NBI 060921 – 04 – Solidarity with the Palestinian People
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Since Israel’s Zionist colonization of Palestine in 1948 that displaced and ethnically cleansed over 750,000 Palestinians, Palestinians have been living under a brutal apartheid occupation and millions more have become refugees exiled from their homeland. Meanwhile, Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid, this year alone receiving $3.8 billion, a total of $147 billion of aid since 1948.
This May, Israeli bombings and airstrikes in Gaza killed over 200 people, including over 60 children, and one of the lead physicians in Gaza responding to the COVID pandemic, and his family. The bombings also injured 1,300 people, while 40,000 Gazans homes were destroyed. Further, Israel’s Zionist settlers continue efforts to forcibly displace over a hundred Palestinian families in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian People by calling for an end to all current and future bombings and the end of the occupation of Palestine by Israel. End U.S. aid to Israel. Endorse the international campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel. End any police exchanges between the Seattle Police Department and the Israeli military and police. Recently, the United Educators of San Francisco and chapter chairs of the United Teachers of Los Angeles passed similar resolutions in solidarity with Palestinians.
- United Educators of San Francisco Resolution in Solidarity with the Palestinian People
- Labor for Palestine
- Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
- End the Deadly Exchange Seattle
- A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution [Human Rights Watch]
- A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid [B’tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories]
COST IMPLICATIONS: $0
STAFF TIME IMPLICATIONS: 60 minutes total
SEA INTERESTS: Increase respect for the profession and public education. Forge partnerships with families, businesses, other unions, and community groups. Solidarity with oppressed and exploited people internationally.
Recommendation: Therefore be it resolved that the Seattle Education Association:
1. Express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for Israel to end all current and future bombings of Gaza and immediately stop forced displacement of Palestinians.
2. Call on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to stop aid to Israel.
3. Endorse and hold SPS accountable to the international campaign for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.
4. Endorse the demand of “End the Deadly Exchange Seattle” for an end to police exchanges between the Seattle Police Department and the Israeli military and police.
5. Call on other unions in the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council to pass the same or a similar resolution in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
6. The SEA leadership will use all the existing means of communication (email, Facebook, texts, and any other social media the union uses) to encourage all SEA members and community allies to learn about these issues and to encourage people in their communities to stand in solidarity with unions and oppressed people in Palestine.
