Volume [4]
No. [2]
July 2007
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Volume [4]
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No. [2]
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July 2007
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Labor Solidarity Versus the OccupationBy D. Wurkur, June 2007 |
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| ISM set up an information booth at the National Labor Anti-War Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in December 2006. The convention was sponsored by US Labor Against the War (USLAW), which represents 150 labor organizations with millions of members. USLAW has been raising awareness and seeking to mobilize the labor movement to end the occupation of Iraq. At this gathering, for the first time, USLAW began to view US policy across the Middle East in a broader context. An evening rally featured Phyllis Bennis, a founder of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and a fellow of the US Institute for Policy Studies. She spoke to the need for US labor to support the Palestinian people in their just struggle against the apartheid wall and other aspects of the Occupation. She also discussed the CAT divestment campaign, and, in a later workshop, spoke in support of ISM. She suggested that delegations to Palestine were an excellent way to raise awareness about the Occupation as well as a means of expressing solidarity.
Much work preceded the conventionin Cleveland. Our work with the Communications
Workers Local 9415 here in the East Bay, and with the Labor Committee
for Peace & Justice (LC4PJ) was held up as an example to learn from. Together, Local 9415 and the Labor Committee created a resolution for
this Cleveland Convention. The resolution called for: a focus on education
within labor about the Israeli Occupation of Palestine; divestment from
Israel; and sponsorship of a labor delegation to Palestine that would
bear witness to the US-financed Occupation confronting the working people
of Palestine.
| When the floor opened to speakers, ten people had already eagerly lined up at the microphone to speak on this proposed resolution. More than a dozen spoke to the issue, which was passed along to the steering committee to refine and implement. The resolution was well received, and the entire organization arrived at a broader and deeper understanding of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.
The ISM table generated wonderful conversation and brought in $500. A
laptop featuring video footage from Palestine attracted folks to the table
and allowed them to see olive trees being uprooted to build the wall,
as well as what the wall itself looks like. Elizabeth The labor movement has always espoused international ideals. Holding to those ideals, we are asking American labor leaders to travel to Palestine to bear witness to the occupation and to express our solidarity with the working people of Palestine. The Histadrut (Israeli Labor Federation) has constantly ignored the call for solidarity from their Palestinian cousins in the occupied territories. We in USLAW are seeking to open dialogue between the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and the Histadrut. The Israeli unionists have long enjoyed close relations with their American counter-parts, while the Palestinian unionists have largely been ignored. We hope, through this work, to encourage the Israeli Labor Movement to open dialogue and negotiation with the Palestinian Labor Movement concerning the critical issues affecting working people. It was exciting to be a part of the important work being accomplished
by the USLAW network. In the struggle for peace with justice, ISM and
USLAW make a great team. For more info on US Labor Against the War, see:
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/ D. Wurker is a Bay Area labor activist who traveled to Palestine
with ISM in 2005 as part of the Olive Harvest Campaign. |