> > > International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-Labor > Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian General Strike > October 1, 2009 > > In the long tradition of Jewish working class involvement in and support > for liberation struggles, IJAN-Labor stands in solidarity with the High > Follow-up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel, the National Committee > of Local Authorities, and all parties, movements and institutions of > Palestinian civil society in Israel, who have called a general strike for > today, October 1, 2009. > > This strike marks the ninth anniversary of the Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Day in > October 2000 when Israeli authorities massacred 13 Palestinian protesters. > The killers have never been brought to justice. > > IJAN-Labor also welcomes the Trades Union Congress (U.K.) resolution of 17 > September, which endorses the growing movement for Boycott, Divestment and > Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid, and calls for reconsideration of > the TUC's relationship with the Histadrut, the Zionist labor federation > whose latest crime was to support Israel's attacks on Gaza. > > The BDS campaign has been endorsed by a growing number of labor bodies, > including the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Solidaires > Industrie (France), UNISON (UK), Transport and General Workers’ Union (UK), > Western Australia Branch of the Maritime Union of Australia, Canadian Union > of Postal Workers, Canadian Union of Public Employees-Ontario, six Norwegian > trade unions, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Scottish Trades Union > Congress, and Intersindical Alternativa de Catalunya. > > In the United States, despite growing support from labor organizations and > populations across the globe, the AFL-CIO and Change to Win fail to > recognize what their British counterpart has now acknowledged: that Israel > is a state built on defeating the aspirations and solidarity of working > families not only in Israel but internationally. > > Often without the knowledge or consent of union members, US Labor > officialdom remains a leading accomplice of Israeli apartheid and the > Zionist colonialism of which it is part. For more than sixty years, it has > closely collaborated with the Histadrut, which has spearheaded — and > whitewashed — apartheid, dispossession, ethnic cleansing and exploitation of > the Palestinians since the 1920s. > > Indeed, the Histadrut (as both employer and union) provided lethal weapons > which the South African apartheid government used against Black workers, > while at home it either excluded or segregated Arab workers. > > Today, in solidarity with the general strike of Palestinian workers in > Israel and growing international labor support for BDS, we call on US labor > organizations to divest their estimated $5 billion investment in State of > Israel Bonds, and to end all relations with the Histadrut. > > For more information IJAN Labor, please see our website: > http://www.ijsn.net/C91 > If you are interested in participating in IJAN Labor, please email us at: > [email protected] > ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
