July 13, 2011 – Sign on below!
Whereas, on May 4, 2011, the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (PTUC-BDS) specifically called “on trade unions around the world to actively show solidarity with the Palestinian people by. . . . divesting from Israel Bonds and all Israeli and international companies and institutions complicit in Israel’s occupation, colonization and apartheid”; and
Whereas, on July 8, 2011, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) urgently called for “immediate international action towards a mandatory comprehensive military embargo against Israel similar to that imposed against apartheid South Africa in the past”; and
Whereas, since the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1947-1948, Israel has used at least $108 billion from the U.S. government to carry out ongoing war, ethnic cleansing, racism and apartheid against the Palestinians and many other Arab nations; and
Whereas, in the past ten years alone, the U.S. government — with overwhelming bipartisan support — has given Israel $17 billion in military aid; over the next decade, it will give another $30 billion; and
Whereas, as a result, Palestinian workers continue to be killed and maimed by U.S.-supplied naval vessels, jet fighters, Apache helicopters, white phosphorous and other weapons; and
Whereas, in 2008/2009 alone, Israel used these weapons to enforce the brutal and illegal siege by killing 1400 people in Gaza, most of them civilians — a massacre condemned by the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, including those that are Israeli; and
Whereas, U.S. supplied-weapons were similarly used in the deadly May 31, 2010 Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, and to kill scores of unarmed Palestinian refugees exercising their right to return in 2011; and
Whereas, in 2006, Israel turned Lebanon into a killing ground, slaughtering and maiming thousands of people, destroying the civilian infrastructure, and turning a quarter of the population into refugees in their own land; and
Whereas, the U.S. and Israel provided similar support to the apartheid South Africa regime, just as they now arm and finance dictatorships to suppress the Arab Spring; and
Whereas, veteran South African freedom fighters have observed that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “worse than apartheid”; and
Whereas, amidst spiraling economic crisis, workers in this country pay a staggering human and financial price for U.S.-Israeli war and occupation from Palestine to Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan; and
Whereas, just as trade unionists fight “replacement” of striking workers, we stand against the dispossession, occupation and inequality inflicted on millions of Palestinian working people and their descendants for more than six decades; and
Whereas, the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against apartheid Israel has been endorsed by numerous labor bodies around the world, including the trade union congresses of South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, Ireland, Scotland and the UK, and labor bodies in Australia, France, Canada, Norway, Catalunya, Italy, Spain and Turkey; and
Whereas, numerous U.S. labor bodies participated in similar divestment campaigns against apartheid South Africa; and
Whereas, following the May 31, 2010 Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, members of ILWU Local 10 in Oakland courageously followed the South African dockers’ example by refusing to handle Israeli cargo; and
Whereas, such solidarity stands in the proud tradition of West Coast dock-workers who refused to handle cargo for Nazi Germany (1934) and fascist Italy (1935); those in Denmark and Sweden (1963), the San Francisco Bay Area (1984) and Liverpool (1988), who refused shipping for apartheid South Africa; those in Oakland who refused to load bombs for the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1978); and those at all twenty-nine West Coast ports who held a May Day strike against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2008).
Therefore, we join with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Brazilian CUT, and other labor bodies, in specifically reaffirming support for an immediate and comprehensive arms embargo; and
Whereas, Israel has now sought to repress the growing BDS campaign by banning recognition of the 1948 Nakba or advocacy of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions;
Therefore, we call on all labor bodies to divest from Israel Bonds; and
Therefore, we call on workers not to handle weapons and all other military cargo destined for Israel; and
Therefore, that these and other necessary measures be maintained until the Israeli apartheid regime recognizes Palestinian human rights and self-determination by immediately:
1. Ending its 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.
Monadel Herzallah, Arab American Union Members Council, San Francisco, CA
Larry Adams, Former President, NPMHU L. 300; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; People’s Organization for Progress
Michael Letwin, Labor for Palestine; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325
Brenda Stokely, Former President, AFSCME DC 1707; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Co-Chair, Million Worker March Movement
Carl Gentile, National Representative, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), AFL-CIO
Joe Iosbaker, SEIU Local 73, Executive Board member
Carol Gay, President, NJ State Industrial Union Council, Chairperson, NJ Labor Against War
Andre Powell, Delegate, Baltimore MD Metro AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, AFSCME
Bill Bateman, Coordinator, RI Unemployed Council, Member, Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 271
Steve Gillis, Vice-President, USW Local 8751, The Boston School Bus Drivers’ Union, Roslindale, MA
Manzar Foroohar, , Former Chapter President, California Faculty Association (CFA), Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Amy Hines, Labor Relations Representative/Organizer, AEU, Concord, CA
Dan Kaplan, Executive Secretary, AFT L. 1493; San Mateo, CA
Dennis Kortheuer, California Faculty Association, Long Beach, CA
Joseph Agonito, American Federation of Teachers, Local 1845, Syracuse NY
Nathaniel Miller, Industrial Workers of the World, Philadelphia, PA
Carole Seligman, retired member South San Francisco Classroom Teachers Association, CTA, NEA
Mike Gimbel, retired Executive Board member, Local 375, AFSCME
Joe Lombardo, CSEA,Troy Area Labor Council, Co-coordinator United National Antiwar Committee
Stephen Cheng, Brandworkers International/Industrial Workers of the World, New York, NY
Sherna Berger Gluck, former vice-president, California Faculty Assn/SEIU 1983
Mary Scully, IUE-CWA Local 201 (retired)
Walter Birdwell, retired shop steward, National Association of Letter Carriers
John Dudley, SEIU, Branford, CT
Garrett Wright, Member, Industrial Workers of the World, New York City
Anna Potempska, Public Employees Federation, Staten Island, NY
Mark Clinton, Massachusetts Community College Council, Holyoke Community College Chapter
Jerry Silberman, Senior Staff Representative, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, AFL-CIO, Philadelphia, PA
Azalia Torres, Former Executive Bd. Member, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, Brooklyn, NY
Anthony Arnove, National Writers Union
Martha Grevatt, member UAW Local 869
David Heap, UWO Faculty Association, London, Ontario
Mike Treen, National Director, Unite the Union, Auckland, NZ
Sabah al-Mukhtar, President, Arab Lawyers Association (UK), London
Theresa Peters, National Union of Teachers, England
National Lawyers Guild International Committee
Dave Welsh, Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council
Evalyn Segal, California State Employees Association, Walnut Creek, CA
Christine Geovanis, Delegate, UAW Local 1981, National Writers Union, Chicago, IL
Rita Connolly, SEIU, San Francisco, CA
Sarah S. Forth, Steering Committee, Los Angeles Chapter, National Writers Union, UAW 1981, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Billeaux, Teaching Assistants Association – AFT Local 3220, Madison, WI
Powell DeGange, UNITE HERE Local 2, Oakland, CA
Bill Preston, President, AFGE Local 17, Washington, DC
William K. Crum, Industrial Workers of the World, Bronx, NY
Cynthia High, United Teachers Los Angeles, Monrovia, CA
Jerry Gates, Oil, Chemical and Nuclear Workers, former shop steward, West Chester, PA
Paul Alexander, Past local president, secretary, and shop steward, Communications Workers of America, Florida
Izzy Cohen, California Faculty Association
Mikos Fabersunne, Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), retired, Davis, CA
Edward Stiel, IBEW Local 302, San Francisco, CA
Thomas F. Barton, Local 768, DC 37, New York, NY
Stanley Heller, AFT 933 (retired), New Haven, CT
Fred Hirsch, Plumbers and Fitters Local 393 Executive Board Member, Santa Cruz, CA
Peter Kuttner, IATSE, Chicago, IL
Rogers Turrentine, Writers Guild of America, west, Oceanside, CA
Joe Balkis, Elected Steward, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Calumet City, IL
John Gordon, American Institute of Architects, New York, NY
Crystal Robert, BC Teachers Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Carlinus Zainuddin, Jurong Port Labor, Singapore
Brian Latour, Vice President Unit 1, CUPE 3909, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Jey Iyadurai, CUPW, Toronto, ON, Canada
Mike Marqusee, National Union of Journalists – UK, London, UK
Percy Masuku, National Coordinator, International Research Academy for Labour and Education, Manzini, Swaziland
Susan Stout, Canadian Auto Workers (retired), Vancouver, BC, Canada
Laura Jordan, Industrial Workers of the World (IU 620), Manchester, UK
B. Ross Ashley, retired shop steward, former Executive member, SEIU Local 204/Local 1 Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
Andrew W H Taylor, Canadian Labour Defense League, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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