We are rank-and-file UTLA members, educators, and community members speaking up in solidarity with Palestine, and we will continue to advocate for a world where peace and justice prevail. 🍉✊🇵🇸
The full letter with links to sources can be viewed at: bit.ly/ed4palestineLA:
We are rank-and-file UTLA members, educators, and community members speaking up in solidarity with Palestine. We are writing in response to a public letter and petition sent to UTLA by the “Antisemitism Roundtable,” a handful of organizations which include the ADL, Stand With Us, and other organizations which target educators, malign social justice movements, and falsely conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
The letter expresses concern over a position adopted by the UTLA’s House of Representatives on the Israeli genocide in Gaza, stitching together various allegations and accusations—few of which truly honor the voices of public school teachers, their union, or democratic principles.
What does the conflict between Israel and Palestine have to do with a teachers’ union? The LAUSD Strategic Plan calls on us to graduate students “Ready for the World,” a world that cannot erase or ignore the history or oppression of the Palestinian people. We stand firmly behind Liberated Ethnic Studies — a model curriculum that has come under intense scrutiny and legal and legislative attacks due to the inclusion of Arab American Studies and the history of Israel and Palestine.
UTLA’s Constitution calls on us to “engage in legislative, political and educational activities which further, directly or indirectly, the interests of the membership of UTLA.” As educators in a nation where the military funding is ten times that of federal education spending, we are directly impacted by the scarcity resulting from American involvement in foreign wars. “A War Budget Leaves Every Child Behind,” reads a t-shirt designed by the UTLA Human Rights Committee, and it is this message that we stand behind.
Our union functions through democratic processes. All members have the opportunity to bring motions or become representatives. The resolution in question was authored by a coalition of UTLA members, including Jewish and Middle Eastern educators. Their reasons for bringing this issue to the union are clearly stated in the motion: “It is our duty as educators to speak up for the protection of education and all young people and their families, especially when it is our tax dollars fueling this destruction and our government providing the arms. Furthermore, this directly affects our members; many UTLA rank and file have loved ones who have lost their lives or livelihoods due to this conflict.”
According to polls from March, less than half of the U.S. voting population approves of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and more than half support halting weapons shipments to Israel. The National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, our national affiliates, have both called for a ceasefire. Jewish educators in UTLA write eloquently and courageously in support of Palestine, noting that “Our Jewish values require that we demand our institutions and communities declare support for a cease-fire in Gaza.” It should be no wonder that UTLA has brought forward ceasefire and arms embargo resolutions, or that educators support these calls to stop the carnage.
To those who post photos of educators online for the purposes of inciting harassment, utilize the anti-union Freedom Foundation to deceptively claim they cannot opt-out of paying dues, or bring slipshod lawsuits to the union and our district: Stop trying to silence our voices, and remember that equity, collaboration, and excellence make us “Ready for the World.” To all of our students and families — Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Jewish, Arab, and every other identity that makes up our classroom and our district: We will continue to advocate for a world where peace and justice prevail.
