WATCH: Jennifer Konfrst says Iowa farmers want better markets, not bailouts

Iowa Mennonites and supporters joined nationwide protests calling for Target, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, to publicly oppose the violent actions of ICE and federal agents in Minnesota.

Mennonite Action, a national organization with local chapters in Johnson, Washington, and Iowa counties, has been organizing to call for an end to the military occupation of Palestine. The “Sing Down the Doors at Target” protests were also meant to link “military-style” violence in America and Palestine.

“We are distraught by the hijacking of Christianity to justify hate and division,” Aliese Gingerich of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City said in a press release. “Christian nationalism is not Christlike. It has nothing to do with the teachings and the example of Jesus Christ, who called us to love our neighbor and to care for the vulnerable—from Palestine to Minnesota to Iowa City.”

Iowa Republicans proposed a bill to ban partnerships between public schools and libraries, which have bridged gaps in rural and urban community access to books. President of the Iowa Library Association Brittany Jacobs explained what reopening those gaps would mean for Iowa communities.