gaza and the West Bank. Nelson Mandela’s grandson recently said the apartheid state in Israel is worse than it was in South Africa in the 1980s. The state of Maryland divested from South Africa then. Why aren’t we divesting from Israel now? Racism and Islamophobia targeting Arab Palestinians shouldn’t be legitimized.

AFSCME Local 3399 calls on the Board of Trustees to divest from all Israeli bonds NOW. So how can you help? Go to the Maryland Break the Bonds website and sign our petition. Encourage more unions and community groups to join the fight. Email State Treasurer Derek Davis at treasurer@treasurer.state.md.us and tell him we won’t give up or give in on this fight for human rights.

In solidarity,

Brendan Smith

AFSCME Local 3399 President