Solidarity is Not Selective

A Speech in Support of UAW Resolution #0236

Co-authored by Raha Rafii, Lee-Sean Huang, and the rest of the Local 7902 delegation

Delivered by Raha Rafii at the 39th UAW Constitutional Convention • Detroit, Michigan • Thursday, June 18, 2026

I rise in support of Resolution #0236, submitted by Local 7902. This is a direct extension of the UAW’s proud legacy of standing for justice.

Yesterday, we rightfully honored Rev. Dr. Jesse Jackson, an embodiment of our core union values. All struggles are intertwined: Jackson stood against segregation at home and apartheid in South Africa, just as the UAW proudly stood against South African apartheid. 

We must make yesterday’s award mean even more by honoring his legacy with actions today, not just words.

In line with these very same values, Jackson spent decades publicly advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people, which the state of Israel violated not only through apartheid but now by genocide. 

These charges are not a matter of subjective opinion or political debate. The International Court of Justice, UN special committees, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, and Israeli human rights groups like B’Tselem have clearly documented these systemic violations by the Israeli state, calling them what they are: apartheid and genocide under the Geneva Conventions.

Local 7902’s resolution is highly targeted, specifically addressing our International union holding Israel Bonds. This is the core issue we are voting on today. In doing so, we are honoring the legacy of our own UAW siblings who came before us.

In November 1973, 2,000 Arab-American autoworkers staged a historic strike at Chrysler’s Dodge Main plant right here in Detroit. They discovered that over $300,000 of their hard-earned dues had been used to buy Israel Bonds, and they refused to let their labor finance occupation.

They marched hand-in-hand with Black revolutionaries from the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, reflecting the exact “Rainbow Coalition” spirit we honored yesterday.

We heard the concerns of our siblings in defense manufacturing. Let me be clear: our siblings’ union jobs are sacred, and we will always protect our members’ livelihoods.

While yesterday’s resolution was broad, Local 7902’s resolution is highly targeted. This resolution does not halt a single production line, cancel a contract, or threaten a single American job. This isn’t about where your paycheck comes from or dividing our UAW family by sector. It’s about where ALL of our dues money goes, and the fact that the International still holds at least $400,000 in Israel Bonds.

Earlier this week, we proudly emphasized the UAW’s commitment to international worker solidarity across borders and languages. Now, we need to put our money where our mouth is.

Divesting means refusing to fund campaigns against Palestinian workers, including hospital, emergency health, agricultural, and sanitation workers whose daily survival and work is nothing short of heroic. We cannot turn away from workers fighting for their families, their communities, and their literal existence.

We cannot celebrate Reverend Jackson’s lifelong fight against apartheid yesterday, and then vote to keep $400,000 in a foreign war chest today.

Some say we should “stay in our lane,” but holding these bonds means we are already in it. Selling them puts our money on the side of peace and serves as an investment in a better future for all workers.

Let us declare loud and proud: an injury to one is an injury to all.

Solidarity is not selective. It is not solidarity sometimes; it is Solidarity Forever. 

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Text of Resolution #0236

Submitted by Local 7902

INITIATION FEES AND DUES

WHEREAS, the billionaire class that profits from war ensures that public money is funneled into militarism rather than the healthcare, housing and education working people need; and

WHEREAS, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 70,000 Palestinians (and as many as 600,000 or more), overwhelmingly working-class people, using U.S. funding and weapons; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. has also launched recent military strikes against Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen killing thousands of working class people worldwide; and

WHEREAS, the Palestinian trade union movement has called on workers across the world to stand in solidarity by refusing all forms of complicity, including the production, transport, and financing of weapons used in the genocide; and

WHEREAS, workers in Belgium, France, Greece, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and beyond have already honored this call by refusing to handle weapons and Israeli-bound cargo, demonstrating the unique power of the working class to halt the machinery of genocide; and

WHEREAS, UAW members in weapons research and manufacturing hold strategic power over military production and must be protected when using it to stop genocide; and

WHEREAS, in 1973, rank-and-file UAW members struck against the UAW’s Israel Bonds; and

WHEREAS, the UAW reportedly holds at least $400,000 in Israel Bonds, contradicting our commitments to peace and working-class solidarity; and

WHEREAS, organizations that promote racial, ethnic, or religious supremacy – such as the Histadrut, Israel’s so-called labor federation – undermine global worker unity by furthering settler colonialism, apartheid, dispossession, and genocide; and

WHEREAS, an injury to Palestine is an injury to all; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Article 7, Section 2 shall be amended by adding: “No UAW funds shall be invested in Israel Bonds.”