Appeal to UAW Region 1 Director LaShawn English (via text)
Under the new political realities, UAW must reconsider and divest from Israel Bonds
Dear LaShawn,
I’m sorry that I was unable to attend the UAW Women’s “Virtual Roundtable” this evening. Instead, I attended a meeting with UAW Labor for Palestine which is laser focused on winning the IEB to voting on and passing a resolution for the UAW divesting from Israeli war bonds.
I know that the IEB held an earlier vote on the divestment question, and that you elected to not vote to support it. I am a supporter of divestment because it is evident that Israel has broken international law, and the Biden administration has broken US law in continuing to fund Israel’s military in Gaza and now also Lebanon.
I believe it was very difficult for our Union to endorse Presidential candidate Kamala Harris all the while her administration ignored our appeal for the cease fire, and for an arms embargo. It may be that we did not act forcefully enough and, as a result, many voters who may otherwise have voted for the Democratic candidate may not have voted at all or left the ballot blank.
With Harris’s defeat, we are now in a more difficult position. Trump is making it clear that he will give Prime Minister Netanyahu a green light in his extermination of the Palestinian people. It’s all the more reason that we have to present a much bigger RED light.
This is personal for me. I have family members who were murdered during the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis in Germany during WW2. I know what antisemitism is. The accusation that opposition to the Israeli genocide is motivated by antisemitism is false. There are many Jews in organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace that reject this messaging by Netanyahu and are in complete opposition to the horrific aggression that’s being done in their name.
It’s all the more important that the IEB reconsider the new circumstances, bring the resolution up for another vote before the end of the IEB meeting tomorrow, and vote to divest. I make myself available for helping you build support for this action in Region 1. Thank you for considering my plea. We must stand with the Palestinian and Lebanese people!
Solidarity, Frank
Nov. 13, 2024
