Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Workers Protest SFLC Honor for Zionist ILWU Pres Willie Adams: No Labor Support for Genocide
Workers protested the San Francisco Labor Council honoring of ILWU president Willie Adams at a COPE dinner. Adams flagrantly violated the ILWU policy of support for Palestinians and supported the Zionist regime. He also fired the Editor of the Dispatcher for telling him what the policy was. The SFLC leadership has also blocked any discussion of the genocie in Gaza and action to oppose it.
San Francisco trade unionists and Palestine activists on April 25, 2024 protested the San Francisco Labor Council COPE dinner for ILWU president Willie Adams. Adams ignored the ILWU policy of support for Palestinians and went to Israel and wrote an article supporting the regime. He also fired the editor Steve Stallone when he told Adams it was against the policy of the union.
The San Francisco Labor Council top officials also stopped any action supporting a ceasefire or a position opposing the genocide in Gaza and the US supported apartheid regime. The AFL-CIO president Liz Schuler sent a letter to the SFLC in 2021 ordering the council to stop any debate on the issue of Palestine and the Iraeli apartheid regime.
Additional Media:
Workers Demand General Strike For Palestine & Against Genocide In Gaza At SFLC Meeting
https://youtu.be/0wz9pfkStU8
Workers Demand General Strike To Free Palestine At SF Labor Council
As Bureaucrats Shutdown Action
https://youtu.be/EY_vhLr2__0
SEIU 87 Pres Olga Miranda At 2016 AIPAC Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd6JHMYr2ps
What Willie Adams missed
http://www.labournet.net/world/0701/dispatcher1.html
http://www.ilwu.org/dispatcher/2007/01/upload/jan07_dispatcher.pdf
Dock Workers: Block Military Cargo to Israel Against the Genocidal War on Palestinians in Gaza!
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/21/dock-workers-block-military-cargo-to-israel-against-the-genocidal-war-on-palestinians-in-gaza/
How Protests Against Israeli Bombing of Gaza Stopped Zim Ships
https://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/12/how-protests-against-israeli-bombing-of-gaza-stopped-zim-ships/0/
Free Free Palestine! Workers & General Strike NOW At SFLC Meeting To Stop US Supported Gaza Genocide
https://youtu.be/ZOeSpxHsYRg
BDS now ‘off the table’ for San Francisco San Francisco Labor Council labor group, leader says
https://www.jweekly.com/2021/09/13/bds-now-off-the-table-for-san-francisco-labor-group-leader-says/
AFL-CIO leadership cited a procedural rule to tell the San Francisco Labor Council it couldn’t even debate a resolution on BDS.
https://theintercept.com/2021/10/21/palestine-bds-san-francisco-labor-afl-cio/
Olga Out! Protest To Demand Removal Of SEIU 87 Janitor's President Olga Miranda
https://youtu.be/LF7hQD25x0Q
Protest At SFLC No AFL-CIO Support For Genocide In Palestine! Break Ties With Israeli Histadrut
https://youtu.be/dJ-BNOhAxR4
AFL-CIO, Stop Supporting Israeli Genocide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNNXfok7XyI
The War On Palestinians & The US Labor Movement with NWU President Larry Goldbetter
https://youtu.be/j6hr4BtGTu8
US Labor Has Long Been a Stalwart Backer of Israel. That’s Starting To Change
https://jacobin.com/2023/11/us-labor-israel-palestine-solidarity-history#:~:text=The%20US%20labor%20movement%20has,moments%20are%20becoming%20increasingly%20common.&text=Our%20new%20issue%2C%20“Aging%2C”%20is%20out%20now.
Palestinian Trade Unions Call for an End to Arming Israel https://merip.org/2023/10/palestinian-trade-unions-call-for-an-end-to-arming-israel/
The AFL-CIO, SF Labor Council, Zionism, Apartheid & Labor Imperialism With Jeff Blankfort https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio/ww-11-2-23-the-afl-cio-racism-apartheid-zionism-giwusa-president-on-nambiagaza
The AFL-CIO Squashed a Council's Cease-Fire Resolution. What Does It Say About Labor Right Now?
https://inthesetimes.com/article/afl-cio-israel-palestine-ceasefire-resolution-gaza
UAW 2865 Calls On California Leaders To Demand. A Ceasefire And An End To The Occupation Of Palestine
https://uaw2865.org/uaw-2865-calls-on-california-leaders-to-demand-a-ceasefire-and-an-end-to-the-occupation-of-palestine/
The Israeli Histadrut, Zionism, The AFL-CIO & Imperialism With Carol Lang
https://youtu.be/HLtLDS0FbSE
SF Mayor Lee's Ally SEIU 87 Pres Miranda Physically Assaulted Dissident At Union
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/04/27/18798906.php
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.labormedia.net
Clarifying ILWU's Criticism of Israel and In Defense Of Palestinian Rights
The Dispatcher, 1188 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 94109. http://www.ilwu.org Vol. 65, No. 5 May 2007
We, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, are writing in response to an article by ILWU International Secretary Treasurer, Willie Adams, in the January issue of The Dispatcher. His article ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people, driven from their homes in 1948 and again in 1967. It also ignores the Israeli-orchestrated massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982 in Lebanon. Many Palestinians have lived under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967. A huge “apartheid wall” is carving up the West Bank in violation of international law. And three weeks before Adams’ visit 18 Palestinian civilians were killed in their sleep by Israeli shelling as the Zionist military siege escalated in Gaza.
Adams article is at variance with the official position of our union passed at Conventions in 1988 and 1991. These resolutions characterize the Israeli oppression of Palestinians as “state-sponsored terrorism” and criticize the Israeli trade union federation, Histadrut, for discriminating against Palestinian workers. The 1991 resolution condemns Israeli “suppression of basic freedoms of speech and assembly” of Palestinians, while calling for “the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people”. None of this is mentioned in Adams’ Dispatcher article, nor was it explained that his trip was organized by the Israeli government. We are concerned that this article appears as though it is the official position of the ILWU without any disclaimer.
The ILWU has a proud history of solidarity with the oppressed, most notably our 1980’s anti-apartheid boycott actions against ships from South Africa. And South African workers today are in the forefront of the struggle to defend Palestinian rights against Israeli apartheid. A Dispatcher article supporting Israel just after the recent Zionist attack on civilians in Lebanon and Gaza undermines and causes confusion as to ILWU’s position, a change which can only be made by the Convention, the highest elected body of our union. In the meantime an article clarifying ILWU’s official position is warranted in The Dispatcher.
Jack Heyman #8780 (Local 10), Larry Wright #8534 (Local 91), Al Engler, retired, Past President Local 400, Deborah Stringfellow #82031 (Local 8), Steve Barlow #8301 (Local 34), Michael Hoard #57290 (Local 52), Steve Ongerth #3781 (IBU), McKay Cater #9677 (Local 10,) Gabriel Prawl #57304 (Local 19), Robert Irminger (IBU), Ken Hiebert #38848 (Local 500), Nate Thornton #13317 (Local 34 retired), Corine Thornton, SF Bay Area ILWU Pensioners, Ruth Harer, widow of Asher Harer #2436 (Locals 10 & 34), (’46 & ’48 Strike Com.) SF Bay Area ILWU Pensioner, Peter Parks #82068 (Local 8), Asif Husain, #33781 (Local 500), Jack Mulcahy #82031 (Local 8), Howard Keylor #20447 ( Local 10 retired), Clarence Thomas #8718 (Local 10), Leo Robinson #6461 (Local 10 retired), Mike Vawter #8145 (Local 10), Mario Siguenza #8524 (Local 34), Stan Woods #24873 (Local 6) , Terandy Hudson #81780 (Local 8), Jerry Lawrence #81878 (Local 8), Delbert Newton # 78244 (Local ), Gary Sykes #82585 (Local 8), Charlie Prom #82586 (Local 8), James Lea #82616 (Local 8), Ronald Woods #82577 (Local 8), Roderick Demming #57581 (Local 19), Mikal Ritzhie #82584 (Local 8), Jimmy Lei #82583 (Local 8), Glen Ramiskey #65256 (Local 34), Stan Gow #4498 (Local 10 retired), Rosemarie Wiegman #60953 ( Local 98), Bob Gregg (IBU), Mark Downs #55118 (Local 19 retired).
Resolution Condemning Zionist Attacks on the Palestinian People in 2021
Whereas, ILWU Local 10 has a long history of defending the rights of oppressed people by protesting against the apartheid regime in South Africa and in 2010 and 2014 protesting Israeli repression of the Palestinian people by honoring picket lines, and
Whereas, Zionists have led an assault on Palestinians in Jerusalem praying in the Al Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan provoking a war, and
Whereas, the Israeli Defense Force has arrested Ashraf Al-A’war, Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions which is no different than the bombing of the headquarters of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions in 2002. In response Local 10 officers then signed an Open Letter “condemning the Israeli government’s brutal wave of terror against the Palestinian population”, and
Whereas, today lynch mobs of Israeli settlers, ultra right nationalists and the army are attacking Palestinians not only in their mosques but also in their own homes, reminiscent of the Nazi terrorism directed against Jews in Germany in 1938,
Therefore Be It Resolved that Local 10, consistent with our record, condemns these Zionist attacks on Palestinians and calls on the ILWU Titled Officers and the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) to issue a statement protesting Israeli terror.
Clarence Thomas #8718 (retired), Larry Wright #8534 (ret.), Jack Heyman #8780 (ret.)
What Willie Adams missed
http://www.labournet.net/world/0701/dispatcher1.html
Report by Greg Dropkin
Published: 30/01/07
I was sad to read Willie Adams’ double-page spread in “The Dispatcher” (ILWU newspaper) on his recent trip to Israel.
http://www.ilwu.org/dispatcher/2007/01/upload/jan07_dispatcher.pdf
It showed that you can go halfway around the world and miss the main story.
That story is not Rabin. It is not the Histadrut strike. And it is not even Lebanon, though that is getting closer. The main story is Palestine. It is as significant today as the Civil Rights movement was back in the 1960’s. And it is impossible to understand Israel without also understanding Palestine.
I expect that Willie Adams would be very sceptical, and rightly so, of any international trade unionist invited to tour the East Coast in the summer of 1963 who didn’t notice the March on Washington or ask his hosts what they thought of Martin Luther King or Malcolm X or why certain neighbourhoods and certain jobs were virtually all white or why the ghetto was just around the corner from the White House and Capitol Hill...
Yet Willie has written 2400 words without touching any of the key pieces of the Palestine story: the West Bank, the Wall, Apartheid, discrimination, occupation, settlements, international law, refugees... In fact the word “Palestine” is missing, and “Palestinian” turns up in only 1 sentence. The only Wall in Willie’s story is the Wailing Wall, and the only settlement is the settlement of the minimum wage strike.
Here is a small incident from daily life in the West Bank, as reported on 8 Jan (http://www.counterpunch.org/aloni01082007.html) by the former Israeli Education Minister Shulamit Aloni
I witnessed an encounter between a [Palestinian] driver and a [Israeli] soldier who was taking down the details before confiscating the vehicle and sending its owner away. “Why? ” I asked the soldier. “It’s an order–this is a Jews-only road”, he replied. I inquired as to where was the sign indicating this fact and instructing [other] drivers not to use it. His answer was nothing short of amazing. “It is his responsibility to know it, and besides, what do you want us to do, put up a sign here and let some antisemitic reporter or journalist take a photo so he that can show the world that Apartheid exists here? ”
It would have been interesting to hear what the Histadrut think of such segregated roads, which connect the illegal settlements within the West Bank. I do know that they support the Apartheid Wall, or “Separation Fence” as they may call it, which carves up the West Bank, seizing yet more Palestinian land and helping to incorporate the illegal settlements into an expanding Israel. In June a Histadrut official turned up at the UNISON (public sector union in Britain) conference and defended the Wall. It didn’t go down very well.
Here is what a Palestinian olive farmer told the World Court about the Wall in 2004. Things are a lot worse now and you can read more at http://www.stopthewall.org
Often we can’t get to our farms early enough so we decided to build shelters and tents in order to stay on our land, but on the 13th October 2003 the army surrounded our farms and expelled sixty-six farmers and their livestock and warned them that anyone found sleeping on his land will be fined two thousand shekels and imprisoned for a period of one month. In an incident previous to this date they closed the gates for twenty-eight days continuously and declared the area a closed military zone. This took place during the guava harvesting season. As a result, the farmers lost seventy-five percent of their crops. In addition to the losses sustained in our greenhouses (of tomatoes, cucumber and other vegetables) after this long closure and mass deportation of farmers from their farms, the Israelis introduced permits for the farmers to enter through the gates. These permits are quite simply a big deception; they are only to say to the world that Palestinians have permits and can reach their farms. In reality however, they issued permits to old men and women, people living abroad, children and babies, and in one case to a deceased person, whereas the real farmers have been denied permits. A total of one hundred and sixteen farmers to date have still not been issued with permits. Of these I am one.
The Court ruled in July 2004 that the Wall was completely illegal and must come down, with compensation for the displaced Palestinian communities. The Histadrut think otherwise.
Checkpoints are another feature of the West Bank, experienced by all Palestinians including of course all Palestinian trade unionists. Here is an excerpt from a very recent account by a Palestinian-American woman travelling on a US passport, stopped at a checkpoint en route to Bethlehem:
I asked the soldier what was going on, and what the problem was. He replied in his perfect British accent, “Just because you wave around your American passport, you think you can get through here? !”
Yes, of course I do. That is how it is supposed to work!
... As the queue was growing quite long behind me at this point, I asked if he was holding us here for security. Then his African counterpart chimed in. She said, “yes, they are all terrorists!” in the only English words I heard her utter. Then I asked them if they had ever heard of international law. Daniel asserted, “Here, this is my law”.
Then he spoke into his walkie-talkie, and let me though.
Immediately as I pulled forward, there were three soldiers lined up in a military formation. When I pulled up in front of them, the female soldier, who later told me her name was “Suzanne”, yelled at me in Hebrew to reverse, and go back. After doing so, she went on to attempt to intimidate me with her mean looking snarls, and loud voice. When she asked, I showed her inside my trunk, to prove that I do not have a bomb. It was then that she told me to empty the contents onto the ground...that is when I told her that I would not empty the books that I had in there, and she got really angry. So I told her if she wanted my books on the ground, she would have to put them there, as I would absolutely not.
This did not satisfy her insatiable appetite for meanness and oppression, so then she began mocking me, making fun of my name and told me that I was not allowed to pass through the checkpoint, and I must return to Ramallah – as she threw my passport at me.
This is what Palestinians face going to work or even trying to reach a hospital. Many women have given birth at the checkpoints, unable to cross. What do the Histadrut think of checkpoints?
Inside Israel, 20% of the population is Palestinian. Histadrut affiliated unions organise within the main public sector industries including gas, water, and electricity. They have almost no Palestinian employees. For the situation in March 2004, see http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/680/re104.htm. The Israel Electric Corporation has some 14, 000 staff (2004 figures). Of these, there were a grand total of 119 Arabs, Druze, or Cherkass (Circassian) last year. When “The Guardian” newspaper here in Britain carried articles by their journalist Chris McGreal describing Israel as an apartheid society, the former South African newspaper editor Benjamin Pogrund objected. On 8 Feb. 2006 he claimed that unlike South Africa, change is possible in Israel. “[Arab MK Ahmed] Tibi also complained that the state monopoly Israel Electric did not employ Arabs; a start has since been made with the hiring of six Arabs. ” Six!!!! How many years has the Histadrut organised in Israel Electric?
A few weeks before Willie’s trip, Israel escalated its assault on northern Gaza. Israel had supposedly withdrawn in the summer of 2005 but Israeli military assaults continued ever since. In fact around 700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since the “withdrawal”, while an economic siege has reduced most of those still alive to poverty bordering on starvation. On 8 November 18 Palestinian civilians were murdered in their sleep at 5:30 am. Here is Amnesty International’s account of the slaughter:
“ (Press release, 11/08/2006) - The killing this morning of 18 civilians in the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, victims of Israeli shelling, was an appalling act, Amnesty International said today. The organization called for an immediate, independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. It said previous Israeli investigations, such as that carried out into the killings of a Palestinian family on a beach in the Gaza Strip last June, had been seriously inadequate and failed to meet international standards for such investigations, which must be independent, impartial and thorough.
Those killed, most of whom were asleep in their beds when their homes were struck by shells fired by Israeli forces, included eight children. An Amnesty International delegate who visited the scene of the killings shortly after the attack was told that 15 of the victims were killed in the first strike and that three others were killed by a second shell as they raced to help the dead and injured... ”
The incident provoked massive media coverage and a UN Security Council Resolution, duly vetoed by the US. The Histadrut has not made any public comment but I would have been interested to hear what they told Willie about Beit Hanoun, or even what he asked them about it.
Over 170 Palestinian civil society organisations, including the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions and invidividual unions and labour organisations, are appealing for an international campaign of Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions against the Israeli Occupation.
Their call (http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=66_0_1_10_M11) concludes:
Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression,
We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.
These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:
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.
Their call, originally issued in July 2005, is beginning to have resonance with trade unionists in South Africa, Canada, Ireland, France... and also here in Liverpool.
The 200, 000 strong regional Canadian public sector union CUPE Ontario, at their conference in May 2006 adopted comprehensive policy along the lines of the Palestinian call for boycott, disinvestment and sanctions, specifically including support for:
“the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194”
As Israel invaded Lebanon last summer, members of the Irish public sector union SIPTU employed on the Dublin tram system refused to train Israeli drivers for a tram system serving the illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Willie Madisha, President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), stated
Boycotts, disinvestments and sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa hastened our march to democracy. Why should it be different for Palestinians? In the face of an intransigent, arrogant, racist and brutal Israeli state, this strategy of isolation - particularly since the vast majority of Palestinians support it - should be applied to Israel as well. It is a peaceful option.
Here in Liverpool, the sacked dockers sent a message to their colleagues in Cape Town preparing a mass march for sanctions against Israel, explaining what they would do if still employed on Liverpool docks
Well what we’d hopefully be doing, like any decent human being is that none of the cargoes that are currently being shipped through the Port of Liverpool to the ports of Haifa and Ashdod would be getting touched. They’d all be blockaded on the quay. The ships would be locked inside the docks in Liverpool, and nothing would be touched. Very similar to the actions that we took during the apartheid years of South Africa. Again it was workers coming to the aid of our brothers and sisters in South Africa, by taking direct action, that helped overthrow the apartheid regime. Governments, politicians, stood by while it was left to the workers to bring a solution, and it’s our hope that again it will be the workers and people coming together that will bring a just solution for the people of Lebanon and Palestine.
We would like to see rank and file trade unionists sending out the strongest messages possible to their leadership, that any consumer goods, any goods being transported within the United Kingdom, any goods being produced or manufactured within the United Kingdom, that have any connections whatsoever with Israel, that those goods are blockaded. No one should be working them, they shouldn’t be touched, they should be left. And that’s the message that we’re trying to put forward today.
Palestinians are suffering an intense military occupation in defiance of international law, with the complicity of the US, Britain, and other Western governments who back Israel to the hilt.
I hope that ILWU members will open a real exchange of views and consider how best to express solidarity with those living and working under occupation.
Greg
ILWU Willie Adams International Secretary-Treasurer Visit To Israel
https://archive.ilwu.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/jan07.pdf
By William E. Adams
International Secretary-Treasurer from Nov. 26 to Dec. 4, I took my own time and money to be a part
of a labor delegation to Israel. It was very moving, emotional and inspir- ing. It has been impossible to remain unaffected by the experience. We live in a moment when you can almost hear the wheels of history turning. Change is in the air. International con- flicts, natural disasters, and the emer- gence of new democracies—these are expanding our worldview. Times like these demand that we pay attention. Engaged people are effecting change and affecting our lives every day.
In the wake of the war with Hezbollah, things were somewhat calm. Yet you had the feeling that things could explode at any time. It’s clear to me that the Middle East is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
While the peoples of the Middle East continue their centuries long dis- pute, one factor remains constant—in each country workers have to fight for their share of the wealth they produce. Whether they live and work under the rule of the Mullahs of Iran, or under Saddam Hussein’s labor laws in Iraq, or in the sweatshops of Saudi Arabia, workers have felt a need to organize and struggle. In Israel it’s no different. Our labor del- egation would look at Israel’s work- ing conditions and the state of the class struggle there.
Our tour started in the seaport town of Haifa where they move containers and general cargo. APM Maersk had two gangs working that day. I counted 15 cranes and the ports are very busy.
On Wednesday, Nov. 29 the Histadrut Labor Federation held a general strike that shut down the whole country. The 650,000-member federation represents both Jewish and Arab workers. Our labor delega- tion was in solidarity with our strik- ing brothers and sisters. The issue was the finance ministry’s failure to pay massive sums of money that the labor federation claims it owed to thousands of municipal workers. The strike was a very strong statement, all government offices, airports and seaports, railways, local authorities and garbage collection workers went out. About 100,000 workers had not received salaries in months, some six months, some eight months, some a year and a half. The head of the finance ministry was supposed to pay the debt by Sept. 20, but he did not keep his promise.
“We had no choice to strike,” the Histadrut said. The courts ordered the workers back to work Nov. 30 and a settlement is in the works.
The workers also struck over not receiving their social benefits, accord- ing to Daniel Ben-Sheetrit, chairman of the powerful Histadrut union. Fox news and CNN did not cover this story. Polls showed 71 percent of the people were in favor of the strike. Workers need to be paid and they have families and bills to pay. The strike cost the economy about $70 million a day. What a great way to start our trip!
Education in Israel is a precious legacy. Following the traditions of past generations, education continues to be a fundamental value and is recognized as the key to the future. The educa- tion system aims to prepare children to become responsible members of a democratic, pluralistic society in which people from different ethnic, religious, cultural and political backgrounds coexist. It is based on the principles of liberty and tolerance.
We were honored to be addressed by Joseph Wasserman, General Secretary of the Israel Teachers Union, at our breakfast one morning. There are 120,000 teachers in the union. One of the problems is that the pay is very low and they are having a hard time attracting new teachers into the field. They have a close rela- tionship with AFT here in the U.S.
We were able to visit two schools and mingle with the kids. All the schools have bomb shelters. At the first school, Jewish, Arab and other Muslim kids all went to school togeth- er in a multi-cultural program to teach common respect for one anoth- er. When the war with Hezbollah took place, a missile hit the school. The children were locked down in the bomb shelter for two weeks away from their families. They are living under the hammer everyday.
We should remember also that many kids here live in fear of street gangs. The kids in Israel use the word “fear” a lot. They’re afraid to be alone. You could still smell the smoke of the missiles. When we left the school on the bus, we passed the hat for donations to help the kids, and raised $500. Union people are very generous.
The delegation proceeded to the Lebanese border, where the war between Israel and Hezbollah took place three months before. A quiet came over the delegation. We were right there, with all the tension, pres- sure and instability.
We met with a young man, a lieu- tenant colonel who was in charge of the army post. He was very nice and polite, and he answered all our ques- tions. Yet he had an edge to him. They are at war and on high alert all the time. He kept his finger on the trig- ger of his Uzi machine gun the whole time he talked to our delegation. He was clear that even at that moment, when things seemed calm, it could erupt and there will be more fighting and killing. I heard the emotion in his voice and the pain, yet it was very clear that dying is not hard, living together is what is hard. The lieuten- ant colonel was 22 years old.
As we looked over the border, we saw Lebanese troops, Syrian troops and U.N. troops. I thought to myself that this is a high-stakes poker game among rich and powerful men to con- trol and shape one of the world’s most volatile regions, a region that tugs at emotions that have gone on for gen- erations, ranging from national pride to hate and destruction. The young people are protecting their country, and when they are 18 years old men and women go into the army. For them it’s a badge of honor. They are children of the struggle.
On Wednesday we headed for Giladi and a kibbutz, an Israeli coop- erative community. We had lunch with Rachel Jacob, the sister of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. She spoke to our delegation about her life. She spoke with passion and cour- age. She is a very regal lady in her early 80s. She spent most of her life on a kibbutz, an austere life for a very humble woman. She spoke of her late brother, Yitzhak Rabin, who was an instrument for peace. There was iron in her words of life and death for the whole delegation to hear. She came from the working class and her family lived a modest life. Her presence was like that of Golda Meir, Israel’s first woman prime minister. When she was finished speaking our group gave her a hug and thanked her for spending time with us. It was the first time I had ever spent on a kibbutz.
Bob Ellis, an ILWU Local 23 member and friend told me many years ago that he went to Israel when he got out of high school and worked on a kibbutz. He picked bananas, and remembered the air raids back then and hiding in the bomb shelter.
Later that afternoon we headed up to Jerusalem. It was a beautiful drive. We had dinner that evening at our hotel with M.K. Yuli Tamir, the Minister of Education. We were also privileged to see a performance of “Me’urav Yerushalmi” by the youth choir of Jerusalem. They were great, with so much energy. These young people were so uplifting. After the dinner we had a chance to talk to the young kids. The dialogue was great. They had performed in San Diego last year. They all love the show “American Idol” and hip-hop music. Music is a universal language.
Thursday, Nov. 30 was a sunny day around 30 degrees and our first day in Jerusalem. It would be a day I will never forget. We went to the Yad Vashem Museum, the holocaust muse- um. I was overwhelmed with grief, sadness, anger and tears. How could something like this happen to human beings? Just like slavery, why, how, can human beings be so cruel? It makes me look at myself every day in the mirror and ask that question. History holds no parallel to those horrors.
From that museum we visited the Menachem Begin Heritage Center Museum, built in honor of the late prime minister and revolutionary who shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with Egypt’s President Anwar al-Sadat. To be fair, we also have to remember that Begin authorized the invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
That afternoon we visited the
market in Old Jerusalem. I purchased a painting of two men praying at the Wailing Wall, about the culture of the people and the peace process. It now hangs in my office in San Francisco.
As our delegation met with some of the workers, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was just across town meeting with Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. She praised Israel for its statement of restraint concern- ing the cease-fire, because it is quite fragile, but we would like to see it consolidated and then extended, she said. She said it had been a week of progress.
One worker told me that it was important to be honest about the country, there are many problems there, a lot of challenges. They are threatened, he said. He wanted to know about our country and the elec- tions. It’s pretty clear to me that this administration’s legacy will be one of missed opportunities and failed lead- ership. Clearly, George Bush has not done enough to support peace. The citizens of America went to the polls Nov. 7 and proved that the vote was mightier than the sword.
While Israel takes good care of senior citizens, with great healthcare and good doctors, up to 3,000 Israelis sleep on the streets each night. They tend to be displaced persons, brought to ruin by a caustic cocktail of abuse, financial ruin and drugs, just like here at home.
Every person we met, regardless of religion or gender, wants to see and have peace. How does that come about? The Middle East seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. People we spoke to believe it would take a superhuman effort to achieve peace in the region.
We live in a culture of violence— some people think violence is a legiti- mate means of resolving disputes. And yet Fox News, CNN and others focus on just the violence, and yes, there are problems.
While we live in an age when every thought and utterance is fil- tered through the media, we some- times forget that our world is torn by 25 border disputes involving some 40 nations. But even as technology has facilitated the global exchange of ideas and made the world a smaller place, it has failed to make it a peace- ful one. It was Martin Luther King who taught us that a real moral struggle seeks to win partners—not leave victims. It’s not the past or present, the Middle East must gaze toward the future.
Sunday, Dec. 3 was our last day. We spent it in Tel Aviv and the del- egation visited the Etzel Museum and Independence Hall, where the Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed May 14, 1948 and Israel became a state.
As the sun was setting, our del- egation headed to Rabin Square to place a rose on the spot where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was gunned down Nov. 4, 1995 by a Jewish assas- sin in the central square of Tel Aviv, at the end of a rally in support of his government and its policies. The assassination took place at the height of a charged political debate over the direction and future of Israel. Rabin was a man of valor and peace.
From Rabin Square we headed to our closing dinner at the Yitzhak Rabin Center, hosted by Dalia Rabin, the daughter of the slain prime min- ister. The Center was established by law in 1997 to commemorate the life and achievements of Yitzhak Rabin, and to examine the lessons, circum- stances and implications of his assas- sination. The delegation was given a tour of the Center and the new Museum of History, which displays the life and times of Yitzhak Rabin.
We sat down for a full dinner and Dalia Rabin gave a short talk. She’s a very strong and powerful woman who carries the flame of her father’s legacy forward. Former President Bill Clinton talked about his friend and brother Yitzhak Rabin at last year’s museum dedication, where at least 150,000 attended. To the people of Israel, Rabin’s death was like the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were to the American people. They were good men, humble men who were heroes in their sacri- fice, courage and strength.
Rabin’s land-for-peace idea was still popular with the Palestinians. Polls in March 2006 showed they would support return to the 1967 borders and recognition of Israel, and many Israelis still support that idea.
Rabin is missed because of his personal qualities of modesty, integrity, truthfulness, devotion and adherence to principle, no matter how difficult or unpopular. He belongs not to the past, but to the present and to poster- ity. His grave has become a shrine of pilgrimage and inspiration. He was the privileged and chosen instrument to carry peace to the Middle East.
We live on a planet deeply divid- ed and still struggling to overcome political and economic repression. The message is very simple: hope, respect and relief for the oppressed and downtrodden.
Dr. King was very clear when he said: “If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality and strength without sight.” We must all rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful struggle for a new world. For me it hits the brain and tugs at the very heartstrings.
Adams looks out into Lebanon during a visit to Israel’s northern border.
The San Francisco Labor Council top officials also stopped any action supporting a ceasefire or a position opposing the genocide in Gaza and the US supported apartheid regime. The AFL-CIO president Liz Schuler sent a letter to the SFLC in 2021 ordering the council to stop any debate on the issue of Palestine and the Iraeli apartheid regime.
Additional Media:
Workers Demand General Strike For Palestine & Against Genocide In Gaza At SFLC Meeting
https://youtu.be/0wz9pfkStU8
Workers Demand General Strike To Free Palestine At SF Labor Council
As Bureaucrats Shutdown Action
https://youtu.be/EY_vhLr2__0
SEIU 87 Pres Olga Miranda At 2016 AIPAC Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd6JHMYr2ps
What Willie Adams missed
http://www.labournet.net/world/0701/dispatcher1.html
http://www.ilwu.org/dispatcher/2007/01/upload/jan07_dispatcher.pdf
Dock Workers: Block Military Cargo to Israel Against the Genocidal War on Palestinians in Gaza!
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/21/dock-workers-block-military-cargo-to-israel-against-the-genocidal-war-on-palestinians-in-gaza/
How Protests Against Israeli Bombing of Gaza Stopped Zim Ships
https://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/12/how-protests-against-israeli-bombing-of-gaza-stopped-zim-ships/0/
Free Free Palestine! Workers & General Strike NOW At SFLC Meeting To Stop US Supported Gaza Genocide
https://youtu.be/ZOeSpxHsYRg
BDS now ‘off the table’ for San Francisco San Francisco Labor Council labor group, leader says
https://www.jweekly.com/2021/09/13/bds-now-off-the-table-for-san-francisco-labor-group-leader-says/
AFL-CIO leadership cited a procedural rule to tell the San Francisco Labor Council it couldn’t even debate a resolution on BDS.
https://theintercept.com/2021/10/21/palestine-bds-san-francisco-labor-afl-cio/
Olga Out! Protest To Demand Removal Of SEIU 87 Janitor's President Olga Miranda
https://youtu.be/LF7hQD25x0Q
Protest At SFLC No AFL-CIO Support For Genocide In Palestine! Break Ties With Israeli Histadrut
https://youtu.be/dJ-BNOhAxR4
AFL-CIO, Stop Supporting Israeli Genocide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNNXfok7XyI
The War On Palestinians & The US Labor Movement with NWU President Larry Goldbetter
https://youtu.be/j6hr4BtGTu8
US Labor Has Long Been a Stalwart Backer of Israel. That’s Starting To Change
https://jacobin.com/2023/11/us-labor-israel-palestine-solidarity-history#:~:text=The%20US%20labor%20movement%20has,moments%20are%20becoming%20increasingly%20common.&text=Our%20new%20issue%2C%20“Aging%2C”%20is%20out%20now.
Palestinian Trade Unions Call for an End to Arming Israel https://merip.org/2023/10/palestinian-trade-unions-call-for-an-end-to-arming-israel/
The AFL-CIO, SF Labor Council, Zionism, Apartheid & Labor Imperialism With Jeff Blankfort https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio/ww-11-2-23-the-afl-cio-racism-apartheid-zionism-giwusa-president-on-nambiagaza
The AFL-CIO Squashed a Council's Cease-Fire Resolution. What Does It Say About Labor Right Now?
https://inthesetimes.com/article/afl-cio-israel-palestine-ceasefire-resolution-gaza
UAW 2865 Calls On California Leaders To Demand. A Ceasefire And An End To The Occupation Of Palestine
https://uaw2865.org/uaw-2865-calls-on-california-leaders-to-demand-a-ceasefire-and-an-end-to-the-occupation-of-palestine/
The Israeli Histadrut, Zionism, The AFL-CIO & Imperialism With Carol Lang
https://youtu.be/HLtLDS0FbSE
SF Mayor Lee's Ally SEIU 87 Pres Miranda Physically Assaulted Dissident At Union
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/04/27/18798906.php
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.labormedia.net
Clarifying ILWU's Criticism of Israel and In Defense Of Palestinian Rights
The Dispatcher, 1188 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 94109. http://www.ilwu.org Vol. 65, No. 5 May 2007
We, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, are writing in response to an article by ILWU International Secretary Treasurer, Willie Adams, in the January issue of The Dispatcher. His article ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people, driven from their homes in 1948 and again in 1967. It also ignores the Israeli-orchestrated massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982 in Lebanon. Many Palestinians have lived under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967. A huge “apartheid wall” is carving up the West Bank in violation of international law. And three weeks before Adams’ visit 18 Palestinian civilians were killed in their sleep by Israeli shelling as the Zionist military siege escalated in Gaza.
Adams article is at variance with the official position of our union passed at Conventions in 1988 and 1991. These resolutions characterize the Israeli oppression of Palestinians as “state-sponsored terrorism” and criticize the Israeli trade union federation, Histadrut, for discriminating against Palestinian workers. The 1991 resolution condemns Israeli “suppression of basic freedoms of speech and assembly” of Palestinians, while calling for “the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people”. None of this is mentioned in Adams’ Dispatcher article, nor was it explained that his trip was organized by the Israeli government. We are concerned that this article appears as though it is the official position of the ILWU without any disclaimer.
The ILWU has a proud history of solidarity with the oppressed, most notably our 1980’s anti-apartheid boycott actions against ships from South Africa. And South African workers today are in the forefront of the struggle to defend Palestinian rights against Israeli apartheid. A Dispatcher article supporting Israel just after the recent Zionist attack on civilians in Lebanon and Gaza undermines and causes confusion as to ILWU’s position, a change which can only be made by the Convention, the highest elected body of our union. In the meantime an article clarifying ILWU’s official position is warranted in The Dispatcher.
Jack Heyman #8780 (Local 10), Larry Wright #8534 (Local 91), Al Engler, retired, Past President Local 400, Deborah Stringfellow #82031 (Local 8), Steve Barlow #8301 (Local 34), Michael Hoard #57290 (Local 52), Steve Ongerth #3781 (IBU), McKay Cater #9677 (Local 10,) Gabriel Prawl #57304 (Local 19), Robert Irminger (IBU), Ken Hiebert #38848 (Local 500), Nate Thornton #13317 (Local 34 retired), Corine Thornton, SF Bay Area ILWU Pensioners, Ruth Harer, widow of Asher Harer #2436 (Locals 10 & 34), (’46 & ’48 Strike Com.) SF Bay Area ILWU Pensioner, Peter Parks #82068 (Local 8), Asif Husain, #33781 (Local 500), Jack Mulcahy #82031 (Local 8), Howard Keylor #20447 ( Local 10 retired), Clarence Thomas #8718 (Local 10), Leo Robinson #6461 (Local 10 retired), Mike Vawter #8145 (Local 10), Mario Siguenza #8524 (Local 34), Stan Woods #24873 (Local 6) , Terandy Hudson #81780 (Local 8), Jerry Lawrence #81878 (Local 8), Delbert Newton # 78244 (Local ), Gary Sykes #82585 (Local 8), Charlie Prom #82586 (Local 8), James Lea #82616 (Local 8), Ronald Woods #82577 (Local 8), Roderick Demming #57581 (Local 19), Mikal Ritzhie #82584 (Local 8), Jimmy Lei #82583 (Local 8), Glen Ramiskey #65256 (Local 34), Stan Gow #4498 (Local 10 retired), Rosemarie Wiegman #60953 ( Local 98), Bob Gregg (IBU), Mark Downs #55118 (Local 19 retired).
Resolution Condemning Zionist Attacks on the Palestinian People in 2021
Whereas, ILWU Local 10 has a long history of defending the rights of oppressed people by protesting against the apartheid regime in South Africa and in 2010 and 2014 protesting Israeli repression of the Palestinian people by honoring picket lines, and
Whereas, Zionists have led an assault on Palestinians in Jerusalem praying in the Al Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan provoking a war, and
Whereas, the Israeli Defense Force has arrested Ashraf Al-A’war, Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions which is no different than the bombing of the headquarters of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions in 2002. In response Local 10 officers then signed an Open Letter “condemning the Israeli government’s brutal wave of terror against the Palestinian population”, and
Whereas, today lynch mobs of Israeli settlers, ultra right nationalists and the army are attacking Palestinians not only in their mosques but also in their own homes, reminiscent of the Nazi terrorism directed against Jews in Germany in 1938,
Therefore Be It Resolved that Local 10, consistent with our record, condemns these Zionist attacks on Palestinians and calls on the ILWU Titled Officers and the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) to issue a statement protesting Israeli terror.
Clarence Thomas #8718 (retired), Larry Wright #8534 (ret.), Jack Heyman #8780 (ret.)
What Willie Adams missed
http://www.labournet.net/world/0701/dispatcher1.html
Report by Greg Dropkin
Published: 30/01/07
I was sad to read Willie Adams’ double-page spread in “The Dispatcher” (ILWU newspaper) on his recent trip to Israel.
http://www.ilwu.org/dispatcher/2007/01/upload/jan07_dispatcher.pdf
It showed that you can go halfway around the world and miss the main story.
That story is not Rabin. It is not the Histadrut strike. And it is not even Lebanon, though that is getting closer. The main story is Palestine. It is as significant today as the Civil Rights movement was back in the 1960’s. And it is impossible to understand Israel without also understanding Palestine.
I expect that Willie Adams would be very sceptical, and rightly so, of any international trade unionist invited to tour the East Coast in the summer of 1963 who didn’t notice the March on Washington or ask his hosts what they thought of Martin Luther King or Malcolm X or why certain neighbourhoods and certain jobs were virtually all white or why the ghetto was just around the corner from the White House and Capitol Hill...
Yet Willie has written 2400 words without touching any of the key pieces of the Palestine story: the West Bank, the Wall, Apartheid, discrimination, occupation, settlements, international law, refugees... In fact the word “Palestine” is missing, and “Palestinian” turns up in only 1 sentence. The only Wall in Willie’s story is the Wailing Wall, and the only settlement is the settlement of the minimum wage strike.
Here is a small incident from daily life in the West Bank, as reported on 8 Jan (http://www.counterpunch.org/aloni01082007.html) by the former Israeli Education Minister Shulamit Aloni
I witnessed an encounter between a [Palestinian] driver and a [Israeli] soldier who was taking down the details before confiscating the vehicle and sending its owner away. “Why? ” I asked the soldier. “It’s an order–this is a Jews-only road”, he replied. I inquired as to where was the sign indicating this fact and instructing [other] drivers not to use it. His answer was nothing short of amazing. “It is his responsibility to know it, and besides, what do you want us to do, put up a sign here and let some antisemitic reporter or journalist take a photo so he that can show the world that Apartheid exists here? ”
It would have been interesting to hear what the Histadrut think of such segregated roads, which connect the illegal settlements within the West Bank. I do know that they support the Apartheid Wall, or “Separation Fence” as they may call it, which carves up the West Bank, seizing yet more Palestinian land and helping to incorporate the illegal settlements into an expanding Israel. In June a Histadrut official turned up at the UNISON (public sector union in Britain) conference and defended the Wall. It didn’t go down very well.
Here is what a Palestinian olive farmer told the World Court about the Wall in 2004. Things are a lot worse now and you can read more at http://www.stopthewall.org
Often we can’t get to our farms early enough so we decided to build shelters and tents in order to stay on our land, but on the 13th October 2003 the army surrounded our farms and expelled sixty-six farmers and their livestock and warned them that anyone found sleeping on his land will be fined two thousand shekels and imprisoned for a period of one month. In an incident previous to this date they closed the gates for twenty-eight days continuously and declared the area a closed military zone. This took place during the guava harvesting season. As a result, the farmers lost seventy-five percent of their crops. In addition to the losses sustained in our greenhouses (of tomatoes, cucumber and other vegetables) after this long closure and mass deportation of farmers from their farms, the Israelis introduced permits for the farmers to enter through the gates. These permits are quite simply a big deception; they are only to say to the world that Palestinians have permits and can reach their farms. In reality however, they issued permits to old men and women, people living abroad, children and babies, and in one case to a deceased person, whereas the real farmers have been denied permits. A total of one hundred and sixteen farmers to date have still not been issued with permits. Of these I am one.
The Court ruled in July 2004 that the Wall was completely illegal and must come down, with compensation for the displaced Palestinian communities. The Histadrut think otherwise.
Checkpoints are another feature of the West Bank, experienced by all Palestinians including of course all Palestinian trade unionists. Here is an excerpt from a very recent account by a Palestinian-American woman travelling on a US passport, stopped at a checkpoint en route to Bethlehem:
I asked the soldier what was going on, and what the problem was. He replied in his perfect British accent, “Just because you wave around your American passport, you think you can get through here? !”
Yes, of course I do. That is how it is supposed to work!
... As the queue was growing quite long behind me at this point, I asked if he was holding us here for security. Then his African counterpart chimed in. She said, “yes, they are all terrorists!” in the only English words I heard her utter. Then I asked them if they had ever heard of international law. Daniel asserted, “Here, this is my law”.
Then he spoke into his walkie-talkie, and let me though.
Immediately as I pulled forward, there were three soldiers lined up in a military formation. When I pulled up in front of them, the female soldier, who later told me her name was “Suzanne”, yelled at me in Hebrew to reverse, and go back. After doing so, she went on to attempt to intimidate me with her mean looking snarls, and loud voice. When she asked, I showed her inside my trunk, to prove that I do not have a bomb. It was then that she told me to empty the contents onto the ground...that is when I told her that I would not empty the books that I had in there, and she got really angry. So I told her if she wanted my books on the ground, she would have to put them there, as I would absolutely not.
This did not satisfy her insatiable appetite for meanness and oppression, so then she began mocking me, making fun of my name and told me that I was not allowed to pass through the checkpoint, and I must return to Ramallah – as she threw my passport at me.
This is what Palestinians face going to work or even trying to reach a hospital. Many women have given birth at the checkpoints, unable to cross. What do the Histadrut think of checkpoints?
Inside Israel, 20% of the population is Palestinian. Histadrut affiliated unions organise within the main public sector industries including gas, water, and electricity. They have almost no Palestinian employees. For the situation in March 2004, see http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/680/re104.htm. The Israel Electric Corporation has some 14, 000 staff (2004 figures). Of these, there were a grand total of 119 Arabs, Druze, or Cherkass (Circassian) last year. When “The Guardian” newspaper here in Britain carried articles by their journalist Chris McGreal describing Israel as an apartheid society, the former South African newspaper editor Benjamin Pogrund objected. On 8 Feb. 2006 he claimed that unlike South Africa, change is possible in Israel. “[Arab MK Ahmed] Tibi also complained that the state monopoly Israel Electric did not employ Arabs; a start has since been made with the hiring of six Arabs. ” Six!!!! How many years has the Histadrut organised in Israel Electric?
A few weeks before Willie’s trip, Israel escalated its assault on northern Gaza. Israel had supposedly withdrawn in the summer of 2005 but Israeli military assaults continued ever since. In fact around 700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since the “withdrawal”, while an economic siege has reduced most of those still alive to poverty bordering on starvation. On 8 November 18 Palestinian civilians were murdered in their sleep at 5:30 am. Here is Amnesty International’s account of the slaughter:
“ (Press release, 11/08/2006) - The killing this morning of 18 civilians in the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, victims of Israeli shelling, was an appalling act, Amnesty International said today. The organization called for an immediate, independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. It said previous Israeli investigations, such as that carried out into the killings of a Palestinian family on a beach in the Gaza Strip last June, had been seriously inadequate and failed to meet international standards for such investigations, which must be independent, impartial and thorough.
Those killed, most of whom were asleep in their beds when their homes were struck by shells fired by Israeli forces, included eight children. An Amnesty International delegate who visited the scene of the killings shortly after the attack was told that 15 of the victims were killed in the first strike and that three others were killed by a second shell as they raced to help the dead and injured... ”
The incident provoked massive media coverage and a UN Security Council Resolution, duly vetoed by the US. The Histadrut has not made any public comment but I would have been interested to hear what they told Willie about Beit Hanoun, or even what he asked them about it.
Over 170 Palestinian civil society organisations, including the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions and invidividual unions and labour organisations, are appealing for an international campaign of Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions against the Israeli Occupation.
Their call (http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=66_0_1_10_M11) concludes:
Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression,
We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.
These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:
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.
Their call, originally issued in July 2005, is beginning to have resonance with trade unionists in South Africa, Canada, Ireland, France... and also here in Liverpool.
The 200, 000 strong regional Canadian public sector union CUPE Ontario, at their conference in May 2006 adopted comprehensive policy along the lines of the Palestinian call for boycott, disinvestment and sanctions, specifically including support for:
“the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194”
As Israel invaded Lebanon last summer, members of the Irish public sector union SIPTU employed on the Dublin tram system refused to train Israeli drivers for a tram system serving the illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Willie Madisha, President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), stated
Boycotts, disinvestments and sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa hastened our march to democracy. Why should it be different for Palestinians? In the face of an intransigent, arrogant, racist and brutal Israeli state, this strategy of isolation - particularly since the vast majority of Palestinians support it - should be applied to Israel as well. It is a peaceful option.
Here in Liverpool, the sacked dockers sent a message to their colleagues in Cape Town preparing a mass march for sanctions against Israel, explaining what they would do if still employed on Liverpool docks
Well what we’d hopefully be doing, like any decent human being is that none of the cargoes that are currently being shipped through the Port of Liverpool to the ports of Haifa and Ashdod would be getting touched. They’d all be blockaded on the quay. The ships would be locked inside the docks in Liverpool, and nothing would be touched. Very similar to the actions that we took during the apartheid years of South Africa. Again it was workers coming to the aid of our brothers and sisters in South Africa, by taking direct action, that helped overthrow the apartheid regime. Governments, politicians, stood by while it was left to the workers to bring a solution, and it’s our hope that again it will be the workers and people coming together that will bring a just solution for the people of Lebanon and Palestine.
We would like to see rank and file trade unionists sending out the strongest messages possible to their leadership, that any consumer goods, any goods being transported within the United Kingdom, any goods being produced or manufactured within the United Kingdom, that have any connections whatsoever with Israel, that those goods are blockaded. No one should be working them, they shouldn’t be touched, they should be left. And that’s the message that we’re trying to put forward today.
Palestinians are suffering an intense military occupation in defiance of international law, with the complicity of the US, Britain, and other Western governments who back Israel to the hilt.
I hope that ILWU members will open a real exchange of views and consider how best to express solidarity with those living and working under occupation.
Greg
ILWU Willie Adams International Secretary-Treasurer Visit To Israel
https://archive.ilwu.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/jan07.pdf
By William E. Adams
International Secretary-Treasurer from Nov. 26 to Dec. 4, I took my own time and money to be a part
of a labor delegation to Israel. It was very moving, emotional and inspir- ing. It has been impossible to remain unaffected by the experience. We live in a moment when you can almost hear the wheels of history turning. Change is in the air. International con- flicts, natural disasters, and the emer- gence of new democracies—these are expanding our worldview. Times like these demand that we pay attention. Engaged people are effecting change and affecting our lives every day.
In the wake of the war with Hezbollah, things were somewhat calm. Yet you had the feeling that things could explode at any time. It’s clear to me that the Middle East is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
While the peoples of the Middle East continue their centuries long dis- pute, one factor remains constant—in each country workers have to fight for their share of the wealth they produce. Whether they live and work under the rule of the Mullahs of Iran, or under Saddam Hussein’s labor laws in Iraq, or in the sweatshops of Saudi Arabia, workers have felt a need to organize and struggle. In Israel it’s no different. Our labor del- egation would look at Israel’s work- ing conditions and the state of the class struggle there.
Our tour started in the seaport town of Haifa where they move containers and general cargo. APM Maersk had two gangs working that day. I counted 15 cranes and the ports are very busy.
On Wednesday, Nov. 29 the Histadrut Labor Federation held a general strike that shut down the whole country. The 650,000-member federation represents both Jewish and Arab workers. Our labor delega- tion was in solidarity with our strik- ing brothers and sisters. The issue was the finance ministry’s failure to pay massive sums of money that the labor federation claims it owed to thousands of municipal workers. The strike was a very strong statement, all government offices, airports and seaports, railways, local authorities and garbage collection workers went out. About 100,000 workers had not received salaries in months, some six months, some eight months, some a year and a half. The head of the finance ministry was supposed to pay the debt by Sept. 20, but he did not keep his promise.
“We had no choice to strike,” the Histadrut said. The courts ordered the workers back to work Nov. 30 and a settlement is in the works.
The workers also struck over not receiving their social benefits, accord- ing to Daniel Ben-Sheetrit, chairman of the powerful Histadrut union. Fox news and CNN did not cover this story. Polls showed 71 percent of the people were in favor of the strike. Workers need to be paid and they have families and bills to pay. The strike cost the economy about $70 million a day. What a great way to start our trip!
Education in Israel is a precious legacy. Following the traditions of past generations, education continues to be a fundamental value and is recognized as the key to the future. The educa- tion system aims to prepare children to become responsible members of a democratic, pluralistic society in which people from different ethnic, religious, cultural and political backgrounds coexist. It is based on the principles of liberty and tolerance.
We were honored to be addressed by Joseph Wasserman, General Secretary of the Israel Teachers Union, at our breakfast one morning. There are 120,000 teachers in the union. One of the problems is that the pay is very low and they are having a hard time attracting new teachers into the field. They have a close rela- tionship with AFT here in the U.S.
We were able to visit two schools and mingle with the kids. All the schools have bomb shelters. At the first school, Jewish, Arab and other Muslim kids all went to school togeth- er in a multi-cultural program to teach common respect for one anoth- er. When the war with Hezbollah took place, a missile hit the school. The children were locked down in the bomb shelter for two weeks away from their families. They are living under the hammer everyday.
We should remember also that many kids here live in fear of street gangs. The kids in Israel use the word “fear” a lot. They’re afraid to be alone. You could still smell the smoke of the missiles. When we left the school on the bus, we passed the hat for donations to help the kids, and raised $500. Union people are very generous.
The delegation proceeded to the Lebanese border, where the war between Israel and Hezbollah took place three months before. A quiet came over the delegation. We were right there, with all the tension, pres- sure and instability.
We met with a young man, a lieu- tenant colonel who was in charge of the army post. He was very nice and polite, and he answered all our ques- tions. Yet he had an edge to him. They are at war and on high alert all the time. He kept his finger on the trig- ger of his Uzi machine gun the whole time he talked to our delegation. He was clear that even at that moment, when things seemed calm, it could erupt and there will be more fighting and killing. I heard the emotion in his voice and the pain, yet it was very clear that dying is not hard, living together is what is hard. The lieuten- ant colonel was 22 years old.
As we looked over the border, we saw Lebanese troops, Syrian troops and U.N. troops. I thought to myself that this is a high-stakes poker game among rich and powerful men to con- trol and shape one of the world’s most volatile regions, a region that tugs at emotions that have gone on for gen- erations, ranging from national pride to hate and destruction. The young people are protecting their country, and when they are 18 years old men and women go into the army. For them it’s a badge of honor. They are children of the struggle.
On Wednesday we headed for Giladi and a kibbutz, an Israeli coop- erative community. We had lunch with Rachel Jacob, the sister of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. She spoke to our delegation about her life. She spoke with passion and cour- age. She is a very regal lady in her early 80s. She spent most of her life on a kibbutz, an austere life for a very humble woman. She spoke of her late brother, Yitzhak Rabin, who was an instrument for peace. There was iron in her words of life and death for the whole delegation to hear. She came from the working class and her family lived a modest life. Her presence was like that of Golda Meir, Israel’s first woman prime minister. When she was finished speaking our group gave her a hug and thanked her for spending time with us. It was the first time I had ever spent on a kibbutz.
Bob Ellis, an ILWU Local 23 member and friend told me many years ago that he went to Israel when he got out of high school and worked on a kibbutz. He picked bananas, and remembered the air raids back then and hiding in the bomb shelter.
Later that afternoon we headed up to Jerusalem. It was a beautiful drive. We had dinner that evening at our hotel with M.K. Yuli Tamir, the Minister of Education. We were also privileged to see a performance of “Me’urav Yerushalmi” by the youth choir of Jerusalem. They were great, with so much energy. These young people were so uplifting. After the dinner we had a chance to talk to the young kids. The dialogue was great. They had performed in San Diego last year. They all love the show “American Idol” and hip-hop music. Music is a universal language.
Thursday, Nov. 30 was a sunny day around 30 degrees and our first day in Jerusalem. It would be a day I will never forget. We went to the Yad Vashem Museum, the holocaust muse- um. I was overwhelmed with grief, sadness, anger and tears. How could something like this happen to human beings? Just like slavery, why, how, can human beings be so cruel? It makes me look at myself every day in the mirror and ask that question. History holds no parallel to those horrors.
From that museum we visited the Menachem Begin Heritage Center Museum, built in honor of the late prime minister and revolutionary who shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with Egypt’s President Anwar al-Sadat. To be fair, we also have to remember that Begin authorized the invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
That afternoon we visited the
market in Old Jerusalem. I purchased a painting of two men praying at the Wailing Wall, about the culture of the people and the peace process. It now hangs in my office in San Francisco.
As our delegation met with some of the workers, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was just across town meeting with Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. She praised Israel for its statement of restraint concern- ing the cease-fire, because it is quite fragile, but we would like to see it consolidated and then extended, she said. She said it had been a week of progress.
One worker told me that it was important to be honest about the country, there are many problems there, a lot of challenges. They are threatened, he said. He wanted to know about our country and the elec- tions. It’s pretty clear to me that this administration’s legacy will be one of missed opportunities and failed lead- ership. Clearly, George Bush has not done enough to support peace. The citizens of America went to the polls Nov. 7 and proved that the vote was mightier than the sword.
While Israel takes good care of senior citizens, with great healthcare and good doctors, up to 3,000 Israelis sleep on the streets each night. They tend to be displaced persons, brought to ruin by a caustic cocktail of abuse, financial ruin and drugs, just like here at home.
Every person we met, regardless of religion or gender, wants to see and have peace. How does that come about? The Middle East seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. People we spoke to believe it would take a superhuman effort to achieve peace in the region.
We live in a culture of violence— some people think violence is a legiti- mate means of resolving disputes. And yet Fox News, CNN and others focus on just the violence, and yes, there are problems.
While we live in an age when every thought and utterance is fil- tered through the media, we some- times forget that our world is torn by 25 border disputes involving some 40 nations. But even as technology has facilitated the global exchange of ideas and made the world a smaller place, it has failed to make it a peace- ful one. It was Martin Luther King who taught us that a real moral struggle seeks to win partners—not leave victims. It’s not the past or present, the Middle East must gaze toward the future.
Sunday, Dec. 3 was our last day. We spent it in Tel Aviv and the del- egation visited the Etzel Museum and Independence Hall, where the Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed May 14, 1948 and Israel became a state.
As the sun was setting, our del- egation headed to Rabin Square to place a rose on the spot where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was gunned down Nov. 4, 1995 by a Jewish assas- sin in the central square of Tel Aviv, at the end of a rally in support of his government and its policies. The assassination took place at the height of a charged political debate over the direction and future of Israel. Rabin was a man of valor and peace.
From Rabin Square we headed to our closing dinner at the Yitzhak Rabin Center, hosted by Dalia Rabin, the daughter of the slain prime min- ister. The Center was established by law in 1997 to commemorate the life and achievements of Yitzhak Rabin, and to examine the lessons, circum- stances and implications of his assas- sination. The delegation was given a tour of the Center and the new Museum of History, which displays the life and times of Yitzhak Rabin.
We sat down for a full dinner and Dalia Rabin gave a short talk. She’s a very strong and powerful woman who carries the flame of her father’s legacy forward. Former President Bill Clinton talked about his friend and brother Yitzhak Rabin at last year’s museum dedication, where at least 150,000 attended. To the people of Israel, Rabin’s death was like the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were to the American people. They were good men, humble men who were heroes in their sacri- fice, courage and strength.
Rabin’s land-for-peace idea was still popular with the Palestinians. Polls in March 2006 showed they would support return to the 1967 borders and recognition of Israel, and many Israelis still support that idea.
Rabin is missed because of his personal qualities of modesty, integrity, truthfulness, devotion and adherence to principle, no matter how difficult or unpopular. He belongs not to the past, but to the present and to poster- ity. His grave has become a shrine of pilgrimage and inspiration. He was the privileged and chosen instrument to carry peace to the Middle East.
We live on a planet deeply divid- ed and still struggling to overcome political and economic repression. The message is very simple: hope, respect and relief for the oppressed and downtrodden.
Dr. King was very clear when he said: “If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality and strength without sight.” We must all rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful struggle for a new world. For me it hits the brain and tugs at the very heartstrings.
Adams looks out into Lebanon during a visit to Israel’s northern border.
For more information:
https://youtu.be/Hw8KgnxbfG8
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$330.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network