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Stop The Israeli Massacre In Gaza-Full Support For Labor Community Mass Picket At Zim Line

by Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee TWSC has called for an international blockade of all Zim shipping line operations. It supports the action at the Port of Oakland on August 16 and is organizing for similar action at the Ports Of Los Angeles and Seattle when the Zim Line ships arrives. Also South African COSATU and the Palestinian trade unions have called for an international labor blockade of all Israeli shipping and transportation.
zim_twsc_banner.jpg
Stop The Israeli Massacre In Gaza-Full Support For Labor Community Mass Picket At Zim Lines Ship In Port Of Oakland On August 16 And Other West Coast Ports
Statement Of The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee supports the call for a mobilization against the Israeli Zim shipping line
in the Port of Oakland. This Israeli shipping company operates throughout the world and was closely involved
in supporting the South African apartheid regime.
The Palestinian trade unions have all called for an international boycott of shipping and trade with Israel to stop the military attacks.
In June 2010, over 1200 community and labor activists with rank and file supporters from ILWU Local 10 supported a
picket of a Zim Line ship to prevent it from loading and unloading.
August 16 is also the third anniversary of the massacre of 34 South African miners at the Marikana Lonmin Platinum mines.
The connection in the past between apartheid South Africa regime and apartheid Israel goes back decades. Today,
the South African government even refuses to even expel their Israeli ambassador while
Brazil, Ecuador and other countries have taken such action.
The US government is also actively supporting the Zionist attack on the people of Gaza and the West Bank by providing
jets, bombs and billions of dollars while the "War On Terror" is used to militarize our communities and continue
murder and repression against mostly Black and Latino communities.
A mass picket line of labor and community activists on August 16, 2014 will seek to stop the movement of bloody Israeli cargo We
call on all ILWU Local 10 longshore workers to honor the picket line whether or not a arbitrator is called.
Picket LInes Mean Don't Cross!
Today as well, the ILUW longshore workers including ILWU Local 10 are working without a contract and are under attack
with major giveback demands. There is no contract and no arbitrator to order longshore workers
to cross a picket line. In fact, in Los Angeles, the IBT Teamster port truckers established a picket line against union busting and the
ILWU International shamefully agreed to a 3 day extension of the contract and allowed the arbitrator to come in and rule
that the picket line should be crossed. The port truckers then took down their broken picket line.
Transport workers in the US and around the world have the power to stop this massacre with international working class
action.
The massacre on the Palestinians is also not only by Israel but by the direct military and economic support of the US including
bay area Democratic politicians like Barbara Lee. They have voted to provide Israel a free hand to continue the
massacres and even escalating attacks on UN shelters.
These criminal actions by the Obama administration and sanctioned by Democrats and Republicans
makes a clear statement that Palestinians do not have equal rights in an apartheid state which according to Archbishop
Tutu is worse than apartheid in South Africa. As many have pointed out in South Africa, the apartheid regime never used
such intense military bombing on the Black communities as Israel is carrying out on the people of Gaza.
The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee fully supports mass picketing on August 16 and also has called for international
transport workers action by workers internationally to blockade Israel. This is the kind of action that can really
challenge the US supported Zionist terrorism. Get your union and Labor Council to endorse the action on August 16 and
to call for a total stoppage of all military and economic aid to Israel. The time for working class action to oppose these
international crimes are now.
Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
8/5/2014
http://www.transportworkers.org
organizing(at)transportworkers.org

SA COSATU to intensify campaign in solidarity with Palestine
http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=9277
5 August 2014
The Congress of South African Trade Unions held a joint meeting of its Political and Socio-economic Commissions (CEC sub-committees) on 5 August 2014. It resolved to intensify its campaign of solidarity with the people of Palestine and against the brutal military rampage against the people of Gaza by the Israel apartheid state which has left around 1900 Palestinians dead.
The meeting agreed to urgently step up its solidarity campaign and to co-ordinate it more effectively with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions SA and many other civil society groups. We shall continue to demand the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to SA and the recall of the SA ambassador to Israel.
The main thrust of the campaign must now be to organise an economic, trade, investment and cultural boycott that bites. Lists are to be drawn up of all the Israeli companies operating in South Africa, and all Israeli-made products so that we can mobilise a mass movement to boycott them.
In order to hit the Israel economy where it hurts, we are also urging all our affiliates to use their investment and provident funds more effectively to support this campaign and target international companies propping up the regime by supplying Israel with goods and services, particularly those supplying finance, arms and infrastructure that enable it to operate in the Palestine occupied territories. That is the only language the Israeli rulers will understand.
We note and welcome the several countries and organisations all over the world that have taken steps to isolate the apartheid state of Israel and concretely supported the Palestine people’s struggle to end Israel’s colonial expansionism. We particularly applaud the solidarity action taken by Latin American governments.
Our campaign is to end apartheid and occupation now. There will be no peace in the Middle East unless the world acts with decisiveness, not just for piecemeal ceasefires, but to end the occupation and colonialism by the state of Israel.
The Special CEC of COSATU next week will make further announcements on developing this programme of action towards building a more sustainable and effective momentum in support of the Palestinian people’s struggles.
We shall be drawing on the experience of the international anti-apartheid campaign and studying similar campaigns against Israel in other countries to learn lessons on the best way to put pressure on the Israeli apartheid regime to stop its carnage
We urge all members and supporters to attend the mass rally in Cape Town on Saturday 9 August and all other rallies across the country.
Stop the Israeli apartheid state’s war against the people of Gaza!
Forward to a free and independent Palestine!
Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Streets
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
2000
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct 010 219-1339
Fax: +27 11 339-6940
Mobile: +27 82 821 7456
E-Mail: patrick [at] cosatu.org.za
- See more at: http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=9277#sthash.5GscM83f.dpuf

For Global Action! Stop The Israeli Massacre In Gaza!
http://www.transportworkers.org/node/1411
Statement Of Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
As the Zionist genocidal war against the Palestinian people continues unabated, workers around the world are stunned by the death and destruction rained down in Gaza. Transport workers, because of our key position in the global economy, have the power to stop the wheels of the Israeli war machine, the power to stop it dead in its tracks.
In 2009, dockworkers in Durban, South Africa refused to unload the Israeli ship Johanna Russ to protest what they called “apartheid Israel’s massacres in Gaza”. The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union then called on other unions to follow their exemplary solidarity action with the oppressed Palestinian people.
Then, dockworkers in Oakland, California of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) honored a mass picket line of 1,200 port demonstrators against a Zim Lines ship protesting the Israeli army’s killing of humanitarian aid workers on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. In 1984, ILWU had boycotted a South African apartheid ship.
Saturday August 16 is the date set for the next protest against an Israeli Zim Lines ship in the port of Oakland. This date commemorates the Tripartite South African government killing of 34 striking miners. Known as the Marikana Massacre, it has become a seminal event in the history of South African working class struggles.
The Palestinian General Confederation of Trade Unions has appealed to workers the world over to refuse to handle Israeli goods. The TWSC calls for action on August 16 in solidarity with Palestinians and striking South African workers. Picket Israeli ships, planes and Zim Lines offices. If we can stop the Israeli capitalists’ profits, even for a day, we send a powerful message to the racist Zionist regime that we will not oil their bloody war machine. An injury to one is an injury to all!
Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
http://www.transportworkers.org
organizing [at] transportworkers.org
August 5, 2014


Gaza Calling: All out on Saturday 9 August Day of Rage Join the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement today. Demand Sanctions on Israel Now.


Gaza Calling: All out on Saturday 9 August Day of Rage

Join the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement today. Demand Sanctions on Israel Now.

---------
Palestinian trade unions are calling on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel. The trade union movement has a proud history of direct action against Apartheid in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has joined us in the call for direct action to end Israel’s impunity.
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As we face the full might of Israel’s military arsenal, funded and supplied by the United States and European Union, we call on civil society and people of conscience throughout the world to pressure governments to sanction Israel and implement a comprehensive arms embargo immediately.

Take to the streets on Saturday 9 August with a united demand for sanctions on Israel.

From Gaza under invasion, bombardment, and continuing siege, the horror is beyond words. Medical supplies are exhausted. The death toll has reached 1813 killed (398 children, 207 women, 74 elderly) and 9370 injured (2744 children, 1750 women, 343 elderly). Our hospitals, ambulances, and medical staff are all under attack while on duty. Doctors and paramedics are being killed while evacuating the dead. Our dead are not numbers and statistics to be recounted; they are loved ones, family and friends.

While we have to survive this onslaught, you certainly have the power to help end it the same way you helped overcome Apartheid and other crimes against humanity. Israel is only able to carry out this attack with the unwavering support of governments – this support must end.

This is our third massacre in six years. When not being slaughtered, we remain under siege, an illegal collective punishment of the entire population. Fishermen are shot and killed if they stray beyond a 3 km limit imposed unilaterally by Israel. Farmers are shot harvesting their crops within a border area imposed unilaterally by Israel. Gaza has become the largest open-air prison, a concentration camp since 2006. This time, we want an end to this unprecedented crime against humanity committed with the complicity and support of your own governments!

We are not asking for charity. We are demanding solidarity, because we know that until Israel is isolated and sanctioned, these horrors will be repeated.

Take action this Saturday

Make boycotts, divestments and sanctions the main message at every protest around the world. Take banners and placards calling for sanction on Israel to every protest. Tweet them using the hashtag #GazaDayofRage. Email us your pictures and action details to GazaDayofRage [at] gmail.com.

While news of all the mass protests outside Israel’s embassies around the world have given us hope, after weeks of protests, we urge you to intensify your actions. Occupy Israeli embassies, challenge Israeli officials (and others) supporting the current aggression against Gaza whenever they appear in public and stage sit-in in government buildings.

Boycott all Israeli products and take action against corporations profiting from Israel’s system of colonialism, occupation and apartheid. March to boycott targets in your city and educate the public about companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing military assault and illegal siege of Gaza.

Palestinian trade unions are calling on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel. The trade union movement has a proud history of direct action against Apartheid in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has joined us in the call for direct action to end Israel’s impunity.

From occupied and besieged Gaza

Signed by

Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions

General Union of Palestinian Women

University Teachers’ Association in Palestine

Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (Umbrella for 133 orgs)

Medical Democratic Assembly

General Union of Palestine Workers

General Union for Health Services Workers

General Union for Public Services Workers

General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers

General Union for Agricultural Workers

Union of Women’s Work Committees

Pal-Cinema (Palestine Cinema Forum)

Youth Herak Movement

Union of Women’s Struggle Committees

Union of Synergies—Women Unit

Union of Palestinian Women Committees

Women’s Studies Society

Working Woman’s Society

Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel

Gaza BDS Working Group

One Democratic State Group

Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions National Committee (BNC)

BNC includes: Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), Palestinian National Institute for NGOs, Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition, Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS), Federation of Independent Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Workers, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Women, Union of Palestinian Farmers, General Union of Palestinian Teachers, General Union of Palestinian Writers, Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE), Union of Professional Associations, General Union of Palestinian Peasants, Union of Public Employees in Palestine-Civil Sector, Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW), National Committee for Grassroots Resistance, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba, Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, Coalition for Jerusalem, Union of Palestinian Charitable Organizations, Palestinian Economic Monitor, Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps, Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Initiative

- See more at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/gaza-calling-all-out-on-saturday-9-august-day-of-rage-12423#sthash.PUcxchS7.dpuf

U.S. Labor Leaders Blast British Unions' "Boycott Israel" Resolutions
http://www.jewishlaborcommittee.org/2007/07/us_labor_leaders_blast_british.html
U.S. labor leaders are denouncing British union support for a boycott of Israel . Their response comes in the wake of a decision by several unions, including the UK Transport and General Workers Union, to back economic, cultural and academic boycotts of Israel in protest against “the treatment of the Palestinian people.”

“Their resolutions have no purpose other than demonizing Israel ,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, an alliance of Jewish union leaders and supporters which is soliciting support for a statement opposing these boycotts.

The JLC’s effort has been endorsed by the president of the AFL-CIO; the chair of Change to Win; presidents of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; American Federation of Teachers; United Food and Commercial Workers; Communications Workers of America; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Masters, Mates and Pilots / ILA; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union / UFCW; American Postal Workers Union; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; UAW; American Federation of School Administrators; Office and Professional Employees International Union; American Federation of Government Employees; UNITE-HERE; United Mine Workers of America; Sheet Metal Workers International Association; International Union of Painters and Allied Trades; Transportation Communications Union; American Federation Musicians; Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union; the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers; the Transport Workers Union of America; the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners; the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada; the Utility Workers Union of America; the Seafarers International Union of North America; the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers; the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communications Workers of America; the Writers Guild of America, West; the Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association of the United States and Canada; the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union; the National Education Association; and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / IBT.

Also endorsing the effort are the presidents of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; the A. Philip Randolph Institute; and the Italian-American Labor Council.

Appelbaum, who is also president of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said he expects other U.S. labor leaders to join those who have already voiced their opposition.

“The U.S. labor movement has always been a strong supporter of Israel and continues to be,” Appelbaum said, adding that American union leaders “understand that resolutions calling for boycotts of Israel undermine the goal of winning a lasting peace in the Middle East.”

“It’s obvious that the motivation behind these one-sided boycotts is less an authentic concern for human rights than it is a desire to bash Israel,” he said.

Call For Labor Boycott And Halt Of US MIlitary Aid To Apartheid Israel

Labor for Palestine

Subject: Please Forward Widely: Growing Support for Trade Union Condemnation of US-Israeli War on Gaza

Date: August 4, 2014 9:05:05 PM PDT


Dear fellow labor activist,

Below is an updated list of more than 300 trade union endorsers for Labor for Palestine's statement, Stop the War on Gaza: No Arms for Apartheid Israel — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions! Hundreds of non-labor supporters have also endorsed. (If you already signed, but do not appear below, please your labor affiliation to laborforpalestine.us [at] gmail.com.)

Meanwhile, consistent with our statement, a major action will be held August 16 at the Port of Oakland to block cargo from Israeli shipping company Zim. To endorse, or for more information, contact info [at] araborganizing.org. To participate in solidarity actions the same day elsewhere, please respond to this message.

New trade union resolutions are posted here. To continue building our own statement, please be sure to:

• Endorse. TO BE LISTED, YOU MUST PROVIDE your labor affiliation/organization (including local number, if any), union position (if any), location, and email address. (THIS INFORMATION GOES IN THE "WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT" BOX.)

• Forward this message widely.

• Share on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

• Like the Labor for Palestine Facebook page.

• Repost widely on other websites.

• Introduce a resolution in your union or other labor body (see model resolution, below).

• Donate to Labor for Palestine.

Please also consider signing a parallel statement by Jews for Palestinian Right of Return here. (All endorsers are welcome, but consistent with the character of that statement, Jews are urged to identify themselves as such.)

Thank you.

Suzanne Adely, Monadel Herzallah and Michael Letwin
Co-Conveners, Labor for Palestine

--------



Labor for Palestine
Stop the War on Gaza: No Arms for Apartheid Israel — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions!
July 28, 2014

"We call on the UN and governments across the world to take immediate steps to implement a comprehensive and legally binding military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on South Africa during apartheid." Palestinian Trade Unions and Civil Society, Stop Arming Israel, July 20, 2014

"For the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent." Beyond Vietnam, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967

* * *
As workers and trade unionists, we join with Palestinian trade unions, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Unite (UK/Ireland), and labor organizations around the world to urgently condemn Israel's barbaric war on Gaza, which has taken thousands of lives since 2006, including many hundreds in recent weeks.

With them, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against more than a century of Zionist colonialism, dispossession, ethnic cleaning, racism, apartheid and genocide -- including Israel's very establishment through the uprooting and displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1948 Nakba. Indeed, eighty percent of the 1.8 million people sealed into Gaza are refugees.

With them, we support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), 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, as affirmed by UN resolution 194.

Therefore:

• We call on the US government and its allies to end all aid to Israel.

• We call on workers to emulate dockers in South Africa, India, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, the US west coast, and elsewhere, by refusing to handle military or any other cargo destined for Israel.

• We call on labor bodies to divest from Israel Bonds, and cut ties with the Histadrut, Israel's racist labor federation. (See model resolution, below.)

------------

Initial Signers (List in formation)



Labor Bodies

NC Public Service Workers Union-UE Local 150

Unite Union NZ



Individuals (Affiliation shown for identification only // *Labor for Palestine co-conveners)

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

*Monadel Herzallah, former member, Arab American Union Members Council, San Francisco, CA

*Michael Letwin, former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW L. 2325; co-founder, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, NYC Labor Against the War; US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi, California Faculty Association SFSU

Judith Ackerman, 1199SEIU, AFT, UFT, AFTRA, SAG, New York NY

Larry Adams, former President, NPMHU L. 300; co-founder, NYC Labor Against the War; People’s Organization for Progress

Joseph Agonito, former President, L. 1845-NYSUT, AFT

Bina Ahmad, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Sameerah Ahmad, Executive Director, Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center; former member, GEO/UAW L. 2322

Faiz Ahmed, Chairperson/président Canadian Union of Public Employees L. 3903

Tanya Akel, IBT L. 2010, AFT L. 1521

Noha Arafa, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Anthony Arnove, National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981, Brooklyn NY

B. Ross Ashley, SEIU L. 204 (retired), Toronto ON

John Bail, National Director, Pacific Region Canadian Union of Postal Workers

Harry Baker, Former Executive Board member, SEIU L. 1021, N. CA
Sarah Barker, Organiser, New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Julia Barnett, Steward, CUPS, L. 79

Thomas F. Barton, L. 768, DC 37, AFSCME

Bill Bateman, Laborers L. 271; Coordinator, RI Unemployed Council, RI Campaign for Work & Wages

Richard Berg, Past President, IBT L. 743

Michael Billeaux, Co-President, Teaching Assistants' Association/AFT L. 3220, Madison WI

Walter Birdwell, Retired Steward, National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 283

Richard Blake, IBT L. 512, Jacksonville FL

Dana Blanchard, Berkeley Federation of Teachers, AFT L. 1078

Dave Bleakney, National Union Representative, CUPW, Ottowa ON

Rebecca Bor, Chicago Teachers Union, AFT L. 1

Alexandra Bradbury, co-editor, Labor Notes

Larry Bradshaw, VP SEIU L. 1021, San Francisco

Gloria Brandman, UFT/NYC-MORE Caucus

Deena Brazy, Steward/VP, AFSCME L. 60, Madison WI

Tibby Brooks, National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981

Gabriel Camacho, UNITE HERE L. 66L Cambridge MA

Chris Carlsson, Co-Director, Shaping San Francisco; SEIU L. 1021; adjunct faculty, San Francisco Art Institute

Nora Carroll, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

David Chavez, UAW L. 2865, UC Riverside

Edward Childs, Chief Steward, Unite-Here L. 26

Jan Clausen, Goddard College faculty; UAW L. 2322 Liaison to U.S. Labor Against the War, NYC Chapter

Mary Clinton, Organizer, CWA District 1

L. Antonia Codling, Alt. VP & Former Rep., Attorneys of Color of Legal Aid, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Len Cooper, Victorian Secretary, Communication Workers Union, Australia

Krista L. Cortes, Unit Chair, UAW L. 2865, UC Berkeley

Heather Cottin, Professional Staff Congress, NYC

Mike Cushman, Membership Secretary, London School of Economics, University and College Union branch (UCU)

Denise D'Anne, SEIU L. 1021

Joe Davies, Organizer, Southern Local Government Officers Union, Christchurch NZ

Warren Davis, Exec. VP (Retired), AFGE L. 2006, Philadelphia

Richard Deaton, Ph.D., LL.B., Asst. Director of Research, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)(retired)

Francisco Martin del Campo, Head Steward, UAW L. 2685, UC Berkeley Unit

Jacob Denz, GSOC/UAW L. 2110; NYU; Brooklyn, NY

Roger Dittmann, PhD, Former Secretary, United Professors of California

Monique Dols, UFT, NYC

Greg Dropkin, Unison; Liverpool Friends of Palestine, UK

Tim Dubnau, Organizing Coordinator, CWA District One

Arla S. Ertz, SEIU L. 1021 San Francisco

Shelley Ettinger, AFT L. 3882, NYC

Mark Evard, National Director, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Ottawa ON

Mikos Fabersunne, Professional Engineers in California Government (retired)

Jessica Feldman, UAW L. 2110, NYC

Chris Ferlazzo, Portland Jobs with Justice

Prof. Mary E. Finn, Ph. D., United University Professionals, State University of New York at Buffalo

Prof. Patrick J. Finn, Ph. D., United University Professionals, State University of New York at Buffalo

Gord Fischer, National Director, CUPW Prairie Region, Winnipeg MB

Jon Flanders, Past President, IAM 1145

Prof. Manzar Foroohar, former Chapter President, California Faculty Association-Cal Poly

Sheena Foster, Global Labour University Alumni

Andre Francois, Recording Secretary, USW L. 8751

Carol Gay, President, NJ State Industrial Union Council

Maxine Gay, Retail Finance & Commerce Secretary, FIRST Union New Zealand

Carl Gentile, National Representative, American Federation of Government Employees

Christine Geovanis National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981

Alborz Ghandehari, Recording Secretary, San Diego Unit, UAW L. 2865 (UC Student-Worker Union)

Hadi Gharabaghi, GSOC-UAW L. 2110; Cinema Studies, NYU

Steve Gillis, VP USW L. 8751 (Boston School Bus Drivers' Union)

Mike Gimbel, Chairperson, Labor/Community Unity Committee, L. 375, AFSCME

Greg Giorgio, Delegate, Upstate NY Regional Branch, Industrial Workers of the World

Nathan Goldbaum, Member Communications Coordinator, Chicago Teachers Union, AFT L. 1

Marty Goodman, former Executive Board member, Transport Workers Union L. 100

Erik Green, UAW L. 2865, Financial Secretary, Santa Cruz CA

Ira Grupper, Delegate (retired), Greater Louisville (KY) Central Labor Council, BCTGM L. 16T

Maria Guillen, SEIU L. 1021

Gabriel Haaland, CWA L. 9404

Jesse Hagopian, Seattle Education Association/NEA

Denise Hammond, Unifor 591 G

David Heap, University of Western Ontario Faculty Association

Jenny Heinz, 1199SEIU

Stanley Heller, 40-year AFT member, West Haven, CT, now AFT 933 (retired)

Lucy Herschel, Delegate, 1199SEIU, NYC

Fred Hirsch, VP, Plumbers and Fitters L. 393, San Jose CA

Michael Hirsch, National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981
Bridgett Holloman, 1199SEIU, Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn NY

Alexandra Holmstrom-Smith, Chair, UCLA Unit, UAW L. 2865 (UC Student-Worker Union)

Jim Holstun, UUP Buffalo Center Chapter, NYSUT, AFT

Evert Hoogers, National Union Rep., CUPW (retired)

Cherrene Horazuk, President, AFSCME L. 3800

Jonathan House, President (1979-1981), Executive Director (1982-1989), Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU

Sean Howard, Shop Steward, IBT L. 559, Hartford CT

Janet Hudgins, CUPE (retired)

Ren-yo Hwang, S. VP, UAW 2865, Los Angeles

Joe Iosbaker, Executive Board, SEIU L. 73

Malathi Iyenga, San Diego Unit Chair, UAW L. 2865

Joe Jamison, TWU L. 100 (retired)

James Jordan, National Co-Coordinator, Alliance for Global Justice

Michael P. Kaehler, President, APWU L. 647, Saint Cloud MN Area

Marianne Kaletzky, Head Steward, UAW L. 2865 Berkeley CA

Dan Kaplan, Executive Secretary, AFT L. 1493, San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers

Jim Kaplan, former member, Somerville Teachers Association, MA

Wendy Kaufmyn, Executive Board, AFT L. 2121 (faculty union of City College of San Francisco)

Brian Kelly, UCU Belfast (formerly Carpenters L. 33 Boston and IUMSWA L. 25 East Boston)

Sue Kelly, OPEIU L. 334 (retired)

Russell Kilday-Hicks, VP, California State Employees Association

Ed Kinchley, San Francisco Committee on Political Education; Co-chair, SEIU L. 1021, San Francisco

John Kirkland, Carpenters L. 1462, Bucks County PA

Steve Kirschbaum, Grievance Committee Chair, USW L. 8751

David Klein, California Faculty Association

Jeff Klein, Retired President, NAGE/SEIU L. R1-168

Cindy Klumb, OPEIU L. 153

Richard Koritz, Former President, NALC Branch 630, Greensboro NC

Dennis Kortheuer, California Faculty Association

Bud Korotzer, Shop Steward, AFSCME District Council 37, L. 371 (retired)

Daniella Korotzer, Former VP & Health & Safety Rep., ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Francine Korotzer, Shop Steward, AFSCME District Council 37, L. 2054 (retired)

Dennis Kosuth, Shop Steward, Convention Delegate, National Nurses Organizing Committee, National Nurses United

Rebecca Kurti, 1199SEIU

Elizabeth Lalasz, Steward & Bargaining Team Rep., National Convention Delegate, District 13, National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses Unites (NNOC/NNU)

Zoe Lawlor, Unite Teacher, University of Limerick, Ireland

Howard Lenow, American Jews For A Just Peace, trade union lawyer

Kristin Lew, 1199SEIU

Stephen Lewis, SEIU L. 509

Joe Lombardo, CSEA L. 999, Troy Area Labor Council

Marsha Love, UALE, Chicago

Michael Lyon, AFT L. 2121 (retiree)

John McColgan, SENA 9158, United Steelworkers of America

Maureen McDermott, UFT, NYC

Henry Maar, Trustee, UAW L. 2865

Amir M. Maasoumi, former member, Federation des travailleurs du Quebec (FTQ)

Shafeah M’Balia, National Assn. of Letter Carriers, Greenville, NC Branch 1729; Black Workers For Justice

Cindy McCallum Miller, President, Castlegar Local Canadian Union of Postal Workers, BC

Edward Miller, Strategic Adviser, FIRST Union, Auckland NZ

Gail Miller, UFT, NYC

Nathaniel Miller, Industrial Workers of the World

Susan Olivia Morris, Alternate VP, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Irene Morrison, Recording Secretary, UAW 2865, UC Riverside

Hlokoza Motau, National Union of Metalworkers’ Union (Numsa), Johannesburg, South Africa

Kenneth Myers, United Federation of Teachers, NYC

Ken Nash, AFSCME L. 1930, DC 37

Lisa North, AFT L. 2, Brooklyn NY

Raquel Pacheco, UAW L. 2865, San Diego CA

Meredith Palmer, Head Steward, UAW L. 2865, UC Berkeley

Jackson Pitts, Head Steward, UAW L. 2865, UC Riverside

Maria Pizarro, AFSCME L. 2081

Marion Pollack, retiree, Vancouver BC

Jay Poppa, VP, Bridgeport Education Association, Bridgeport, CT

Dr. Anna Potempska, PhD, PEF (retired), NY

Andre' Powell, AFSCME Delegate, Baltimore Central Labor Council

Peter Rachleff, Labor Educator; UALE

Natasha Raheja, Bargaining Committee, GSOC-UAW L. 2110, NYC

Melissa Rakestraw, Executive Board and Shop Steward, National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 825, Oakbrook IL

Croft Randle, Retired Local Officer and Provincial Representative, Telecommunications Workers Union, BC Canada

Ben Ratliffe, Steward, AFSCME L. 60, WI

Dominic Renda, Chief Shop Steward, CWA L. 1105

Eric Robson, Steward and Trustee, AFSCME L. 171, Madison WI

Marco Antonio Rosales, Unit Chair, UAW L. 2865, UC Davis

Mimi Rosenberg, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society
Keith Rosenthal, AFSCME L. 3650, Somerville MA

Prof. Emerita Marguerite G. Rosenthal, Massachusetts State College Association/Mass. Education Assn./NEA

Andrew Ross, AAUP, NYU

Janice Rothstein, AFSCME L. 3299, San Francisco

Christina Rousseau, CUPE 3903, Toronto ON

David Russitano, Executive Board, United Educators of San Francisco, AFT/CFT L. 61

Gillian Russom, Board of Directors, United Teachers Los Angeles, AFT L. 1021

Carl Sack, AFT L. 3220, UW-Madison Teaching Assistants' Association

Keith Sadler, UAW L. 2, Toledo OH

Lauren Schaeffer, Head Steward, UAW L. 2865, Los Angeles CA

Charity Schmidt, Former Co-President, University of Wisconsin-Madison Teaching Assistants' Association (TAA)

Robert M. Schwartz, National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981, Boston MA

Helen Scott, United Academics AAUP/AFT L. 4996, Burlington VT

Mary Scully, IUE-CWA L. 201 (retired)

Snehal Shingavi, Texas State Employees Union/CWA L. 6186, Austin TX

Tyler Shipley, CUPE L. 3903; Toronto ON

Ahmad Shirazi, Former Board Member, IATSE L. 700, NYC

Sid Shniad, Former Research Director, Telecommunications Workers Union, Vancouver BC

Jerry Silberman, Senior Staff Rep., Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals

Lorrie Beth Slonsky, SEIU L. 1021; Paramedic (retired)

Larry Smallwood, former Telecommunications Workers Union of Canada; Volunteer President L. 7; human rights officer; union activist for equity rights

Nancy Snyder, Recording Secretary Emeritus, SEIU L. 1021

David Sole, Past President, UAW L. 2334, Detroit

Peter Spitzform, AFT/AAUP, University of Vermont

Brenda Stokely, former President, AFSCME DC 1707; co-founder, NYC Labor Against the War; Co-Chair, Million Worker March Movement

Alan Stolzer, Bakers L. 3 (retired)

Susan Stout, Unifor 2002, Canada (retired)

Dante Strobino, UE L. 150, North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, Durham

Brian J. Sullivan, LSSA/UAW L. 2320, NYC

Rick Sullivan, BC Retired Teachers' Association, Parksville BC

Lee Sustar, NWU/UAW L. 1981; Chicago IL

Alice Sturm Sutter, NYSNA (retired), NYC

Team Solidarity - the Voice of United School Bus Workers

Steve Terry, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Clarence Thomas, Co-Chair, Million Worker March; Executive Board, ILWU L. 10

Elizabeth Thornton, Head Steward, UCLA Unit, UAW L. 2865 (UC Student-Workers Union)

Joanne Tien, Head Steward, UAW L. 2865, Oakland CA.

Azalia Torres, Former Executive Board Member, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society

Mike Treen, National Director, Unite Union NZ

Corey Uhl, IBT L. 79, Tampa FL

Jaime Veve, Transport Workers Union L. 100, NYC (retired)

Nantina Vgontzas, GSOC/UAW L. 2110, NYU

Sabina Virgo, Founding and Past President, AFSCME L. 2620

Kay L. Walker, SEIU L. 1021, San Francisco (retired)

Peter Waterman, Researcher/writer on labour internationalisms; ABVA-KABO, The Hague, Netherlands

Dave Welsh, Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council
Nancy Welch, Delegate, UVM United Academics AFT/AAUP

Bruce Wolf, Social Justice Committee, OPEIU L. 2

Sherry Wolf, CWA L. 1032

Cynthia Wright, CUPE 3903

Garrett Wright, National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW L. 2320, NYC

Eddie Yood, CWA L. 1180 Liaison to US Labor Against the War

Carol F. Yost, Organization of Staff Analysts, NYC (retired)

Steve Zeltzer, CWA L. 39521; Pacific Media Workers; KPFA WorkWeek Radio



Additional Signers (As of August 4, 2014)

Susan E. Davis, National Contract Advisor, National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981, NYC
Saladin Muhammad, Co-Coordinator, Southern Workers Assembly; Black Workers For Justice; International Rep., UE (retired)
Paul Bigman, Executive Board, Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council (Seattle, WA); Organizer, AFM L. 76-493
Rami Elamine, CWA-TNG L. 32035
Ajamu Dillahunt, Former President, Raleigh Area Local APWU; Black Workers for Justice
Lyn Meza, Former VP, IUE-CWA L. 201, Lynn MA
Noor Ahmad, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society
Christine Williams, Former Executive Board member, TWU L. 100; Million Worker March Movement
Aileen Sander, SAG-AFTRA
Robert Caldwell, TSEU/ CWA L. 6186
Josephine Perry, SAG-AFTRA
Win Heimer, Secretary, AFT L. 4200R
Jonathon Bakan, CUPE 3903, York University, Toronto ON
Royce Adams, Former VP, ILA L. 1291, Philadelpha
Felix Bunke, IWW (Madison GMB), IU 620
Joshua Morey, Northwest United Educators-Rice Lake/WEAC/NEA; Blue Hills Solidarity Network
Deni Asnis, UESF/AFT L. 61
Anna E. Waltman, M.A.,GEO-UAW L. 2322, Amherst MA
Jamie Partridge, NALC Branch 82; Delegate, NW Oregon Labor Council
Joe Piette, NALC Branch 157, Philadelphia; Organizer, Community-Labor United for Postal Jobs & Services
Logan Sellathurai, Former CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee Member; Former Executive Board Member, CUPE L. 1
Brian Tierney, OPEIU L. 2; IBT
Chelsea Harris, Delegate, IWW, Portland OR
Madelaine Davidson Lees, NUJ Book Branch, UK
Jay Gilman, Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association, L. 124,
Linda Sneed, Los Rios College Federation of Teachers/AFT L. 2279, CFT
Elizabeth McDonnell, LIUNA L. 483
Porfirio Quintano, Steward & Executive Board Member, NUHW
Burnis E. Tuck, AFGE L. 3172 (retired); IWW
Nancy Wright, Hillsborough Classroom Teacher's Association/FEA/NEA, Tampa FL
Linda Ray, SEIU L. 1021; Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council; Co-Chair, Peace and Solidarity Committee
Kaushalya Bannerji, CUPE L. 3903
Ann Fawcett Ambia, Former attorney, DC 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services, AFSCME
Perry Bellow-Handelman, Site Rep., Oakland Education Association
Alicia Deiana Arnold, Oakland Education Association/CTA/NEA
Bob Mandel, Former Executive Board Member, Oakland Education Association/CTA/CFT
Rebecca Burns, Unit Chair, Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, L. 32035, CWA
Michael Shane, Oakland Education Association
Gregory A. Butler, Shop Steward, Carpenters L. 157
Buzz Davis Stoughton, Executive Board, AFT-W Retiree Council
Tim Goulet, IBT L. 810
Adam Sanchez, Portland Association of Teachers, OR
Marian Feinberg, 1199SEIU; NWU/UAW L. 1981
Sean Collins, Organizer, SEIU L. 200; Trustee, Troy (NY) Area Labor Council
Alex Read, AFGE, Toledo OH
Francesca Rosa, SEIU L. 1021; Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council
Philip Smith, UFCW L. 540, Portland OR
Kim Scipes, Chair, Chicago Chapter, NWU/UAW L. 1981
Sharon Maldonado, CTA/CFT (retired), Berkeley CA
Ben Speight, Organizing Director, Teamsters L. 728, Atlanta GA
David McNally, Steward, York University Faculty Association, Toronto ON
Charles Post, PSC-CUNY/AFT L. 2334
Kaushalya Bannerji, CUPE L. 3903, Toronto ON
Tyler Mitchell, Intern, UFCW International, Washington DC
Larry Goldbetter, President, National Writers Union/UAW L. 1981
Bill Burgess, L. 5, Federation of Post-Secondary Educators, Vancouver BC
Linda Gomaa, MENA Regional Organizer, International Union League for Brand Responsibility; Former Member, IFPTE L. 70
Christine Karatnytsky, Former Executive Board Member, AFSCME L. 1930, New York Public Library Guild; founding member NYC Labor Against the War
Michael Haire, 1199SEIU EAST
Joe Catron, Gaza Palestinian Territory; Al-Awda NY; International Solidarity Movement; NWU/UAW L. 1981
Duane Wright Davis, Officer, UAW L. 2865
Stephen Aberle, Union of BC Performers, Vancouver BC Canada
Malcolm Povey, University and College Union, University of Leeds UK
Nadje Al-Ali, Chair, SOAS UCU, London UK
Richard Blum, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society
Angaza Laughinghouse, President, NC Public Service Workers Union-UE L. 150
Ruth Jennison, Massachusetts Society of Professors/MTA/NEA
Matthew Camp, OPEIU; WOCC Organizer, Indianapolis IN
Sarah Hornstein, Steward, Canadian Union of Public Employees, L. 3903, Toronto ON
Mar Velez, Northern Vice President, UAW L. 2865, Berkeley CA
Cynthia Franklin, UHPA, Honolulu
Sona Shah, Texas State Employees Union/CWA L. 6186
Lawrence Turk, Former member, SEIU L. 1021
Maria T. Moreno, Chicago Teachers Union/AFT L. 1
Carla Curio, OPEIU L.8, Seattle
Deepa Kumar, Secretary, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, New Brunswick NJ
Jamie Balancia, Co-Steward, CWA L. 1032, Highland Park NJ
Lisa Edwards, ALAA/UAW L. 2325, NYC Legal Aid Society
Wendy Thompson, UAW L. 22, Detroit, MI, USA
Steve Leigh, Steward, SEIU L. 925, Seattle WA
Rachel Messer, 1199SEIU, NYC Legal Aid Society
Aaron S. Amaral, DC 37, AFSCME
Chuck Mohan, President, Guyanese American Workers United; PSC-CUNY
Brian Pickett, GEO-UAW L. 2322
Sam Weinstein, IJAN-Labor; Former President, Utility Workers L. 132, Retired Assistant to National President, UWUA
IJAN-Labor
Kimberly Goldbaum, Chicago Teachers Union/AFT L. 1
Larry Hendel, SEIU
Isham Christie, Organizer, WGA East
Sherna Berger Gluck, Former VP, CFA/SEIU L. 1983
Joe Cariello, Steward, Trustee & Executive Board Member, UAW L. 2322
Leslie Cunningham, Texas State Employees Union/CWA L. 6186; Delegate, Austin Central Labor Council
Michelle Flores, Campaign Researcher, NYNJ Regional Joint Board, Workers United
Dianne Feeley, UAW L. 22
Linda Tucker, East Baton Rouge Federation of Teachers/AFT
Howard Pflanzer, PSC-CUNY



---------------

Labor for Palestine Model Resolution
Stop the War on Gaza: No Arms for Apartheid Israel — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions!

Whereas, Israel is committing yet another series of massacres in Gaza, many victims of which include workers, children, entire families the elderly, and the disabled; and

Whereas, Palestinian workers and their families continue to be killed and maimed by naval vessels, jet fighters, Apache helicopters, white phosphorous and other weapons supplied by the US and its allies; and

Whereas, during 2009-2018, the US government is set to provide military aid to Israel worth $30 billion; and

Whereas, Israel claims of "self-defense" are a thinly disguised pretext for more than a century of Zionist colonialism, dispossession, ethnic cleaning, racism, and genocide against the Palestinian people -- including Israel's very establishment through the uprooting and displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1948 Nakba. Indeed, eighty percent of the 1.8 million people sealed into Gaza are refugees; and

Whereas, veteran South African freedom fighters have observed that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “worse than apartheid”; and

Whereas, on July 12, 2014, Gaza civil society issued an urgent appeal for solidarity, calling for an arms embargo and full Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against apartheid Israel, 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, as affirmed by UN resolution 194; and

Whereas, on July 10, 2014, the Congress of South African Trade Unions denounced the latest Israeli massacres in Gaza, and called "on the international trade union movement, various civil society organisations, international religious bodies and even business to speak out against savagery and barbarism against fellow human beings"; and

Whereas, on July 11, 2014, Unite, the biggest union in the UK and Ireland, stated that it "unreservedly condemns the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and calls for the military strikes and the military build up to be halted immediately," and reiterated its support for BDS; 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, top U.S. labor officials nonetheless continues to invest billions of from union members’ pension funds in State of Israel Bonds, a pillar of apartheid that enjoys tax-exempt status from the U.S. government; and

Whereas, in opposing the Vietnam War, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared: “For the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent"; and

Whereas, Nelson Mandela declared: "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians";

Therefore:

• We endorse Labor for Palestine's statement Trade Unionists Say: Stop the War on Gaza: No Arms for Apartheid Israel — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions!

• We call on the US government and its allies to end all aid to Israel.

• We call on workers to emulate dockers in South Africa, India, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, the US west coast, and elsewhere, by refusing to handle military or any other cargo destined for Israel.

• We call on labor bodies to divest from Israel Bonds, and cut ties with the Histadrut, Israel's racist labor federation.

-------
LaborforPalestine.net
LaborforPalestine.us [at] gmail.com

Attack On UAW NWU For Defending Palestinian Journalists
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=20&x_article=2794
July 31, 2014 by Dexter Van Zile

National Writers Union Shills for Hamas

The National Writers Union has seen better days. In 1997 the organization, which was founded in 1981, successfully suedThe New York Times for abusing the intellectual property rights of freelance journalists in the United States. (The paper had put articles written by freelance journalists into a fee-based electronic archive without obtaining the permission of the writers who held the copyright.) The NWU, an affiliate of the UAW, won the lawsuit. The New York Times is expected to pay a multi-million dollar payout to the aggrieved parties in 2015.

As a result of the notoriety achieved from its lawsuit against The New York Times, the NWU's membership swelled to nearly 7,000.

Eventually, NWU's lawsuit against The New York Times faded from the headlines and the market for freelance journalism changed drastically. The internet, which everyone thought was going to be a huge money maker for publishers, ended up causing a huge decline in print advertising, without providing new online sources of revenue.

As a result, the NWU's fortunes changed drastically. Today, the NWU has about 1,200 members. It is simply no longer the force for writers it once was and as a result, it is struggling to maintain relevance. Predictably enough, one way it has struggled to achieve this relevance and energize its base is by attacking Israel. It's a strategy that the leaders of mainline churches adopted during the last decade.

On July 29, 2014, the NWU posted an article by its president Larry Goldbetter condemning Israel that states in part: “As of this writing, more than 700 Palestinians have been killed, almost all civilians. Mosques, schools, and medical centers have been destroyed. Thirty-two Israelis have been killed, almost all soldiers.”

What Goldbetter omits from his condemnation is that mosques schools and medical centers that have been hit have been used by Hamas to store weapons and as staging grounds for attacks against Israel. The Washington Post reports that Shifa Hospital has “become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.”

So far, there have been three documented instances of UN schools being used to store Hamas rockets.

Goldbetter also fails to acknowledge that a number of the rockets that have hit civilian installations in the Gaza Strip were launched by Hamas. In his statement, which makes no mention of Hamas, the suffering is all Israel's fault.

Goldbetter's statement about the 700 Palestinians who have died being mostly civilians is also irresponsible because as thisarticle published by Time.com by CAMERA's Steve Stotsky reveals, most of the Palestinians who have died were males between the ages of 17-40, indicating that many of them have in fact been combatants.

Moreover, approximately seven percent of the Palestinians who have died have been adult women. If Israel were attacking indiscriminately, as Goldbetter would have his readers believe, the number of females killed would be much closer to 25 percent.

Moreover, Goldbetter falsely accuses Israel of murdering an unnamed journalist. In leveling his accusations against Israel, Goldbetter links to a statement issued by the International Federation of Journalists which gives the reporter's name as Khaled Hamad. In its description of Hamad's death, the IFJ relies on Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, which like other “civil society” institutions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, have been enlisted in the propaganda war against Israel by both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
IFJ Highly Politicized

Clearly, the IFJ, of which the NWU is a member, has also been compromised in its approach to the conflict. In this statement, IFJ President Jim Boumelha accused Israel of “brutally murdering” a Palestinian journalist and his daughter in a bombardment.

Non-combatants, journalists included, are tragically killed in conflicts throughout the world, but their deaths do not constitute murder.

The propagandistic nature of the IFJ's statement is particularly evident in this passage:

“We repeat our demand that the Israeli forces who continue to defy humanitarian and international law by attacking journalists and their families on a daily basis answer for their crimes,” [Boumehla said].

The latest violations add to the ever increasing toll of atrocities being carried out by Israel against media workers and journalists in Gaza, with five media workers now having lost their lives since the conflict began.
In their attacks on Israel, both the NWU and the IFJ ignore growing evidence that Hamas is intimidating reporters covering the conflict from the Gaza Strip. Reporters who have written about Hamas firing rockets from near schools and hospitals have been threatened and harassed by Palestinians, a reality that both the NWU and the IFJ have failed to address in a meaningful manner during the current conflict.

Full disclosure: Dexter Van Zile is a former member of the National Writers Union. In addition to serving as a chair of the union's local in Boston, he served as a grievance officer for the NWU.

U.C. UAW 2850 student workers union looks to divest from Israel holdings
Thursday, July 31, 2014 | return to: news & features, local


U.C. UAW 2850 student workers union looks to divest from Israel holdings
The leadership of the U.C. Student-Workers Union issued an open letter this week outlining its intent to support the boycott, sanctions and divestment (BDS) movement “against public institutions and corporations that profit from [Israeli] occupation and apartheid.”

The Joint Council of the UAW 2865 — a body of 83 elected officers that oversees some 13,000 teaching assistants, tutors and others student workers in the University of California system — wrote that it “will seek a full membership vote within the upcoming academic year in support of BDS,” but did not elaborate on when that vote would occur.

In contrast to U.C. student government resolutions supporting BDS, which have no financial impact as the U.C. system routinely dismisses them, a BDS resolution passed by UAW 2865 would seek to remove pension fund investments from “companies that profit off of the Israeli occupation,” the letter noted.

Jonathan Kummerfeld, a U.C. Berkeley computer science graduate student and summer instructor, expressed concern that the proposal will pass, even though he thinks most UAW members “are probably in support of a two-state solution.”

“One of the core goals of the BDS movement is the right of return for all Palestinians, which is not compatible with a two-state solution,” he wrote in an email to J. “Based on the announcement made, it seems unlikely that the UAW leadership is going to adequately inform the members of the issues with the BDS movement, and so I think it is very possible that the proposal will pass.”

The UAW leadership group will hold educational forums about divesting its union pensions, the letter noted. “We [also] call upon our members to honor the academic and cultural boycott of Israel and will offer information about the specifics of the campaign soon.”

The letter began with the title “Student Workers at the University of California Support Palestine.” It went on to cite statements from Palestinian trade unions, statistics from the current Israel-Gaza fighting and the history of Israel’s “siege” on Gaza.

Kummerfeld wrote that he was “very concerned about the language of the announcement itself, which presents a very skewed perspective of the history of the conflict.”

Toward its conclusion, the letter, which can be seen in full at http://www.tinyurl.com/uaw-bds, read: “We want to make it clear that this resolution targets a colonial-apartheid state, not Jewish people.” — j. staff

Workers Stand Against Israeli Apartheid-ILWU Members Refuse To Cross Picket LInes On Zim Ship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZch1ydvXvc
laborvideo | July 16, 2010
Workers Stand Against Israeli Apartheid Youtube10.58min
In a historic labor/community protest on June 20, 2010, more than five hundred people joined picket lines in the Port of Oakland SSA terminal to call on ILWU Local 10 and ILWU Local 34 members not to cross the picket lines and work the Israeli Zim ship Shenzhen. The protest of the attack by Israel on the aid flotilla going to Gaza and the ongoing blockade of Gaza. The longshore workers refused to cross the picket line and the protesters as a result were successful in stopping the work on the SSA terminal for 24 hours halting the ships departure until the following day. This labor documentary shows the link and continuity of this action with the 1984 apartheid picket of a ship from South Africa. ILWU workers and others make comparison of these pickets and also why they consider Israel an apartheid regime. Footage of this action and the action today provide a striking connection over 26 years. The port boycott picket was also endorsed by the Oakland Education Association OEA and the San Francisco and Alameda Central Labor Councils. Many bay area trade unionists who joined the picket line speak out on this issue and why they have taken a stand.
Additional Footage by Oriana Bolden http://www.reelchange.org
John Parulis http://brightpathvideo.com
Marty Conlisk http://www.laborbeat.org
The full 58 min. edit of this work is at http://blip.tv/file/3806741
For further videos go to:
ILWU10 EB Member Heyman Supports Swedish Porworkers Union Boycott Of Israeli Ships/Cargo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64aqrj...
Transport Workers Solidarity Committee TWSC http://www.transportworkers.org
Production Of Labor Video Project P.O. Box 720027, San Francisco, CA 94172 laborvideo.blip.tv http://www.laborvideo.org

§Zim ship in the Port Of Oakland
by Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
zim_line_ship_in_port.jpg
Zim Ship in the Port of Oakland was met with a mass picket line of 1200 in June 2010. ILWU Local 10 and ILWU Local 34 longshore workers refused to cross the picket line.
§Labor Boycott Of Zim Line Shipping
by Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
zim__mary_labor_boycott.jpg
There is now an international boycott of the Zionist Zim Shipping Line.
§Israel Zim Ship Unloading In Durban, South Africa
by Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
israeli_zim_ship_johanna3_leaving_durban_unloaded.jpg
The South African ANC government is allowing the apartheid regime Zim Line ships to operate in the Port of Durban despite their statement of support for the Palestinians.
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