Category Archives: LFP Statements

Stand With Palestinian Workers: Cease the Genocide Now—Stop Arming Israel!

PLEASE SIGN AND FORWARD WIDELY!
To endorse the following statement please click here.
The list of signers will be updated periodically

Contact: info@laborforpalestine.net
Website: laborforpalestine.net

Stand With Palestinian Workers:
Cease the Genocide NowStop Arming Israel!
Labor for Palestine, October 24, 2023

“We need you to take immediate action—wherever you are in the world—to prevent the arming of the Israeli state and the companies involved in the infrastructure of the blockade.” An Urgent Call from Palestinian Trade Unions: End all Complicity, Stop Arming Israel (October 16, 2023)

The undersigned U.S. workers, trade unionists, and anti-apartheid activists join labor around the world in condemning the Israeli siege on Gaza and sharply escalating settler colonial violence in the West Bank that has killed or maimed thousands of Palestinians—many of them children—and stand with Palestinians’ “right to exist, resist, return, and self-determination.”

The latest Israeli attacks reflect more than a century of ongoing Zionist settler-colonialism, dispossession, ethnic cleansing, racism, genocide, and apartheid—including Israel’s establishment through the uprooting and displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1948 Nakba. Indeed, eighty percent of the 2.3 million people in Gaza are refugees from other parts of historic Palestine.

Israel’s crimes are only possible because of more than $3.8 billion a year (or $10+ million per day) in bipartisan US military aid that gives Israel the guns, bullets, tanks, ships, jet fighters, missiles, helicopters, white phosphorus and other weapons to kill and maim the Palestinian people. This is the same system of racist state violence that, through shared surveillance technology and police exchange programs, brutalizes BIPOC and working class people in the United States and around the world.

In response, we demand an immediate end to the genocide, and embrace the recent Urgent Call from Palestinian Trade Unions: End all Complicity, Stop Arming Israel:

  1. To refuse to build weapons destined for Israel. 
  2. To refuse to transport weapons to Israel. 
  3. To pass motions in their trade union to this effect. 
  4. To take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, especially if they have contracts with your institution. 
  5. Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the U.S., funding to it.

We further reaffirm the call on labor bodies to respect previous Palestinian trade union appeals for solidarity by adopting this statement, and/or the model resolution below to divest from Israel Bonds, sever all ties with the Israel’s racist labor federation, the Histadrut, and its US mouthpiece, the Jewish Labor Committee, and respect the Palestinian picket line for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which calls not only for an end to the 1967 Israeli occupation, but an end to Israeli occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall, full equality for Arab-Palestinians inside 1948 Palestine (“Israel”), and implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return.. 

Initial Signers on behalf of Labor for Palestine
(organizational affiliations listed for identification only)
Suzanne Adely, Labor for Palestine, US Palestinian Community Network, Arab Workers Resource Center; Food Chain Workers Alliance (staff); President, National Lawyers Guild
Monadel Herzallah, Arab American Union Members Council
Ruth Jennison, Department Rep., Massachusetts Society of Professors, MTA, NEA; Co-Chair, Labor Standing Committee River Valley DSA; Delegate to Western Mass Area Labor Federation
Lara Kiswani, Executive Director, Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC); Block the Boat
Michael Letwin, Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325; Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Corinna Mullin, PSC-CUNY International Committee; CUNY for Palestine
Clarence Thomas, Co-Chair, Million Worker March; Executive Board, ILWU Local 10 (retired)


Rising Unequivocal U.S. Labor Solidarity With Palestine
Oct. 27, 2023: APWU Pres. Stands Up for Palestine v. AFL-CIO EB: “Mark Dimondstein, the president of the postal union, argued that Israel and the Palestinian territories should be combined into a single state. He called for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. to demand a cease-fire.”

Oct. 27, 2023: UAW BDS Sign-On Letter: “We, rank-and-file members of the UAW and allied community members/organizations, stand unequivocally in solidarity with Palestinians and their resistance against the occupying Zionist state.”

Oct.25, 2023: Natl. Domestic Alliance Workers Staff Union Solidarity With Palestine: “The National Domestic Alliance Workers Staff Union and allied non-union staff stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and against apartheid.”

Oct. 23, 2023: Petition: NOLSW Must Demand a Ceasefire & an End to the  Occupation of Palestine: “We need as many signatures from NOLSW members as well as unit endorsements as we can get before this upcoming Monday to demonstrate that the NOLSW rank-and-file stands firmly in solidarity with the Palestinian people and will by while Israel continues to commit genocide in Gaza. Free Palestine.”

Oct. 20, 2023: The Bronx Defenders Union-UAW Local 2325 Support of Palestinians: “We do not consent to Israel’s genocidal rhetoric and actions against the Palestinian people and we do not consent to U.S. political support for this genocide.”

Oct. 20, 2023: Starbucks Workers United stands with Palestine: “We condemn the occupation, displacement, state violence, apartheid, and threats of genocide Palestinians face.”

Oct. 19, 2023: Make the Road Union UAW Local 2320 staff: We Stand With Palestine: “Ceasefire now. End US tax dollars used to fund apartheid. Stop the genocide.”

Oct. 16: 2023: U.K. Trade unionists must stand with Palestine: “We urge all trade unions to stand with the Palestinian people in Gaza and beyond.”

Oct. 10, 2023: Amazon and Google Workers with No Tech For Apartheid: “We stand in full solidarity with the Palestinian people as they resist 75 years of occupation and in their fight for life and liberation.”

Oct. 9, 2023: GSOC-UAW 2110 A response to Linda G. Mills’ statement on Israel: “GSOC stands in solidarity with Palestinians fighting to free themselves from Israeli occupation.”

July 22, 2022: UAW 2325 (Association of Legal Aid Attorneys) Votes to Divest From Israel Bonds: “ALAA 2325 supports taking action, both as individual members and as a chapter collectively, in support of Palestinian liberation from Israeli apartheid.”

May 15, 2021: Labor for Palestine: U.S. Labor Must Stand With Palestine!: “An injury to one is an injury to all: From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!”

Background and Context 

Bottom-Up Labor Solidarity for Palestine Is Growing: “While still at the margins, this unprecedented and rapidly-expanding worker-based Palestine solidarity has the potential to finally break Zionism’s century-long stranglehold on U.S. labor, and to organize workers’ unparalleled power—in their labor bodies and at the workplace—to help topple apartheid Israel.”

Labor for Palestine: Challenging US Labor Zionism (American Quarterly): “Zionism has long been the default position in US labor. However, there has been another, hidden tradition of postwar labor anti-Zionism that began with Detroit in 1969–73 and has slowly re-emerged after September 11, 2011, from the antiwar, Palestine solidarity, and racial justice movements.”

Labor Zionism and the Histadrut: The Histadrut has used its image as a “progressive” institution to spearhead — and whitewash — racism, apartheid, dispossession and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians since the 1920s. In this, it has been the cornerstone of Labor Zionism, which began in the early 1900s.”

The Jewish Labor Committee and Apartheid Israel: “The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) presents itself as a model of progressive, socially conscious trade unionism. But as a U.S. mouthpiece for the Histadrut, this false image has been a smokescreen to disguise and promote Apartheid Israel, “AFL-CIA” support of U.S. war and empire, and racism in the labor movement.”

Additional trade union signers (list in formation; *denotes organizational endorsements; other affiliations listed for identification only)

  1. Tamar S., UAW Local 7902
  2. Charles G., UAW Local 7902
  3. Dana Kopel, UAW Local 2865
  4. Martha Grevatt, UAW Local 869
  5. Pooja Patel, UAW Local 2325
  6. Saurav Sarkar, National Writers Union; Freelance Solidarity Project, South Asia Labor Watch
  7. Lucy Herschel, Delegate, 1199SEIU UHE
  8. Darrin Hoop, Building rep, Seattle Education Association/Renton Education Association
  9. Francis Cook, Delegate, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  10. Heike Schotten, Faculty Staff Union at UMass Boston; *US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism
  11. Mohammad Jehad Ahmad, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  12. Frank Hammer, UAW-GM International Representative, retired
  13. John King, Joint Council, ACT-UAW Local 7902
  14. David Letwin, Executive Board, Rutgers PTLFC-AAUP-AFT 6324
  15. Mindy Isser, CWA Local 1180
  16. Michael Dunn, CTA, SMUHSDTA
  17. Jeff Schuhrke, UUP-AFT 2190
  18. Phil Gasper, AFT Local 243
  19. Selma Oprašič, UAW Local 2325
  20. Zachory Nowosadzki, UAW Local 2325
  21. Shanaz Chowdhury, UAW Local 2325
  22. Ashley Johnson, UAW Local 2325
  23. Miria Riaz, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  24. Meaghan Whyte, LSSA UAW Local 2320
  25. Susan Stout, Unifor 2002, Canada
  26. Brian Ford, NEA/NJEA/Montclair Education Association; DSA Palestine Solidarity Working Group
  27. Jan Clausen, UAW Local 7902
  28. Sarah Chaudhry, Vice President, UAW Local 2325
  29. Liz Schalet, UAW Local 2325
  30. David Kaib, Union representative, AU Staff Union, SEIU Local 500
  31. Jesse Connor, Chicago Teachers Union (AFT Local 1); Steering Committee, 33rd Ward Working Families (Chicago)
  32. Shubhendu Sen, National Secretary, *All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU)
  33. Judi Cheng, Chapter Leader, AFT Local 2 (UFT); Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE Caucus) UFT
  34. Roy Zuniga, Steward, IBEW 77
  35. Wayne Heimbach, Union Representative (retired), SEIU 46/73; Labor Beat/Labor Express
  36. Hoang Phan, Massachusetts Society of Professors, MTA, NEA
  37. Justine Medina, Organizing Committee, Amazon Labor Union; CPUSA Labor Commission
  38. Haley Pessin, Delegate, 1199SEIU UHE
  39. Tessa Mitterhoff, Bargaining Committee, OPEIU Local 277; Austin DSA
  40. Eric Robson, AFSCME Local 171
  41. Tanya Akel, Field Director, Teamsters 2010; AFT
  42. Peter Allen-Lamphere, Delegate, AFT Local 2 (UFT); Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE Caucus) UFT
  43. Malik Callender, UAW Local 2325
  44. Joshua Carrin, UAW Local 2325
  45. Emma Klein, Seattle Education Assn.
  46. Jacob Sloan, SEIU Local 500
  47. Ryan Kelly, National Writers Union
  48. Mark D. Stansbery, Board member, CWA 4502; *Community Organizing Center, Columbus OH
  49. Jeffrey Burnett, Graduate Employees Union Local 6196, AFT-MI, AFL-CIO
  50. Marcy Winograd, UTLA & CTA (LAUSD); Coordinator, CODEPINK Congress; Coordinator, *Central Coast Antiwar Coalition
  51. Mimi Rosenberg, UAW Local 2325; *Equal Rights & Justice & Building Bridges productions
  52. Alex Nissen, Australian Services Union
  53. Gary Holloway, Field Director, USW Local 675; Delegate, LA County Federation of Labor
  54. Rachel Holtzman, Equal Justice Works Fellow; A Better NYLAG, ALAA, UAW Local 2325
  55. Mik Kinkead, UAW Local 2325
  56. Zachary Valdez, Steward, UAW Local 2110
  57. Arun Gupta, National Writers Union
  58. Jeremy Montano, UAW Local 2325
  59. Vish Soroushian, NOLSW, UAW Local 2320
  60. Peter Kuttner, IATSE Local 600
  61. Len Cooper, CWA (retired)
  62. Helen Dickson, Unite 567 Community branch; Liverpool Friends of Palestine
  63. Victoria Cuckson, NEC, PCS union (Liverpool)
  64. Mary Whitby, Unite Community section of Unite The Union NW11/500 (West Lancashire UK)
  65. Sherry Wolf, CWA 1032; Tempest Collective
  66. Audrey White, Unite 567, Executive member Liverpool Trades Council
  67. Rhona O’Brien, Unite Community (Castle Douglas, Scotland)
  68. Jane Rubio, Chapter leader, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  69. Steve Terry, UAW Local 2325
  70. Terry Teague, Secretary, Former Liverpool Dockworkers
  71. Rebecca Kurti, 1199SEIU UHE
  72. Ilona Nanay, Executive Board, AFT Local 2 (UFT); Steering Committee, Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE Caucus) UFT
  73. Ted McTaggart, Treasurer, Michigan Nurses Association
  74. Hank K., MEA; IWW
  75. Hans-Peter Kohnke, former Shop Steward (retired), Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 626
  76. Charlie Dibe, DGA
  77. Debra Bergen, PSC/CUNY, AFT Local 2334, NYSUT (retired)
  78. Denise Hammond, ETFO Staff Association Toronto
  79. Nancy Snyder, Recording Secretary Emeritus, SEIU Local 1021 
  80. Steve Demarest, UAW Local 2325
  81. Bruce Wolf, Industrial Workers of the World 650; Lifetime member OPEIU Local 2, AFL-CIO; *Socialism is Better Collective
  82. Melanie Barron, CWA Staff Union
  83. Terri Ginsberg, PSC/CUNY, Local 2334, NYSUT
  84. Daniel Cione, UAW Local 2325
  85. Tyler Daguerre, SBWU
  86. Gordon Beeferman, Steward, Joint Councilmember, ACT-UAW 7902
  87. Herman Rosenfeld, Retired member and National Staffperson, Unifor Local 303 Toronto
  88. Janette Corcelius, OPEIU Local 12
  89. Alan Stolzer, Bakers Local 3 (retired)
  90. Yosmin Badie, UAW Local 2325
  91. Helen C. Scott, United Academics: AFT/AAUP U. Vermont; Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series
  92. Ron Jacobs, Retired President, AFSCME 1343
  93. Jane Guskin, Delegate, Professional Staff Congress (PSC), Queens College Chapter; CUNY for Palestine
  94. Sam Nelson, OPEIU Local 2
  95. Claire Glass, UAW Local 2325
  96. Snehal Shingavi, TSEU/CWA LOCAL 6186
  97. Upasna Saha, UAW Local 2325
  98. Alexi Shalom, UAW Local 2325
  99. Denise Kellahan, Unifor Vancouver
  100. Calypso Taylor, Delegate, UAW Local 2325
  101. Kevin Moloney, Cupe 3903 Toronto
  102. Naomi Schachter, UAW Local 2325
  103. Dina Ginzburg, UAW Local 2325
  104. Marc Rodrigues, WBNG-TNG CWA Local 32035
  105. Gabriella Ferrara, UAW Local 2325
  106. Dod McColgan, AFSCME Local 1215; Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
  107. Nantina Vgontzas, PSC/CUNY, Local 2334, NYSUT
  108. Sandra Gresl, LSSA UAW Local 2320
  109. Samantha Rudelich, UAW Local 2325
  110. Cliff Willmeng, Minnesota Nurses Association
  111. Rachel Hoerger, former steward and exec. Board, BALAW-NOLSW UAW Local 2320
  112. Caitriona Fox, Delegate, UAW Local 2325
  113. Eric Maroney, Steward, AFT Local 1942; Tempest Collective
  114. Mahim Lakhani, IBEW Local 77
  115. Elizabeth Milos, UPTE-CWA 9119; Labor Education Project on AFL-CIO International Operations (LEPAIO)
  116. Muhammad Yousuf, Former Unit Chair, UAW Local 2865
  117. Eric Brooks, UAW Local 1281; CPUSA
  118. Juan Diego Lopez Javier, SEIU-USWW
  119. Tina Anderson, 25-year Staff Representative, British Columbia Teachers’ Federation 
  120. Brian Allen, Staff organizer, UAW Local 7902
  121. Carol Lang, Delegate, PSC/CUNY, Local 2334, NYSUT; *United Front Committee for a Labor Party
  122. Mike Hickey, Former President, Vice President, Charter Member (retired); AFT Local 6538; DSA, EWOK
  123. Barbara Phinney, AFGE Local 3197 (retired); Delegate MLK County Labor Council (MLK Labor)
  124. Gabriel Kahn, Site representative, Oakland Education Association
  125. Paul Antony-Levine, Steward, California Teachers Association-Oakland Educators Association
  126. Hayley Craig, Delegate, UAW
  127. Saulo Colón, Vice President, 4Cs (SEIU 1973)
  128. Larry French, Retired OSSTF-FEESO professional staff, Active Retired Member D12 OSSTF-FEESO Toronto
  129. Michael Novick, former steward, former House of Reps member, United Teachers Los Angeles AFT-CFT NEA-CTA; Interfaith Communities United for Justice & Peace, IfNotNow Los Angeles
  130. Camila Morales-Jimenez, Representative, Oakland Education Association
  131. Modesta Toribio, UAW Local 2320
  132. Tiana Reid, National Writers Union/Freelance Solidarity Project, York University Faculty Association
  133. Mel Bienenfeld, New York State United Teachers (retired)
  134. Christina Corcoran, UAW Local 2325
  135. Alexandra Smith, UAW Local 2325
  136. Anna Meléndez-Franco, UAW Local 2325
  137. Navruz Baum, UAW Local 2325
  138. Ramzi Babouder-Matta, Former member, CWA 1180
  139. Shahreen Karim, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  140. Lily Stadler, UAW Local 2325
  141. Jonathan McCoy, UAW Local 2325
  142. Greg Dropkin, Unison Mersey Community Hospitals and Health (retired)
  143. Elizabeth Glasson, Health Service Union, Australia (retired)
  144. Gordon Flett, IWW (retired)
  145. Bruno Di Biase, FILEF, *Federation of Italian Migrant Workers and Families (retired)
  146. Dan Maitland, Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (retired)
  147. Ferdinand Cesarano, 1199SEIU UHE
  148. Nancy Holmstrom, Rutgers University, AFT (retired)
  149. John Lamb, Boulder Valley Education Association/National Education Association (retired)
  150. Gerry Scoppettuoio, Organizer, *Pride at Work/Eastern Massachusetts
  151. Ann Rogers, Missouri Education Association (retired)
  152. Judith Ackerman, AFT Local 2 (UFT) (retired)
  153. Julius Sjödin, Local Youth Committee, Hotel and Restaurant Union, Local 2 (Sweden)
  154. Ely Hibdon, National Writers Union/FSP
  155. Patrick Driscoll, Former Grievance Chair, USW 1299 (retired)
  156. Cliff Smith, Business Manager, *United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36
  157. Chris P., Steward, Teamsters Local 856
  158. Nancy Alkhouri, *PFA-Parkrose Faculty Association
  159. Emma Roth, Steward, UAW Local 2324, Boston University staff
  160. Anila Gill, Organizer, UAW
  161. Sophia Gurulé, UAW Local 2325; Critical Resistance
  162. Marie Buck, UAW Local 7902
  163. Aaron Posner, UAW Local 7902
  164. Emma Rohan, AFT Local 2 (UFT); Left Voice
  165. Jessica Coffrin-St. Julien, Shop Delegate, UAW Local 2325
  166. Eddie Asher, University of Colorado Workers Unities
  167. Syeda Malliha, UAW Local 2325
  168. Karin Baker, Membership Chair, APEA/MTA/NEA
  169. Jey Iyadurai, Steward, CUPW 626 Toronto
  170. Serene Khoury, Oakland Education Association
  171. Bill Breihan, Former President, United Steelworkers Local 1343
  172. Judith Wraight, Former Tool & Die Exec. Bd., UAW Local 600 (retired)
  173. Howie Hawkins, Teamsters Local 317 (retired)
  174. Isaac Stokka, Unit Chair, National Organization of Legal Services Workers (NOLSW), UAW Local 2320
  175. Dave P., UAW Local 2110
  176. Atusa Mozaffari, UAW Local 2325
  177. Dayne Goodwin, AFSCME Local 1004 (retired)
  178. Sophie Cohen, Delegate, UAW Local 2325
  179. Cameron Harrison, Steward, UFCW 876; CPUSA Labor Commission
  180. Susan Moir, Massachusetts Teachers Association
  181. David Hill, Vice President, National Writers Union
  182. Hannah Fleury, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  183. Cherrene Horazuk, President, AFSCME 3800
  184. Bill Aiman, Teamsters Local 728
  185. Jacob Flom, President, AFSCME Local 526; Milwaukee Area Labor Council
  186. Corrina Hildreth, Unite Here 8
  187. Kobi Guillory, Chicago Teachers Union (AFT Local 1)
  188. Lavanya Nott, Department Steward, UAW Local 2865
  189. Anthony Berg, Stringer, IATSE Local 18
  190. Eric Espinosa, Steward, OEA-CTA
  191. Eric Salminen, SEIU Healthcare MN & IA
  192. Sid Shniad, Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union Local 4; Research Director, Telecommunications Workers Union (retired)
  193. Savannah Kuang, IFPTE Local 20; DSA San Francisco; DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group
  194. Scott Durbin, IBEW Local 666
  195. Sonia Roubini, Bargaining Committee, UAW Local 2325
  196. Stuart Chen-Hayes, Delegate, PSC-CUNY (Lehman College chapter)
  197. Ben Calegari, Bargaining Committee, OPEIU Local 1010
  198. Merrill O’Donnell, Advocate, Teamsters Local 213
  199. Promise Li, SEIU Local 721
  200. Piper Hogan, Chapter Vice President, WFNHP 5000; Delegate to Milwaukee Area Labor Council
  201. Beck Kaster, Teamsters Local 1038; Detroit Union Education League
  202. Noelle Belanger, *Graduate Employees Organizing Committee AFT Local 6123
  203. Dianne Feeley, UAW Local 22 (retired), Coalition of Labor Union Women
  204. Joe Iosbaker, Former Executive Board and Chief Steward (retired); Co-chair, *Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression Labor Committee
  205. Robert Gallagher, CWA Local 7065
  206. Olivia Udovic, 1st Vice President, Oakland Education Association
  207. Clare Green, Oakland Education Association
  208. Terry Fitzgibbons, Building Association Rep, New Jersey Education Association/Education Association of Passaic; Veterans for Peace; North NJ DSA
  209. Katherine Draken, Steward, Teamsters Local 455; Freedom Road Socialist Organization
  210. Chai Montgomery, Steward, Transport Workers Union Local 171
  211. Paul KD, Steward, UFCW Local 663
  212. Rory Donovan, Steward, Teamsters Local 344
  213. Shane Clune, Teamsters Local 638
  214. Maga Miranda, UAW Local 2865
  215. Atlas Long, Starbucks Workers United
  216. Dante Strobino, International Representative, UE; Coordinating Committee of the Southern Workers Assembly; Coordinating Committee of Durham Workers Assembly; Steering Committee of NC People’s Power Coalition
  217. Elizabeth Lalasz, Steward and Professional Practice Committee (PPC), CNA/NNOC-National Nurses United (NNU); Tempest Collective Labor Committee
  218. Chris LaValla, SEIU Local 26; IWW North Star GMB; Twin Cities DSA
  219. Kaden Bieger, SEIU Healthcare MN & IA
  220. Rajan Nayar, Executive Board, AFSCME Local 668
  221. Nuala Cacek, Teamsters Local 638; MN Workers United
  222. Cindy Skelton, San Mateo Union High School District Teachers Association
  223. Heather Mawson, AAUP-AFT Local 6075
  224. Ryan Hamann, Vice President of bargaining unit, Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5000; Young Workers Committee of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council
  225. Jacqueline Braslow, UAW Local 2325
  226. Nayeli Maxson Velazquez, Bay Area Legal Aid Workers, National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320
  227. Stephanie Murphy, SMUHSDTA
  228. Rachel Bergman, GLU-UE 1105 at UMN
  229. Hakan Yilmaz, PSC/CUNY, AFT Local 2334
  230. Eugene E Ruyle, California Faculty Association (retired)
  231. Albert Sargis, Steward, UAW Local 2324
  232. Roan Wade, Secretary, Student Workers Collective at Dartmouth (SWCD); Hub Coordinator of *Sunrise Dartmouth, writer for Spare Rib, member of the Palestine Solidarity Coalition at Dartmouth (PSC)
  233. Baz Caplan, UFCW 663
  234. Justin Steenbergh, Vice President, IBEW Local 58
  235. Kip Hedges, International Association of Machinists (retired)
  236. Kasey Copeland, Starbucks Workers United
  237. Sean McChesney, Steward, CWA Local 7200; DSA Young Workers Caucus
  238. Danny Sommers, IBEW Local 58
  239. Frank Scarsella, USW Local 2632
  240. Jonah Inserra, Steward, GSOC UAW Local 2110
  241. Emily Li, ACT-UAW Local 7902
  242. Claire Gavin, UAW Local 2325
  243. Sheen Kim, Stanford Graduate Workers Union; Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth formerly
  244. Janet Kobren, AFT Local 2 (UFT) (retired)
  245. Ron Lare, Former Exec. Board Member, UAW Local 600
  246. Nataly Reed, United Campus Workers Arizona-CWA 7065
  247. Georgia Wever, former delegate, AFSCME DC37 SSEU Local 3719; Labor for Bernie; Peace Action NY; CCDS; JVPeace
  248. Ying-Ying Ma, UAW Local 2325
  249. Joe Jamison, TWU Local 100 (retired)
  250. Ary Smith, UAW Local 2320
  251. Tova Fry, UAW Local 412 (retired)
  252. Shelley Ettinger, AFT Local 3882 (retired)
  253. Michael Sasson, Former President, Coalition of University Employees (CUE) Local 3
  254. Beth Angel, UAW Local 2320 (retired)
  255. Gant Roberson, ACT-UAW local 7902
  256. Irving Bedoya, Hotel Trades Council NYC Local 6
  257. Gami Ray, Steward, SEIU 32BJ 320
  258. Eislyn Wolf-Noyes, SMUHSDTA
  259. Daniel McAllister, Steward, NCFO/32 BJ, SEIU Ch. 320
  260. Kacie Hill, California Teachers Association
  261. Beck Kaster, Teamsters Local 1038; Detroit Union Education League
  262. Jason Flynn, Teamsters Local 705
  263. Stuart Attick, RMT (retired), Liverpool
  264. Sam Heyne, Organizer, OPEIU Local 153; IWW 
  265. Jen Nelson, Unite Here Local 23
  266. Alex Schmaus, Union Building Representative, Assembly Delegate, and Executive Board, United Educators of San Francisco, AFT/CFT Local 61, AFL-CIO, NEA/CTA
  267. Addi Atkins, Steward, SEIU 32BJ Chapter 320
  268. Daniel Ashworth, UAW Local 2325 (retired)
  269. LB Benson, IBEW 292
  270. Julia Geiger, UAW Local 2325
  271. Danielle Troumouliaris, UAW Local 2325
  272. Miranda Carr, Central States Carpenters Union Local 322
  273. Farhana Pathan, UAW Local 2325
  274. Ryder Littlejohn, Alt. Health and Safety Rep, UAW Local 897
  275. Brett Anton, Progressive Workers Union; Colorado Young Workers Table; Colorado Sierra Club; 350.org
  276. Sonia Bassey, Unison, Liverpool
  277. Quinn Ráo, Organizer, UFCW 3000
  278. Ivan Pantoja, UAW local 2325
  279. Kel Smith, CWA Local 7250; Campaign organizer, AFA-CWA
  280. Andrew Shapiro, Steward, PSC/CUNY AFT Local 2334, NYSUT; CUNY for Palestine; Jewish Voice for Peace
  281. John Cuvillier, Vice President, Restaurant Workers United; Organizer, UNITE HERE Local 23; Austin DSA Labor Chair
  282. Gage Lacharite, Teamsters 79
  283. Leah Meltzer, President, *Restaurant Workers United; Austin DSA
  284. Josiah Nisly, UE 1105
  285. Richard Berg, Charter School Division Coordinator, Chicago Teachers Union AFT Local 1; Chicago Federation of Labor Delegate
  286. Alec Story, Steward, CWA Local 9009
  287. Claudia Moreno, Delegate, Chicago Teachers Union AFT Local 1
  288. Rose Taylor, Chicago Teachers Union AFT Local 
  289. Cheyne Anderson, Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009
  290. Richard Blake, Teamsters Local 512
  291. Alaysha Sisson, AFSCME Council 18
  292. Alex Hong, Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009
  293. Debby Pope, Retiree Delegate, Chicago Teachers Union AFT Local 1; VP, Illinois Labor History Society
  294. Jisoo Kim, Treasurer, CWA 7065
  295. Ayesha Qazi-Lampert, Delegate, Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1
  296. Emma Riese, AFSCME Local 2822
  297. Brian Lampert, Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1
  298. Clark Peters, 1199NE/SEIU (retired)
  299. Erin A. Lynch, Delegate, Trustee, Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1
  300. Lisa Savage, NEA/Maine Education Association (retired)
  301. David A. Love, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
  302. Anju Alexander, UAW Local 2325
  303. Brenden Ross, LSSA UAW Local 2320
  304. Kirstin Roberts, Executive Board Member, Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1
  305. Antonia House, Steward, UAW Local 2320
  306. Revmira, SBWU Minnesota; Twin Cities DSA Labor Branch Co-Chair
  307. LéTania Severe, IAFF local 726
  308. Colin Kent-Daggett, TakeRoot Union, NOLSW/UAW Local 2320
  309. Nora Searle, UAW Local 2325
  310. Helen Campbell, Organizing Committee, Nationalities Service Center Staff Union, UAW Local 2320 NOLSW
  311. Siobhan Moore, Teamsters Local 638
  312. Anna Lane,  Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1
  313. Kaman Siranouche, ASSO 31, Toulouse, France
  314. Zoey Niebuhr, Delegate , Teamsters Local 391; NC AFL-CIO Triangle Labor Council Delegate
  315. Brianda Guzman , Delegate, 1199SEIU UHE
  316. Peter Gaughan, Regional Organizer, UAW Local 2320
  317. Dylan Villalon, Steward, MOVE Texas United Local 277; Party for Socialist Liberation
  318. Sarah Hasan, OPEIU Local 2
  319. Rurik Asher Baumrin, UAW Local 2325; NYC-DSA
  320. Ella Nalepka, UAW Local 2325
  321. LJ Jaffee, External Organizer, SEIU Local 200
  322. Lisa R. Edwards, UAW Local 2325
  323. Paula Garcia-Salazar, UAW Local 2325
  324. Nastaran Mohit, Organizing Director, NewsGuild of New York, CWA Local 31003; US Labor Against Racism and War
  325. Danielle Gerena, Oakland Education Association, California Teachers Association
  326. Jacqueline Littleton, Steward and Lead Organizer, PNWSU Working Washington/Fair Work Center Chapter
  327. Daniela Robles, UAW Local 2325
  328. Gregory Mateo, NTEU Local 273
  329. Zain Majeed, NTEU Local 273
  330. Paige Demasi, IATSE Local 15
  331. Justin Hutchinson, Union staff, SEIU 775
  332. Randall Schaefer, UAW Local 2325
  333. Jadyn Harter, CNA
  334. Johnny, IWW
  335. Ian Petty, Formerly/Future MTA
  336. Leah Duncan, A Better NYLAG Executive Board, VP of Policy Advocacy, UAW Local 2325
  337. Marty Goodman, TWU Local 100 Executive Board
  338. Mac McGrath, Organizer, UNITE HERE Local 8; DSA
  339. Joanne Choi, ALAA UAW Local 2325
  340. Alma Yaniv, Unite community Liverpool
  341. Aviva Galpert, UAW Local 2325
  342. Emily Butt, Steward, Teamsters Local 243
  343. Christopher Fasano, UAW Local 2320
  344. Rick Majumdar, Teamsters Local 767; NAARPR Dallas; *FRSO Dallas; Progressive Student Union at UTA
  345. Simon Rowe, Teamsters Local 79
  346. Eric Miller, Vice President, AFGE 1923
  347. Eric Spishak-Thomas, CWA Local 9009-Alphabet Workers Union
  348. Denise Guadalupe Romero Gonzalez, UAW Local 2320
  349. Darini Nicholas, President, Local UFCT 1460
  350. Rachel Westrick, CWA Local 9009; No Tech for Apartheid
  351. Quinn Chase, Stage manager, Actors’ Equity Association; American Guild of Musical Artists
  352. Jed Holtz, Art Director, Writers Guild of America, East
  353. Doreen, former Shop Steward, IBEW 77 (retired)
  354. Dennis Gallie, UAW Local 249 (retired)
  355. Anna Hayward, UUP
  356. Maysoun Wazwaz, Steward, SEIU 10-21
  357. Renee Gagner, AFSCME Local 2912
  358. Anthony Taylor-Gouge’, Steward, UFCW 663; MN Anti-War Committee; MN Workers United
  359. Anne Slater, Secretary, Teamsters Local 763
  360. Jared Hamill, Shop Steward, Teamsters Local 396
  361. Drake Thomas Myers, Steward, MFT 59; *MN Anti-War Committee
  362. Salima Koshy, UAW Local 2110
  363. Alex Washington, Delegate, UAW Local 2325
  364. Marian Sunde, CWA Local 7800 (retired)
  365. Steve Hoffman, Washington Federation of State Employees Local 304 
  366. Adrienne Weller, AFSCME (retired)
  367. Maxine Reigel, retired Shop Steward, Teamsters Local 117
  368. Bailey Thomas, UAW Local 2325
  369. Henry Noble, IAM 751 (retired)
  370. Camila L. Valdivieso, UAW Local 2320
  371. Brandon Schorsch, Steward, OPEIU 12
  372. Lorenzo Plazola, AFSCME Local 2428
  373. Rajavelu J, *Left Trade Union Centre, Chennai, Tamilnadu
  374. Nicholas Preston, Ironworkers Local 86
  375. Jared Houston, UFCW Local 3000
  376. Jaribu Hill, Attorney and Human Rights Defender, *Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights
  377. David Klassen, PSC-CUNY
  378. Sarah Potter, Steward, Seattle Education Association
  379. Bahaar Tadjbakhsh, Teamsters Local 2010; EBDSA
  380. Jody Anderson, CLC Rep, IBEW 553; Co-Chair Black Alliance for Peace  Solidarity Network Southern Region
  381. Lena Jones, Seattle Education Association
  382. Juliana Fadil-Luchkiw, UAW 2865
  383. Betsy Kinsey, OEA-NEA
  384. Ines, SEIU 1021
  385. Sonya Karabel, Staff, UNITE HERE Local 2; Local 2 Employees Association
  386. Judy Greenspan, Union Rep and Chair of Substitute Teacher Caucus, Oakland Education Association; Member of Alameda Labor Council
  387. Alaysha Sisson, AFSCME
  388. Uri Strauss, UAW Local 2320
  389. Thomas Pafford, AFL-CIO, retired
  390. Cristian Avila, UAW Local 2320
  391. Douglas Lawson, Steward, Unite Here Local 8
  392. Malcolm Sacks, AFT Local 2 (UFT)
  393. Amelia Spooner, UAW Local 2710; Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), Steering Committee Member-at-Large
  394. Andrew Bergman, UAW Local 5118; Steering Committee, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD)
  395. Corrina Hildreth, Unite Here 8
  396. Pedro Acosta Galindo, Delegate, UAW Local 2325
  397. Linda Averill, Shop Steward, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587; Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity
  398. Susan Olivia Morris, Former Sgt at Arms, UAW Local 2325 (retired)
  399. Lorrie Beth Slonsky, VP Paramedic Chapter/editor Gurney Gazette, SEIU 1021 (retired); Jewish Voice for Peace
  400. Ellyn Kessler, UAW Local 2325
  401. Daniella Korotzer, Former Delegate, Health and Safety rep, and Brooklyn VP, UAW Local 2325, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA)
  402. Stephen Mahood, AFSCME 1526
  403. Isadora Jaffee, UAW Local 2325
  404. Brett Daniels, Organizing Committee Amazon Labor Union; Young Communist League
  405. Christopher Hutchinson, Teamsters Local 1150; Workers’ Aid to Ukraine
  406. Fernando Chirino, President, PERU CWA 7901
  407. Susan K., Delegate, PSC/CUNY, AFT Local 2334
  408. Saúl Schindler, Steward, SEIU 1021
  409. Jaz Brisack, Organizing Director, Workers United Upstate New York & Vermont
  410. Donna Ristorucci, Assistant Director and Editor, Retiree Division; Teamsters Local 237 (retired); Metro NY Labor Communications Council executive board (retired)
  411. Melanie Garza, SEIU Local 1021
  412. Ignacia Lolas Ojeda, UAW Local 2325
  413. Gabriel Lopez, OPEIU Local 29
  414. Turner Roth, United Service Workers Union Local 74
  415. Melissa Reyes, Steward, SEIU 1021
  416. Freddy Bastone, Shop Steward, LiUNA Local 79; Building Trades for Workers’ Democracy
  417. Marlen Bodden, UAW Local 2335
  418. Jeffery Dix, Chapter President and DD industry council chair, SEIU 1021
  419. Puja Datta, CWA staff union
  420. Carole Travis, retired Past President, UAW Local 719; SEIU Retired International Staff
  421. Tevita ‘Uhatafe, Transport Workers Union Local 567; APALA AFL-CIO
  422. Jordan Manalastas, UAW Local 2325
  423. Andrea Yeager, Steward, SEIU 1021
  424. Quil Freitas, Steward, UFCW 3000; PCC Workers United
  425. Hilaría Barajas, Bargaining Team, OEA
  426. Stewart Stout, UAW 2110; NYC-DSA Citywide Leadership Committee
  427. Sam Regan, Alternate Rep, CTA (OEA)
  428. Toshio Meronek, National Writers Union; FSP
  429. Adam Dudenhoefer, Conductor Sentinel, IAMAW United Lodge 66
  430. Claude Conger, SEIU 1199NW; staff union
  431. Emily Woo Yamasaki, LSSA-NOLSW-UAW Local 2320
  432. Andrew Smith, Local 1503, DC 37, AFSCME
  433. Thomas Ziemer, Delegate, IWW
  434. Elias Holtz, BSTV Workers United-Writers Guild of America, East
  435. Michael Rowley, Camba Legal Services Workers United-UAW Local 2325
  436. Steve Leigh, SEIU Local 925 Retiree Chapter
  437. Andrew Brown, UAW Local 4121
  438. Luke Leitze, Steward, UFCW 663; CPUSA
  439. Claire Bekker, Steward, Local UAW 2865
  440.  Dave Welsh, Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council; Nat’l Ass’n of Letter Carriers, Golden Gate Branch 214
  441. Esme Bitticks, SEIU 1020
  442. Pauline Mims, UAW Local 276 Political and Legislative Chair; *TX CLUW President; TCLC UAW Delegate #7
  443. David, UFCW 8; IWW
  444. Nora Christiani, UAW Local 2325
  445. Elyse Endlich, TNG-CWA; WBNG and Pride at Work
  446. Daniel Kim, ALAA-UAW Local 2325
  447. Joseph Rosenzweig, Teamsters Local 270
  448. Osman Yasin, UAW Local 2325
  449. Samue Hellmann, UAW Local 2710
  450. Hannah Walsh, UAW Local 2325
  451. Em Rosenfield, ALAA Local 2325
  452. Jai Broome, UAW Local 4121
  453. Willa Collins, Steward, LSSA-UAW Local 2320
  454. Helen Boyer, AFSCME Local 609
  455. Meg Rumsey-Lasersohn, AFSCME Local 609
  456. Jean Halley, PSC/CUNY, AFT Local 2334
  457. Molly Rockett, Delegate, UAW Local 2320
  458. Jordana Sardo, AFSCME Local 88
  459. Joe Evica, Chief Steward, OPEIU Local 39
  460. Ruiyang Zhang, Steward, GSOC-UAW Local 2110
  461. Jessica Monterey, Sr. Project Assistant, AFSCME Local 609
  462. D Abuyounes, AFSCME Local 609
  463. Sherry Millner, PSC/CUNY, AFT Local 2334
  464. Jeremy Bunyaner, Guide, UAW Local 2325
  465. Val Carlson, AFSCME Retirees
  466. Gustavo Mejias, UFT Retiree Advocate
  467. Syeda Malliha, ALAA UAW Local 2325
  468. Nancy Ippolito, Teamsters Local 853
  469. Jaq Kunz, AFSCME
  470. Rachel Lindy, UAW Local 2325
  471. Linda Ostreicher AFCSME DC37 (retiree)
  472. Alexandra Bonagura, PSC-CUNY AFT Local 2334
  473. Kirsten Mairead Gill, PSC-CUNY AFT Local 2334
  474. Ben Wilkins, Staff, USSW
  475. Margaret Guttshall, National Writers Union (NWU)
  476. Dusana Podlucka, PSC-CUNY AFT Local 2334
  477. Howard Levine, Teamsters Local 583
  478. Joslyn Baker, Project Manager & President, *AFSCME Local 88
  479. Sophia Wrench, Equal Justice Works Fellow, AFSCME Local 609
  480. Stuart Chen-Hayes, Delegate, PSC-CUNY AFT Local 2334 NYSUT
  481. Roger Harris, retired union worker
  482. Katherine Azcona, UAW Local 2325
  483. Michelle Saucedo, AFSCME Local 609
  484. Ashaki Binta, National Staff (retired), United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE); Black Workers for Justice (BWFJ)
  485. John Ferretti , Former Executive Board member, TWU Local 100; Co-founder, Local 100 Fightback Coalition (https://www.facebook.com/Local100Fightback?mibextid=ZbWKwL)
  486. Dylan Kupsh, UAW Local 2865
  487. Daria Reaven, GSOC-UAW Local 2110
  488. Alexis Hoffman, UAW Local 2325
  489. Seth Rosenberg, Shop Steward, TWU Local 100
  490. Rex Santus, UAW Local 2325
  491. Sheila Kulkarni, International Delegate, UAW Local 2865, Santa Barbara
  492. Ioanna Kourkoulou, UAW Local 2710
  493. Jessica Jiang, UAW Local 2865
  494. Yvette Solano, AFSCME Local 609
  495. Daad Sharfi, UAW Local 2325
  496. Jeff Jones, President, UFCW Local 1459
  497. Emma Arce, AFSCME Local 609
  498. Steve Ongerth; IWW, Bay Area General Membership Branch; IBU, San Francisco Bay Region
  499. Lois Weiner, retiree, United Federation of Teachers, UFT Local 2
  500. Toly Rinberg, UAW Local 5118
  501. Aaron Amaral, Vice President, LDSA, DC37
  502. SiYan Jensen, UFCW Local 663
  503. Ethan Buhrow, UFCW Local 663; CPUSA; DSA
  504. Bol Benjamin, Staff, SEIU Local 26; CWA member
  505. Aaron Amaral, Vice President, Legal Department Staff Association (DC37, AFSCME); Tempest Collective
  506. Annaliza Torres, OPEIU 8
  507. John Ferretti, former Executive Board member, TWU Local 100; *Local 100 Fightback Coalition
  508. Seth Rosenberg, Shop Steward, TWU Local 100
  509. Anthony Steiniger, Shop Steward, TWU Local 100
  510. Jonathan Beatrice, Shop Steward and former officer, TWU Local 100
  511. Ray Reigadas, TWU Local 100
  512. Tom Gruttemeyer, TWU Local 100

Additional signers (list in formation; *denotes organizational endorsements; other affiliations listed for identification only)

  1. Joel Feingold, Crown Heights Tenant Union; Socialist Party USA
  2. Joe Allen, Tempest Collective
  3. Susanna Patterson, retired
  4. Thomas Harrison, Tempest Collective; New Politics magazine
  5. Eli Nadeau, The New School for Social Research
  6. Greg Starr, Independent Jewish Voices-Canada
  7. Melinda Smith, Jewish Voice for Peace
  8. Brian Ross Ashley, New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus
  9. Mark Guadagnino, retired
  10. Farzad Qmehr, retired
  11. Don DeBar, *Community Public Radio, Ossining NY
  12. Bill V. Mullen, Professor Emeritus/AAUP
  13. Asmita Basu, Gender and Human Rights Consultant
  14. Anna Potempska, retired scientist
  15. Charlotte Kates, International coordinator, *Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  16. Rima Najjar, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  17. Bruce Robbins, Columbia University (retired)
  18. Beth Curtiss, Stop Arming Israel
  19. Estee Chandler, Producer, KPFK Radio
  20. Erum Kidwai, AALDEF
  21. Joan, Brooklyn Grange
  22. Viveka Kymal, RS
  23. *Sur Legal Collaborative, Decatur, GA
  24. Rima Kapitan, *Kapitan Gomaa Law, P.C.
  25. Willliam Keach, Professor of English Emeritus, Brown University
  26. Frances H., NYU
  27. Jihad Abdulmumit, Organizer/Chair, *National Jericho
  28. Shushanna Shakur, *Malcolm X Grassroots Movement-Detroit
  29. Lita Farquhar, Carpenter, electrician, & artist
  30. Karen Pomer, *Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
  31. Shannon Altamirano, BALAW
  32. R. Weaver, researcher
  33. Cheryl Gaster, Independent Jewish Voices Canada
  34. Sharon Maiden, retired
  35. Theresa Zettner, graphic designer
  36. Gordon Doctorow, EdD, Independent Jewish Voices
  37. Nate Landry, East Bay DSA
  38. Mitra Zarinebaf, Legal Service For Prisoners With Children
  39. Luke Pickrell, East Bay DSA
  40. Bonnie Weinstein, Co-Editor of *Socialist Viewpoint magazine
  41. Robert N. Guardado Jr.
  42. Juan Canham, DSA
  43. David Klein, California State University Northridge (retired)
  44. Lynda Lemberg, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV)
  45. Johanna Brenner, Solidarity-US
  46. Pawel Wargan, Coordinator of the Secretariat, Progressive International, Gdańsk, Poland
  47. Barry Eidlin, McGill University
  48. Miriam Meir, Independent Jewish Voices Canada
  49. Tricia Warren, Attorney
  50. John Obeda, Solidarity
  51. William Snodgrass, technician
  52. Maya Para, East Bay DSA
  53. Daniel Gross, organizer
  54. Jason Seidman
  55. Esther Ouray, artist
  56. Sylvia Schwarz, JVP-Twin Cities
  57. David Boehnke, Organizer, Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
  58. Sam S., Jews Against Genocide
  59. Bonnie Weiss, retired
  60. Avi Tachna-Fram, CPUSA
  61. Cathy Klein, retired teacher
  62. Chel Commerford, florist, anti-Zionist Jew
  63. Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action Committee (Oakland)
  64. Anola Small, retired
  65. Esther, Jewish Voice for Peace
  66. Jac Nelson, Sholom Johnson Hospice Agency; Minnesota Death Collaborative
  67. CJ, Lead Organizer, *Black and Brown United in Action (New Haven)
  68. Raj Sahjai, researcher
  69. Shoshana Rivers, LAMFT
  70. Scott Volz, Ph.D
  71. Jeremy Mohler, therapist
  72. Zophia Edwards, assistant professor
  73. Nancy Eberg, Greater New Haven Peace Council
  74. Michael Hazboun, graduate student
  75. Liz Aaronsonhn, AAUP
  76. Aylin Kartalyan, analyst
  77. Matthew Levine, Tampa DSA
  78. Lesley Mahmood, retired
  79. Liz Aaronsonhn, AAUP
  80. Mary O’Connor, retired
  81. John Stafford, Stripe
  82. Devin Watts, Black Student Union, Seattle
  83. Barbara Earle, PG&E retired
  84. Neil Schroeder, Graduate Researcher, University of Minnesota
  85. Lau Barrios, Organizer, *No Tech for Apartheid
  86. Sarah Lundberg, attorney
  87. Kian Zlutnick Rank, *The Grounded Body Project (Minneapolis)
  88. Joe Quarnberg, Tempest Collective
  89. Dr. Harry Feldman, retired statistician
  90. Anne Lamb, *NYC Jericho Movement
  91. Jill Mangaliman, *GABRIELA Seattle
  92. Chris Cochrane, social worker
  93. Angela Dunne, City University of New York
  94. Immanuel Ness, author of Migration as Economic Imperialism
  95. BT Werner, University of California San Diego
  96. Saadia Toor, City University of New York
  97. Jacqualynn, Sf Sketchfest
  98. Kian Moghtaderi, software engineer
  99. Raymond Dean, Irish Music Rights Organisation
  100. Lisa Bateman, Pratt Institute
  101. ​Jane Pafford, retired
  102. Margaret Breen, Seattle Presbytery
  103. Michael Weems, Software Engineer in Test, Solo
  104. Clayton Sodergren, CADFW
  105. Pat Bryant, writer
  106. Max, bartender
  107. Anderson Nunnelley, Director, AGMA
  108. Chelsea Larson, Trader Joe’s crew member
  109. Mumina Ali, program assistant
  110. Deborah Agre, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
  111. Mike Howells, General Assembly Jackson Square Psychics, New Orleans; *New Orleans Firebrand
  112. Bishop Drewery, Seattle Revolutionary Socialists
  113. Sarah S. Kanbar, Attorney
  114. Sydney Conrady, Chamber of Cannabis, The Resistance, LGBTQIA+, BLM, ACAB
  115. Mary Ghandour, Attorney, International Refugee Assistance Project
  116. Ayesha Hussain, Attorney, Innocence Project Los Angeles
  117. Sheila Jordan, retired educator
  118. Dana Matsunami, Attorney
  119. Elizabeth Glenski, Student
  120. Keslie Box, local organizer
  121. Koya Nakata, News producer, Firebrand
  122. Beatrice Reilly Jordon, Student/Retired, CUNY
  123. Lena Hamad, Admin Secretary; CUNY Student
  124. Raymond Latour, Cashier/service worker; Concerned citizen
  125. Andrew Alberg, Student, Duke University
  126. Donna Denina. *International Women’s Alliance
  127. Shahrooz Nasir, Student, CUNY alumni

Labor for Palestine Model Resolution: [X union/labor body] 

Stand With Palestinian Workers: 

Cease the Genocide Now, End All Complicity, Stop Arming Israel!

WHEREAS, October 7, 2023 saw the people of Gaza collectively reject the culmination of 16 years of a brutal land, air and sea siege devastating the entirety of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents; and

WHEREAS, the 16-year blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip has devastated the economy, leading to the closure of many companies, factories, and farms, resulting in a high level of unemployment, and reducing the government’s ability to provide basic services to the Palestinian population in Gaza; and

WHEREAS, the siege has deprived Palestinians in Gaza of their basic rights to health care, education, work, and freedom of movement, with 81.5 percent of individuals in Gaza living below the poverty line and 64 percent are food insecure; and

WHEREAS, the latest Israeli attacks reflect more than a century of ongoing Zionist settler-colonialism, dispossession, ethnic cleansing, racism, genocide, and apartheid—including Israel’s establishment through the uprooting and displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1948 Nakba. Indeed, eighty percent of the 2.3 million people in Gaza are refugees from other parts of historic Palestine; and

WHEREAS, the section of the Gaza border that was bulldozed through on October 7th was the site of the Great March of Return, a 2018-2019 peaceful protest which Israel responded to with deadly force, killing 214 Palestinians, including 46 children, and injuring 28,939 a reminder that all forms of Palestinian resistanceeven peaceful onesare criminalized and crushed by Israel; and

WHEREAS, as in the last 16 days alone at least [update as needed] 4,741 Palestinians have been killed and 15,898 wounded, with over a million of the densely populated enclave’s people displaced; and

WHEREAS, there have been [update as needed] 51 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza with these attacks resulting in at least 15 health workers killed, 27 health workers injured, damage to 25 hospitals and other healthcare facilities and three hospitals in northern Gaza evacuated; and

WHEREAS, upon announcing his intention to reduce parts of Gaza to “rubble,” Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu ordered leaflets dropped from the sky telling Palestinians in the Gaza strip, of which 50 percent of the population are children, to “leave now,” knowing full well that there is absolutely nowhere they can go; a public declaration of intent to commit the international crime of forced population transfer; and

WHEREAS, Israel has consolidated all these tactics of extermination in the current attack on Gaza, including the prohibited use of white phosphorus weapons in densely populated urban areas. In addition, Israel is arming settlers with an additional 10,000 assault rifles, which has already further galvanized attacks on Palestinian communities in the West Bank; and

WHEREAS, Israel justified its decision to suspend all entry of food, water and fuel into Gaza by claiming that it was fighting “human animals”; As we have seen with past examples of US led wars on Iraq and Afghanistan , such dehumanizing language is used to manufacture consent for genocidal violence; and

WHEREAS, a majority of media, politicians and employers have demonstrated an inconsistent valuation of human life, with calculated omissions effectively endorsing Israel’s ongoing perpetration of ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and genocide against the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza; and

WHEREAS, the tired trope of “religious conflict” has been used often to mask the reality of settler colonial violence and dispossession, essentializing and racializing both Jewish and Muslim communities and those critical of Israeli settler colonial violence have been falsely accused of anti-semitism; and

WHEREAS, the Union of Professors and Employees at Birzeit University in the West Bank, calls on all trade unions around the globe to reject the “criminalization of resistance… where all blood that is shed is blamed on the oppressed and all crimes of settler colonial invasion and dispossession are ignored entirely”; and

WHEREAS, all over the world and including our [city/workplace], workers of all faiths and backgrounds are united in their opposition to apartheid, occupation, genocide and settler colonialism; and

WHEREAS, the Palestinian struggle against settler colonialism as a structure of power designed to accumulate wealth through dispossession and maintain racial hierarchy links it organically to the struggles of Indigenous, Black and Puerto Rican peoples, as well as other oppressed peoples in the United States; and 

WHEREAS, the institutions of organized violence that oppress working class, Black and Brown communities in the US train and share tactics of repression with Israeli institutions of organized violence, for example through the deadly exchange program; and

WHEREAS, since World War II, Israel has been the largest overall recipient of U.S. foreign aid, with over $150 billion since 1946 and U.S. President Joe Biden has just announced another $14.3 billion in aid for Israel as part of a broader “defense” spending package that is a boon for the military-industrial-complex and is being claimed as a job promotion program for US workers who are allegedly “building the arsenal of democracy”; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region “to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needed to respond,” including sending two U.S. aircraft carriers as well as special operations forces to “assist Israel’s military in planning and intelligence”; and

WHEREAS, Palestinian trade unions call for workers around the globe to stand in solidarity to “end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes” and to “pass motions in their trade union to this effect”; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that our [union or other labor body] condemns Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people and calls for an immediate end to the bombings and destruction in Gaza as well as an end to all US military and economic aid to the settler colonial state of Israel; and

RESOLVED, that we endorse the October 16, 2023 Palestinian trade union call:

  1. To refuse to build weapons destined for Israel. 
  2. To refuse to transport weapons to Israel. 
  3. To pass motions in their trade union to this effect. 
  4. To take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, especially if they have contracts with your institution. 
  5. Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the U.S., funding to it.

RESOLVED, that our employer(s) publicly declare and divest from all financial ties with “the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid”; and

RESOLVED, that our union pledge to respect previous Palestinian trade union appeals for solidarity by divesting from Israel Bonds, severing all ties with the Israel’s racist labor federation, the Histadrut, and its US mouthpiece, the Jewish Labor Committee, and respecting the Palestinian picket line for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS); and 

RESOLVED, that our employer defend its workers [and students] who are routinely doxxed and attacked when voicing support for Palestine, including those who take part in the BDS campaign, and/or who otherwise oppose Israeli settler colonialism.

U.S. Labor Must Stand With Palestine! (Updated Endorsers)


ENDORSE // DONATE

U.S. Labor Must Stand With Palestine!
Labor for Palestine, Nakba Day, May 15, 2021

As workers, labor, and anti-apartheid activists, we join millions around the world to unequivocally condemn Israel’s genocidal attacks on the Palestinian people: mass evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods of Jerusalem, storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, waves of state-sponsored violence throughout the West Bank and the ’48 areas (stolen from Palestine in 1948), and merciless bombardment of Gaza that has already killed and wounded hundreds of people, many of them children.

Recent reports by B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch only belatedly acknowledge what Palestinians have always said: this is not an “Arab-Israeli conflict,” an “Israel-Hamas war,” “communal clashes,” or a “civil war,” but rather another chapter in more than a century of Zionist settler-colonialism — as symbolized by Israel’s very establishment through the uprooting and ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba (“Our Catastrophe”), whose 73rd anniversary is today, May 15, 2021.

These crimes are only possible because of $3.8 billion a year (or $10+ million *per day*) in bipartisan US military aid that gives Israel the guns, bullets, tanks, ships, jet fighters, missiles, helicopters, white phosphorus and other weapons to kill and maim the Palestinian people.

This is the same system of racist state violence that — with direct Israeli support — brutalizes BIPOC and working class people in the United States and around the world. With Israel’s knee on their neck, Palestinians can’t breathe since 1948, and we unconditionally stand with their resistance in all parts of Palestine, just as they have stood with our struggles for Black and Brown Lives, Standing Rock, migrant rights, and beyond. 

We urge workers and labor bodies in the US to join the growing mass protests against apartheid Israel, and to support the Day of Action in Solidarity with the Palestinian Uprising and General Strike: Tuesday, May 18. We uplift the Italian dockworkers who refused to ship weapons to Israel on April 14, thereby answering the urgent May 13 appeal for international solidarity, signed by Palestinian trade unions, to support the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS).

BDS is inspired by the worldwide divestment campaign that helped topple apartheid South Africa, and reflects decades of Palestinian boycott and mobilization against Israeli colonization. It requires not only an end to the 1967 Israeli occupation, but an end to Israeli occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return. 

On this 73rd anniversary of Nakba Day, as Palestinians courageously resist brutal Israeli attack, we urge the labor movement to respect the BDS picket line by:

• Endorsing BDS, along with UAW 2865, the Connecticut AFL-CIO, the United Electrical Workers, IWW, and other US labor bodies, and with labor organizations around the world, who have already done so.

• Ending, once and for all, US labor officialdom’s long and shameful complicity in Zionism by divesting labor bodies from Israel Bonds, and severing all ties with Israel’s racist labor federation, the Histadrut, and its US mouthpiece, the Jewish Labor Committee.

• Mobilizing our collective power at the workplace, as demonstrated by dockers in South Africa, India, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Italy, the ILWU on the West Coast of the United States who have refused to handle Israeli cargo, and AROC’s Block the Boat campaign against an upcoming Zim Lines arrival at the Oakland Port.

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL: 
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!
________________________________

On behalf of Labor for Palestine
(organizational affiliations listed for identification only)

Suzanne Adely, Al-Awda-NY; Arab Workers Resource Center; Food Chain Workers Alliance (staff); President-Elect, National Lawyers Guild; 

Monadel Herzallah, Arab American Union Members Council

Ruth Jennison, Department Rep., Massachusetts Society of Professors, MTA, NEA; Co-Chair, Labor Standing Committee Pioneer Valley DSA

Lara Kiswani, Executive Director, Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)

Michael Letwin, Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325; Organizing Collective, USACBI: US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; DSA Palestine Solidarity Working Group

Clarence Thomas, Co-Chair, Million Worker March; Executive Board, ILWU Local 10 (retired)

Endorsements (as of May 23, 2021)

Organizations
Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
AFSCME 3800 – UMN Clerical Workers Union
ALAA/UAW Local 2325, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem Union, Family Defense Practice Unit
DSA AfroSocialist & Socialists of Color Caucus
DSA Palestine Solidarity Working Group
Black Attorneys of Legal Aid (BALA) Caucus, ALAA/UAW 2325
Attorneys of Color of Legal Aid (ACLA) Caucus, ALAA/UAW 2325
LGBTQ+ Caucus, ALAA/UAW 2325
CUNY Adjunct Project
Labor Against Racist Terror
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
CAIR-NJ
Central Jersey DSA
NYC DSA Labor Branch

Individuals (list in formation; organizational affiliations listed for identification only)

  1. Daniel Ashworth, ALAA/UAW 2325
  2. Ellyn Kessler, ALAA/UAW 2325
  3. David Klein, California Faculty Association (CFA)
  4. Steve Brier, PSC-CUNY, AFT Local 2334; School of Labor & Urban Studies, CUNY
  5. Susan Morris, Former Executive Board Member, ALAA/UAW 2325 (Retired)
  6. Lisa Edwards, ALAA/UAW 2325
  7. Jamila Hammami, Steward, Co-Organizer for Labor & External Relations, CUNY Graduate Center PhD Social Welfare Program, PSC-CUNY
  8. Ryan Kelly, National Writers Union
  9. Nora Carroll, ALAA/UAW 2325
  10. Lauren Restivo, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  11. Michael Shannon, ALAA/UAW 2325
  12. David Sole, Past President, UAW 2334 (Retired)
  13. Erin Tomlinson, ALAA/UAW 2325
  14. John King, UAW-ACT 7902
  15. Dennis Gallie, UAW 249 (Retired)
  16. Goetz Wolff, Board Member, UC-AFT 1474 (UCLA); LA County AFL-CIO
  17. Ed Kinchley, Delegate, SF Committee on Political Education (COPE), SEIU 1021; Delegate, SF Labor Council
  18. Win Heimer, A&R, AFT 4200R
  19. Azalia Torres, Former Executive Board Member, ALAA/UAW 2325 (Retired)
  20. Eli Nadeau, SENS UAW 7902
  21. Susan Stout, Unifor 2002 (Retired)
  22. David Walsh, NALC 214; Delegate, SF Labor Council
  23. Dan Kaplan, Executive Secretary (retired), AFT 1493
  24. Dave King, Co-Chair, Climate Jobs PDX
  25. Lauren S. King, Climate Jobs PDX; Portland Jobs with Justice
  26. David Clennon, Convention Delegate, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA
  27. Judith Ackerman, AFT and 1199SEIU
  28. Amy Muldoon, CWA 1106
  29. Val Sanfilippo, Retired Steward, SEIU 221
  30. Francis Cook, UFT, AFT Local 2; MORE Caucus (Movement of Rank and File Educators in the UFT)
  31. Hayat Bearat, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  32. Milad Momeni, CLSWU
  33. David Laibman, PSC-CUNY (retiree chapter)
  34. Mike Gimbel, AFSCME 375, Retired Executive Board member
  35. Elizabeth-Ann Tierney, Alternate Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  36. Ayami Hatanaka, ALAA/UAW 2325
  37. David McKeown, IBEW Local 6 (retired)
  38. Greg Giorgio, Delegate and Secretary, IWW Upstate NY Regional
  39. Carol Elaine Gay, President, NJ State Industrial Union Council; CWA retiree
  40. Alexander Hu, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  41. David Letwin, Executive Board Member, Rutgers AAUP-AFT Local 6324
  42. Alexandra Smith, ALAA/UAW 2325
  43. Aaron Goodwin, UAW 2865
  44. Diana Dooley, IBEW Local 6
  45. Gabriel Camacho, Political Director, UFCW Local 1445; LCLAA member at large
  46. Ron Jacobs, Steward, AFSCME 1343
  47. Naomi Sharlin, UFT, AFT Local 2
  48. Nicole Camera, UFT, AFT Local 2; MORE Caucus (Movement of Rank and File Educators in the UFT)
  49. Mark D. Stansbery, Board Member and Chair of Organizing and Mobilization, CWA 4502; Ohio AFL-CIO and Central Ohio Labor Council
  50. Jane Rubio, UFT, AFT Local 2
  51. Joan Hwang, Organizer, Workers Assembly Against Racism
  52. Rebekah McAlister UFT, AFT Local 2
  53. Jennifer Kovacs, ALAA/UAW 2325
  54. Hollis Higgins, NALC Branch 442 (retired)
  55. Leah Martin, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  56. Danielle Bullock, UFT, AFT Local 2; MORE Caucus (Movement of Rank and File Educators in the UFT)
  57. Brian Lewis, Steward and Delegate, AFSCME DC37, Local 375; DC37 Progressives; NYC-DSA Labor Branch
  58. Malcolm Sacks, UFT, AFT Local 2; MORE Caucus (Movement of Rank and File Educators in the UFT)
  59. Aisha Lewis-McCoy, Alternate Representative, LGBTQ Caucus, ALAA/UAW 2325
  60. Sara Catalinotto, Retired Delegate, UFT, AFT Local 2; Labor Against Racist Terror
  61. Susan Moir, Massachusetts Teachers Association (retired)
  62. Leah Margulies, ALAA/UAW 2325
  63. Monica Shah, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  64. Andrea Alajbegovic, LSSA/UAW 2320
  65. Lucy Herschel, Delegate, 1199SEIU, UHWE
  66. Calypso Taylor, ALAA/UAW 2325
  67. Alex Jallot, Delegate, Pace High School, UFT, AFT Local 2
  68. Yessenia Mendez, LSSA/UAW 2320
  69. Ian Spiridigliozzi, ALAA/UAW 2325
  70. Hoda Mitwally, Delegate, LSSA/UAW 2320
  71. Royce Adams, International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1291; CBTU/APRI
  72. Josh Komarovsky, LSSA/UAW 2320
  73. Will Chaney, GEO/UAW 2322 UMASS-Amherst
  74. Robert F. Williams, GEO/UAW 2322 MSCA Westfield State University
  75. Erik Mears, UFT/AFT Local 2
  76. Cherrene Horazuk, President, AFSCME 3800 – UMN Clerical Workers Union
  77. Annie Zirin, CTU/AFT Local 1
  78. Meaghan Whyte, Delegate, LSSA/UAW 2320
  79. Hector Agredano, Pasadena City College Faculty Association
  80. David McNally, Texas State Employees Union/CWA Local 6186
  81. Jessie Muldoon, Site Rep., Portland Education Association
  82. Brenda Stokely, Social Service Employees Union local 371 DC 37 AFSCME, AFL-CIO; Million Workers Movement NE Region co-organizer
  83. Camila Valle, UAW 2110
  84. Alejandro Coriat, NOLSW 2320; Legal Workers’ Rank and File
  85. Vish Soroushian, NOLSW/UAW 2320
  86. Hector Agredano, Pasadena City College Faculty Association
  87. Ramzi Babouder-Matta, Steward, CWA 1180; Labor Against Racism and War
  88. Sarah Soliman, Worker Advocate, Worker Justice Wisconsin
  89. Elly Wong, Steward, NPEU (IPFTE Local 70)
  90. Naib Mian, Unit Council, Bargaining Committee, New Yorker Union, News Guild NY Local 31003, CWA
  91. Lucas Koerner, Harvard Graduate Students Union – UAW 5118
  92. Martha Grevatt, Retired Executive Board Member, UAW 869
  93. Dianne Mathiowetz, UAW 10 (retired); Producer and Host, The Labor Forum, WRFG 89.3FM
  94. Stephen Terry, ALAA/UAW 2325 (retired)
  95. Gabriella Ferrara, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  96. Patricia Lavelle, ALAA/UAW 2325
  97. Spencer Eliot Smith, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  98. Meghna Philip, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  99. Kevin Duffy-Greaves, LSSA/UAW 2320
  100. Amanda Lipari, Civil Vice President, ALAA/UAW 2325
  101. Lindsay Cowen, Delegate, LSSA/UAW 2320
  102. Karen Sullivan, PSC-CUNY
  103. Mimi Rosenberg, ALAA/UAW 2325; Producer and Host, WBAI radio, 99.5 FM’s labor program Building Bridges
  104. Benjamin Bisaro, ALAA/UAW 2325
  105. Andrew Smith, Shop Steward, AFSCME, DC 37, Local 1503
  106. Shayan Mirzahaidar, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  107. Basir Mchawi, PSC-CUNY/AFT
  108. Emily Woo Yamasaki, LSSA/UAW 2320
  109. Susan Williams, MD, Former Delegate, Doctors Council, SEIU Local 10MD (retired)
  110. Hoang Gia Phan, Massachusetts Society of Professors (MSP-UMass Amherst)
  111. Michael Novick, former steward and member, house of reps, former member of Human Rights Committee, United Teachers Los Angeles (joint NEA-CTA/AFT-CFT)
  112. Robin Strauss, PSC-CUNY/AFT
  113. Maria Amor, UAW 2320
  114. Estee Ward, Make the Road New York – NOLSW/UAW 2320
  115. Noha Arafa, ALAA/UAW 2325
  116. Terry Fitzgibbons, Building Rep., NJEA/Education Association of Passaic
  117. Sherry J. Wolf, CWA 1032
  118. Damon Fillman, Steward, CWA 1032; Rutgers AAUP-AFT
  119. Alan Maass, CWA 1032
  120. BJ Walker, CWA Local 1032
  121. Lauren Tomkinson, CWA Local 7799
  122. Alexandra Haridopolos, Delegate, UFT/AFT Local 2
  123. Marty Goodman, Former TWU Local 100 Executive Board (1997-2006)(retired)
  124. Caryn Schreiber, ALAA/UAW 2325
  125. Emma Goodman, Vice President, ALAA/UAW 2325
  126. Ray Siqueiros, AFT Local 8002
  127. Stephane Barile, Site Rep., New Haven Teachers Association, CTA
  128. Nora Christiani, ALAA/UAW 2325
  129. Gregory Butterfield, NOLSW/UAW 2320
  130. Kathleen Shannon, Staff Organizer, Rutgers AAUP-AFT Local 6323; CWA local 1032
  131. Marie E. Kelly, At Large Member, National Nurses United
  132. Katherine Fitzer, ALAA/UAW 2325
  133. Pooja Patel, ALAA/UAW 2325
  134. Daniella Korotzer, ALAA/UAW 2325
  135. Angelica Barrios, 1199SEIU (Forensic Social Worker)
  136. Lauren Katzman, ALAA/UAW 2325
  137. Gloria Banasco, ALAA/UAW 2325
  138. Maureen Stutzman, ALAA/UAW 2325
  139. Omar Alam Rana, Alternate Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  140. Monica Bustos, 1199SEIU
  141. Matt Caldwell, ALAA/UAW 2325
  142. Michael Gibbons, Representative, LGBTQ+ Caucus, ALAA/UAW 2325
  143. Mirna Haidar, ALAA/UAW 2325
  144. Kip Bastedo, ALAA/UAW 2325
  145. Jonathan McCoy, ALAA/UAW 2325
  146. Joe Piette, NALC Branch 157
  147. Naila Siddiqui, Vice President, ALAA/UAW2325
  148. Hannah Deegan, ALAA/UAW 2325
  149. Mallory Harwood, ALAA/UAW 2325
  150. Titus Mathai, ALAA/UAW 2325
  151. Michael Pate, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  152. Rebecca Kurti, 1199/SEIU
  153. Kar Nowakowski, ALAA/UAW 2325
  154. Keith Malonis, 1199/SEIU
  155. Katharine Kuhl, ALAA/UAW 2325
  156. Angie Rodriguez, 1199/SEIU
  157. Mik Kinkead, ALAA/UAW 2325
  158. Sophie Cohen, ALAA/UAW 2325
  159. Neil Friedman, PSC-CUNY Retired Chapter
  160. Jordan Manalastas, ALAA/UAW 2325
  161. Leon Pulsinelle, NJEA
  162. Brianda Guzman, 1199/SEIU
  163. Larry Hales, 1199/SEIU
  164. Aissatou Barry, Delegate, ALAA/UAW 2325
  165. Benjamin Jarvis, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1520
  166. Elena Landriscina, ALAA/UAW 2325
  167. Susan Kingsland, 1199/SEIU
  168. Alex Washington, ALAA/UAW 2325
  169. Grover Francis, ALAA/UAW 2325
  170. Taylor James, Former Executive Board Member, ALAA/UAW 2325
  171. Haley Pessin, Interim Delegate, 1199/SEIU; Legal Workers Rank and File
  172. Tarini Arogyaswamy, ALAA/UAW 2325
  173. Ferdinand Cesarano, 1199/SEIU
  174. Lori Masco, ALAA/UAW 2325
  175. Patrick Matutina, ALAA/UAW 2325
  176. Kathleen Wahl, ALAA/UAW 2325
  177. Hilary Dowling, ALAA/UAW 2325
  178. Raissa Carpenter, ALAA/UAW 2325
  179. Khouloud Ballout, 1199/SEIU
  180. Laurie Dick, ALAA/UAW 2325
  181. Samantha Plummer, UAW 4100; Central Brooklyn DSA
  182. Hannah Hussey, ALAA/UAW 2325
  183. Stephanie Hedgecoke, Recording Secretary, CWA 14156
  184. Bill Riggin, ALAA/UAW 2325
  185. Ivan Pantoja, Former Executive Board Member, ALAA/UAW 2325
  186. Marlen S. Bodden, ALAA/UAW 2325
  187. Candace Graff, ALAA/UAW 2325
  188. Jeff Schuhrke, Representative, UIC United Faculty, AFT Local 6456
  189. Norman Koerner, Alliance of Charter School Employees, AFT
  190. Whitney Powers, Steering Committee Member, CWA 7799
  191. Alex Wolf-Root, President, CWA 7799
  192. Bri Dobson, CWA 7799
  193. Hypatia Ostojic, Systemwide Chair, Peace and Justice Committee, UPTE CWA 9119
  194. Patrick Langhenry, ALAA/UAW 2325
  195. James Lauderdale, Lead Senior Civil Service Advocate (retired), SEIU Local 721
  196. Amanda Achin, Classified Staff Union, Massachusetts Teachers Association; Boston DSA Labor Working Group
  197. Darrin Hoop, Building Rep., Seattle Education Association; National Educators United
  198. Richard Blum, ALAA/UAW 2325
  199. Catherine Khella, Organizing Committee, NYC DSA Labor Branch
  200. David Guerrero, Delegate, 1199SEIU
  201. Asa Mendelsohn, UC-AFT 3299
  202. Helen Scott, Department Rep., United Academics: AAUP/AFT Local 3203; VT AFL-CIO State Labor Council
  203. Nancy Welch, UVM United Academics AAUP/AFT, Local 3203; Upper Valley Democratic Socialists of America
  204. Liz Medina, Executive Director, Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; UAW 2322
  205. Ron Jacobs, President, AFSCME 1343
  206. Heidi Fox, Vermont State Employees Association
  207. John Davy, Vermont State Employees Association
  208. Shannon Dufour-Martinez, AFSCME 1674
  209. Kit Andrews, Vermont State Employees Association
  210. Stephanie Higgins, union staff, GEO-UAW 2322
  211. Stanley Heller, AFT 1547, retired; Middle East Crisis Committee (Connecticut)
  212. Susan Klein, Unite HERE Local 34, Yale Unions Retirees Association
  213. Frank Panzarella, Former President, IAM Local 1990; New Haven Energy Task Force / Fight the Hike
  214. Martha London, Professional Staff Union/Massachusetts Teachers Association (Retired)
  215. Dylan Kupsh, UAW 2865; NSJP, UCSB SJP, UCLA Grad SJP
  216. Marsha Love, United Association of Labor Educators

CONTACT: info@laborforpalestine.net
ENDORSE
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Labor for Palestine Statement at NYC May Day 2019

Presented by Michael Letwin, Labor for Palestine

From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!

On May Day 2019, I first want to remember Bud Korotzer, who was present at NYC May Days for some 70 years through 2018, and who is very much here today in spirit. To his lifelong partner, Fran, and their family, please join me in saying: Bud Korotzer, presente!

There are many organizations and struggles represented here. That’s how it should be, because the whole meaning of May Day is to show unity between all struggles for justice, to reaffirm, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that “justice is indivisible.”

Today, from Jim Crow to Jerusalem, from the Mexican border to Gaza, Palestine is on the cutting edge of such justice movements. And Palestine is a workers’ issue!

At the forefront of that intersectionality are Dr. Angela Y. Davis, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Dr. Michelle Alexander, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Black for Palestine, and other Black supporters of Palestinian liberation.

Their leadership, in turn, reflects more than half a century of Black solidarity with Palestine, as exemplified by Malcolm X, SNCC, the Black Panther Party, and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. And that is why those leaders are being smeared by Zionists with charges of anti-Semitism, and even being cynically blamed for recent attacks on Jewish synagogues in this country.

To the contrary: blame for those attacks lies squarely with Trump and his mob of  anti-Semites, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and rightwing politicians—all of them openly allied with Israel—who have whipped up and/or tolerated a frenzy of racist violence against Muslims, People of Color, Jews, and others.

These alliances echo Israel’s long-standing and well-documented complicity with rightwing dictatorships and apartheid South Africa.

Let’s be clear: none of this started with Netanyahu. It is rooted in Zionism, a settler-colonial ideology that has practiced “ethnic cleansing, destruction, mass expulsion, apartheid, and death” against Palestinians, an ongoing Nakba (Catastrophe) has been carried out since 1948 by an Israeli apartheid regime that veteran South African freedom fighters have called “worse than apartheid.”

Nowhere is this clearer than at the Gaza fence, where for the past year, Palestinians have demanded an end to the siege, and their right to return to their homes throughout historic Palestine. In response, Israeli snipers have killed hundreds, and maimed thousands, using $3.8 billion each year in U.S. weapons. In exchange,  Israel serves as watchdog for imperialism throughout the region and beyond.

But none of this can stop the Palestinian freedom struggle and the mushrooming Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which call for (1) ending Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall; (2) recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and (3) Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

Together, we will win.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

Exposing Socialist Zionism Panel at Socialism 2017 Conference

Exposing Socialist Zionism Panel at Socialism 2017 Conference
Michael Letwin, Labor for Palestine
Chicago, July 7, 2017

Let’s start at the beginning: In the narrative of the oppressed – in this case, the Palestinian narrative — “Israel” is not a place, but a colonial-settler regime. Just as Zimbabwe was never “Rhodesia,” all “Israel” is occupied Palestine, and there is no such thing as “Israel-Palestine.”

Therefore, the “Occupation” is not just the West Bank and Gaza, which have been Israeli-occupied since 1967, but every inch of land stolen by the Zionist state since 1948. In the Palestinian narrative, “Israel” or “Israel proper” are known as 1948 Palestine, or simply ’48. Conversely a free Palestine refers to *all* of Palestine, from the river to the sea, with equal rights for all its inhabitants.

Think: Make Israel Palestine Again.

Against that narrative is “Progressive Except for Palestine” (PEP), which reflects Zionism’s long-term impact on the U.S. left, specifically through the misappropriation and misapplication of  the right of national self-determination, civil rights, even “socialism” itself, to Israeli settler-colonialism, and often linked to the notion of binationalism.

As discussed by Tikva Honig-Parnass and others, this misappropriation was spearheaded by the Histadrut, the Zionist labor federation, which was the Israeli state-in-waiting until 1948, and then ruled the Zionist regime for its first 30 years. Even before that, the social democratic Second International supported Labor Zionism as part of its overall support for imperialism: both the First World War “at home,” and colonialism abroad. Indeed, imperialist regimes like Britain saw Zionism as a way to undermine Bolshevism and the October Revolution of 1917. It’s no surprise that, to this day, the Histadrut is closely aligned with the Second International.

In the late 1930s and 1940s, at the Histadrut’s behest, social democratic garment union leaders in this country enlisted both the AFL and CIO — they were separate federations until 1955 — to loudly demand establishment of a “Jewish state” in Palestine.

This misappropriation of the right to national self-determination and other genuinely-socialist principles was also adopted by the non-Social Democratic left. In the 1920s and 1930s, virtually all communists and socialists had staunchly denounced Zionism as a reactionary, colonial movement. But during the Second World War, Stalin supported a “Jewish state” in Palestine, mainly in the delusional hope of helping Russia replace Britain as the dominant imperial power in the Middle East.

Toward that end, he sent 142,000 displaced Eastern European Jews – willing or not – to displace indigenous Palestinians, organized the necessary two-thirds majority for UN partition in 1947, armed the Zionist militias that carried out the Nakba, and made Russia the first country to recognize the Israeli regime. As U.S. Communist Party chief William Z. Foster boasted in the early 1950s:

“The only true friend of the Jewish people in their fight for national freedom was the Soviet Union, which steadfastly supported the setting-up of the longed-for homeland of the Jews. . . . Eventually, the Jewish masses themselves virtually settled the matter by establishing the Republic of Israel, in May 1948. They then defended their government, arms in hand, against the British-inspired attacks from the neighboring Arab governments. . . . Within the United States. . . . [t]he Communist Party took a very active part in the whole struggle.”

Ironically, some Trotskyists took a virtually identical position. Amidst the Nakba, Hal Draper stated the majority view of the Independent Socialist League: “We not only support the Palestine Jews’ right to self-determination but draw the necessary conclusions from that position: for full recognition of the Jewish state by our own government; for lifting the embargo on arms to Israel; for defense of the Jewish state against the Arab invasion in the present circumstances.”

Now obviously, Draper did not share Stalin’s motives for supporting a Jewish state in Palestine. Rather, his position was rooted in binationalism — the same premise shared by Socialist Zionists of the Hashomer Hatzair — that Jews have an equal right to self-determination in Palestine, including a right to a *separate* state. Jewish and Palestinian workers were to unite for a “socialist” Israel. To put this into perspective, it is like saying that, as communities suffering oppression in Europe, the Boers in apartheid South Africa, or European immigrants in Americas, had the right to a separate — i.e., apartheid — state on stolen indigenous land.

Though common on the left, this premise didn’t go unchallenged. During the 1936-1939 Arab uprising in Palestine, the South African Trotskyists noted that some Marxists had “been swept off their feet by the widespread anti-Semitic wave [in Europe] and have fallen victims to nationalism,” and reminded readers that, “[a] clear, unambiguous stand in support of the colonial people in their struggle against imperialism is the first duty of revolutionary socialism.”

Palestinian Marxists asked how “socialist” were kibbutzes — or “Jewish states” — built on top of the ruins of Palestinian villages like Deir Yassin, site of the most infamous Zionist massacre of the Nakba?

As documented in Black Liberation and Palestine Solidarity, this same position was upheld in the 1960s by Malcolm X, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party, the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, and others, who condemned not only particular Israeli policies, but Zionism itself. This was based on the understanding that Palestinian oppression — and resistance – was part of the same international system of racism and colonialism inflicted on Black South Africans, Vietnamese, Latin Americans and African Americans. Indeed, in 1973, thousands of Arab and Black workers held a wildcat strike in Detroit to protest UAW support for Israel.

Who defended Israel against these protests? Labor/Left/Socialist Zionists and social democrats, including black moderate civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, the Jewish Labor Committee, and the Workmen’s Circle – the same “left” forces who jumped on the bandwagon for U.S. and Israeli wars in the wake of 9/11.

However, 9/11 and its immediate aftermath also sparked the first visible labor anti-Zionism since the 1973 UAW wildcats, including New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) and Labor for Palestine, both co-led by Black radical activists from the 1960s.

And since the most recent Israeli massacre Gaza massacre in 2014, we have seen a small, but growing number of labor bodies standing with Palestine, including the refusal of the dockers in ILWU Local 10 to handle Israeli Zim Line cargo, and the adoption of BDS resolutions by a small but growing number of labor bodies. This has paralleled growing intersectional solidarity from Black4Palestine, the Movement for Black Lives, Labor for Standing Rock, immigrant rights and other grassroots social justice movements in the United States.

That kind of solidarity with Palestinian resistance is the antidote to Socialist Zionism.

Victory! We salute the striking Palestinian prisoners (Labor for Palestine)

Victory!

An Injury to One is an Injury to All: Workers Support Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike (Labor for Palestine)

[Please endorse the statement below by clicking here.]

An Injury to One is an Injury to All: Workers Support Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike (Labor for Palestine)

“We urge all labor organizations and workers’ movements to express their solidarity and support for the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike, for the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation and for the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.”
Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS), April 28, 2017

Labor for Palestine joins workers around the world to stand with 1,500 Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike since April 17 to protest conditions that Amnesty International calls “unlawful and cruel.” After more than a month, their health is failing, but their steadfastness remains unshakable.

From workers’ rights and women’s rights, to anti-racism and anti-colonialism, hunger strikes are a time-honored form of protest against injustice.

But the Israeli government — which receives $3.8 billion per year in U.S. weapons and closely coordinates with the same police agencies that systematically terrorize Black and Brown communities in the United States — threatens to force-feed the strikers, and is gunning down their supporters in the streets of Palestine. Such relentless state violence reflects the continuing Nakba, Israel’s 69-year-old ethnic cleansing campaign against the Palestinian people.

Undeterred, the prisoners have vowed: “Our chains will be broken before we are, because it is human nature to heed the call for freedom regardless of the cost.”

They know that, like Jim Crow and apartheid South Africa, Zionist settler colonialism will one day fall to the unstoppable tide of popular mass resistance.

Labor bodies around the world have risen to their defense, including the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Canadian Labour Congress, 26 European trade unions and labor organizations, World Federation of Trade Unions (representing 92 million workers in 162 countries), International Trade Union Confederation (representing 181 million workers in 163 countries), and the Trabajadores-Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores (PIT-CNT) of Uruguay.

Their outpouring is accompanied by rising international labor respect of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) picket line, which demands an end to occupation and apartheid, full equality for all, and Palestinian refugees’ right to return to the homes and lands from which they were expelled.

In the U.S., BDS has been embraced by West Coast dockers refusing to handle Israeli Zim Line cargo, the United Electrical Workers, CT State AFL-CIO, UAW 2865, UAW 2322, GSOC-UAW 2110, AFT 3220, and thousands of other union members.

This parallels growing intersectional solidarity with Palestine from the Movement for Black Lives, Standing Rock, #NoBanNoWall, and other U.S. grassroots social justice movements.

Today, we affirm:
*Victory to Palestinian Political Hunger Strikers!
*From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!

=====

Issued May 21, 2017 by Labor for Palestine Co-Conveners:
(Affiliations below for identification only)
*Suzanne Adely, Global Workers Solidarity Network
*Michael Letwin, Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325; Labor for Standing Rock
*Clarence Thomas, Co-Chair, Million Worker March; Executive Board, ILWU Local 10 (retired)

=====

Endorsing Organizations (list in formation)

Labor for Palestine
Labor for Standing Rock
GSOC-UAW Local 2110
Al-Awda New York, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
Black4Palestine
Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)
CUNY4Palestine
Decolonize This Place
Existence is Resistance
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City
LA4Palestine
NYC Solidarity with Palestine
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine
Palestinian Youth Movement – USA
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
TOLEF: Tree of Life Educational Fund
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
US Palestinian Community Network

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[When signing, please list trade union and/or other affiliation, and location, in the comment box — then amplify your voice by sharing on social media and promoting on Change.org]

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E-mail: info@laborforpalestine.net
Web: https://laborforpalestine.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaborForPalestine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Labor4Palestine
Donate: https://laborforpalestine.net/donate-to-lfp

May Day Speech NYC

May Day Speech
Michael Letwin, Labor for Palestine; Labor for Standing Rock; Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325
Union Square NYC, May 1, 2017

*From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!
*Viva, Viva Palestina!

As we gather here today, more than 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners are in their 15th day of a hunger strike against conditions that Amnesty International calls “unlawful and cruel.” Their action is part of a long international tradition, including the hunger strike held last fall by prisoners in the United States.

But the Israeli government — which receives $3.8b/year in U.S. weapons, and closely coordinates with the NYPD and other police agencies that systematically target Black and Brown communities in this country — has branded the strikers “terrorists,” just as the South African apartheid regime once labeled Nelson Mandela and thousands of other political prisoners.

Despite all this, unjust and oppressive regimes — no matter how powerful they may appear — always fall: Jim Crow fell, South African apartheid fell, Zionism will fall.

That’s why, like Biblical Davids, the Palestinian prisoners have answered today’s Goliath by saying: “Our chains will be broken before we are, because it is human nature to heed the call for freedom regardless of the cost.”

I am proud to say that a growing number of workers in the United States are joining them in to stand against the apartheid regime.

Since 2014 alone, West Coast longshore workers have refused to handle Israeli Zim Line cargo; UAW 2865, 2322, and GSOC-2110; the United Electrical Workers, CT State AFL-CIO, and AFT 3220 have endorsed the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) picket line, which demands an end to Israeli military occupation of the 1967 territories; full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel; and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

These actions are in the highest tradition of solidarity, from Black Lives to Standing Rock, from New York City to Palestine.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, on April 16, 1963, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

As trade unionists have always said, “An Injury to One is an Injury to All!”

As we say today:
*Free, Free Palestine
*From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free!

Urgent Call on the AFL-CIO: Reverse Support for the Dakota Access Pipeline

[To sign the statement below, please click here, including your trade trade union and/or other affiliation in the comment box]

stand2

Urgent Call on the AFL-CIO: Reverse Support for the Dakota Access Pipeline
Labor for Palestine, September 17, 2016

As trade unionists and social justice activists, we urgently call on the AFL-CIO to reverse its disgraceful support for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

DAPL continues more than 500 years of settler-colonialism, dispossession, and genocide against indigenous people in the Americas, who are defending the Earth’s vital resources against the same corporate greed, state violence, and repression that violate workers’ rights on a daily basis.

Like the Black and Brown Lives, Immigrant Rights, Palestinian, and other freedom struggles, the courageous Sioux resistance at Standing Rock has become a worldwide beacon for all who fight injustice.

In solidarity, numerous trade union bodies — including the Amalgamated Transit UnionCalifornia Faculty AssociationCommunications Workers of AmericaIndustrial Workers of the WorldIWW Environmental Unionism CaucusNational Nurses UnitedNew York State Nurses AssociationNational Writers Union/UAW Local 1981United Electrical WorkersSEIU 503 OPEUBorder Agricultural Workers; and the Labor Coalition for Community Action, which includes the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and Pride at Work — #StandWithStandingRock.

Workers’ rights are inseparable from indigenous rights. We need decent union jobs that protect, rather than destroy, the Earth — there are no jobs on a dead planet.

An injury to one is an injury to all: #NoDAPL!

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Labor for Palestine Co-Conveners:

Suzanne Adely, U.S.-MENA Global Labor Solidarity Network; Former Staff, Global Organizing Institute, UAW

Michael Letwin, Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325

Clarence Thomas, Co-Chair, Million Worker March; Executive Board, ILWU Local 10 (retired)

Jaime Veve, Transport Workers Union Local 100, NYC (retired)

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See also:

From Standing Rock to Occupied Jerusalem: We Resist Desecration of our Burial Sites and Colonizing our Indigenous Lands (Palestinian BDS National Committee, September 9, 2016)

Open Letter from U.S. Trade Unionists to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Boycott Apartheid Israel (Labor for Palestine, December 4, 2009)

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info@laborforpalestine.net
https://laborforpalestine.net/
https://www.facebook.com/LaborForPalestine/
https://twitter.com/Labor4Palestine
Donate: https://laborforpalestine.net/donate-to-lfp/

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This petition will be delivered to:

  • AFL-CIO President
    Richard Trumka

Labor for Palestine: Against Apartheid, For International Solidarity (Western Mass Labor for Palestine brochure)

View in searchable PDF format: 2016 — WM LFP Brochure.OCR

Screenshot 2016-06-29 16.34.41

Labor for Palestine Opposition to Gov. Cuomo’s Anti-BDS Blacklist, NY MTA Board Meeting

  • Marty Goodman (TWU Local 100) at 5:48 min.
  • Suzanne Adely (Labor for Palestine) at 8:10 min.
  • David Letwin (Jews for Palestinian Right of Return at 10:46 min.
  • John Mooney (TWU Local 100) at 13:22 min.(Written text of some statements, below video)

Marty Goodman (TWU 100)

My name is Marty Goodman. I am a retired Station Agent and a former TWU Local 100 Executive Board member.

I am here to oppose Governor Cuomo’s undemocratic gag act on State funding to supporters of the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against apartheid Israel.

I, like many Jews, fervently support BDS. Israeli Occupation, terror and racism must go.

In 2003, I used vacation time to go to Nablus in the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank of Israel. I stayed with a Palestinian family. I protested occupation every day and roamed its’ bullet ridden streets, learning of outrage after outrage. When I left Nablus, the Palestinian father said, “Marty, you’re family now.”

I’ve learned that yet another illegal Israeli settlement is being built in Nablus, defying international law.

I’m angry as hell. I demand that the MTA reject and repudiate Cuomo’s gag order and the creation of a black list of BDS supporters!

Free speech is a first amendment right!

I also demand that this Board vote down purchases of IBM technology (p213) and Goldman Sachs services as underwriter for the Hudson Rail Yard’s “Trust Obligation” (p33).

Both IBM and Goldman are heavily involved in the Israeli garrison state.

MTA, DIVEST NOW!!!

Spend money on a decent contract for TWU Local 100. Transit workers need wage hikes above inflation to keep up with rising costs, extend maternity leave for women, improve medical care, and remove second class pay for new hires.

I say, Equality for all in Palestine!

End U.S. aid to apartheid Israel!

No to Cuomo’s McCarthyite gag act!

Long live BDS!

Suzanne Adely (Labor for Palestine)

Labor for Palestine, a national workers network, joins members of Transit Workers Union Local 100 who are here today calling on the MTA Board to reject compliance with Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order #157, an unconstitutional blacklist against those who support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

BDS is a global human rights movement which demands an end to the brutal Israeli military occupation of the 1967 territories; full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel; and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

It has gained growing momentum in recent years, particularly the wake of Israel’s massacre of 2200 Palestinians — including 500 children — in Gaza in 2014, and a 10-year high in Palestinian casualties in the West Bank in 2015.

These crimes reflect a system that veteran South African freedom fighters call “worse than apartheid.” That is why BDS is closely aligned to Black Lives Matter and other racial justice movements, and many of its supporters are Jews of conscience.

In the past two years alone, the BDS picket line has been embraced by West Coast longshore workers of the ILWU; thousands of academic workers in the United Auto Workers and American Federation of Teachers; the United Electrical Workers; and Connecticut AFL-CIO.

Such boycotts are protected First Amendment speech, and have been used to remedy injustice, from the segregated buses of Montgomery, Alabama, to the California grape fields, to apartheid South Africa. Today’s BDS movement is similarly unstoppable, for as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

In the judgment of history, the MTA Board will find no refuge in siding with apartheid Israel, or in the excuse that it was “just following orders.” The only legal and moral choice is to refuse complicity with Governor Cuomo’s new McCarthyism.

David Letwin (Jews for Palestinian Right of Return)

I’m speaking today on behalf of Jews for Palestinian Right of Return. We call on the MTA to refuse to cooperate with Governor Cuomo’s unconstitutional executive order 157 directing the state to blacklist any institution or organization that respects the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions picket line against apartheid Israel.

This illegal order is a disturbing assault on the right of free speech and expression. But it is also part of a broader campaign by authorities to intimidate into silence those who stand up for Palestinian human rights and who refuse to accept the legitimacy of a racist regime sustained though ethnic cleansing and dispossession.

The BDS call, which demands the end of the 1967 occupation, equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and right of return for Palestinian refugees, follows in the footsteps of earlier boycott campaigns against Jim Crow and apartheid South Africa. It marches hand in hand today with liberation movements like Black Lives Matter. In the spirit of those movements, we say to the members of the MTA Board of Directors: don’t do business with IBM and Goldman Sachs, both of which are deeply complicit with the apartheid Israeli regime, and don’t collude with Governor Cuomo’s witch-hunt against the growing worldwide BDS movement for justice and equality.

And the next time you see the governor, please tell him for us that his desperate attempt to muzzle BDS will only make it louder.

Thank you.