UFT Resolution: Labor Solidarity with the People of Palestine
Whereas, the entire world mobilized in unprecedented mass protest on May 15th, marking the 73rd anniversary of what the Palestinian and Arab peoples as a whole know as al-Nakba — the Catastrophe — which made way for the creation of the Israeli apartheid state and drove out more than half of the Palestinian population from their homeland by means of violent terror; and
Whereas, Israel continues its historic campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, many victims of which include workers, children, entire families, the elderly, and the disabled; and
Whereas, at least 215 Palestinians in Gaza were killed this past May, including 61 children; Israeli warplanes bombed entire residential buildings on the heads of Palestinians, all main roads that led to Al Shifa Hospital, the biggest hospital in Gaza, and buildings that hold offices for media agencies. Palestinian and international journalists were arrested, beaten and threatened by Israeli forces; and
Whereas, we believe Palestinian children deserve a future and to grow up without the loss of their parents to atrocious violence and ongoing trauma; and
Whereas, it has been estimated by the Norwegian Refugee Council that there are 10 attacks on Palestinian educational establishments by Israeli authorities and settlers a month; and
Whereas, we recognize that the challenges Palestinian teachers and students face in teaching and learning are manufactured by the Israeli state and include passing through military checkpoints on the way to school; being routinely arrested and interrogated by Israeli soldiers; the confiscation of school equipment; teaching and learning in overcrowded classrooms as a result of school buildings being regularly bulldozed; being unable to teach Palestinian history as a result of Zionist censorship; the suffering and intergenerational trauma of Palestinian children living under continuous military bombardement and siege; and
Whereas, as U.S. taxpayers, it is our money that pays for the weapons that Israel uses to attack Palestinian infrastructure, roads, agriculture, hospitals, COVID clinics, water processing plants, homes, families and communities. Over $3.8 billion yearly of taxpayer money funds the purchase of weapons by the Israeli military; New York City alone gives almost $145 million dollars a year to the Israeli military — a sum that could fund 1,793 elementary school teachers, 96,349 people to receive food assistance, or 24,933 students to receive Pell grants; and
Whereas, our union, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), is directly complicit in the funding of the Israeli military’s attacks on Palestinians. According to the US Department of Labor, in 2020 the UFT had at least two bonds invested in the State of Israel, in the amounts $100,00 and $65,000. Because of their own beliefs, and without the consent of the membership, the UFT is financing Israel; and
Whereas, Ashraf Al-A’war, a Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, was detained on May 8th by Israeli security forces and subjected to questioning about his trade union activities. An Israeli court then violated ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association by prohibiting him from taking part in any trade union or political gathering for one month; furthermore, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions has called on unions across the world to join the BDS movement in solidarity; and
Whereas, other unions have endorsed BDS, such as: unions of graduate workers at the University of California (UAW Local 2865), UMass Amherst (UAW Local 2322), and New York University (UAW 2110), as well as teachers unions such as the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF); and
Whereas, the U.S. labor movement must unite its voice with the international labor community against apartheid, an international crime against humanity. The violence against poor and working Palestinians under the occupation done in our name by our government are our responsibility; and
Resolved, we answer the call of our Palestinian colleagues and demand that our teacher unions discontinue the funding of Israel’s settler-colonial military; and
Resolved, that educators show their solidarity with Palestinian people by teaching the history of the Palestinian oppression, as we would the history of American slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, antisemitism, and South African apartheid. Websites such as TeachPalestine.org have a wealth of resources for history and literature courses; and
Resolved, that the UFT expresses its solidarity with the Palestinians’ call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), inspired by the movement that helped end apartheid in South Africa, which the UFT participated in by passing a resolution urging the Teachers’ Retirement System to divest its holdings from companies that did business in South Africa; and
Resolved, that the UFT will call on labor bodies to divest from Israel bonds and cut ties with the Histadrut, Israel’s racist labor federation that aggressively discriminates against Arab workers; and
Resolved, that the UFT will stand in solidarity with dock workers in Italy, South Africa, India, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, the US west coast, and elsewhere, who refuse to handle military or any other cargo destined for Israel; and
Resolved, that the UFT will be diligent in pressing its labor bodies and elected officials in its networks to lobby the U.S. government to end all aid to Israel; and
Be it further resolved, that the UFT supports Labor Against Racism and War (L.A.R.W.) as a vehicle to organize for international worker solidarity and will affiliate or re-affiliate, with L.A.R.W.
Be it finally resolved, that the UFT will divest from any country, business, or organization involved in human rights violations.
Update: This resolution was submitted on 6/13 for the June Delegate Assembly of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) on 6/16. It was listed as motion 6 out of 8. Motions 1–5 were raised during the meeting but the time for motions was up before motion 6 could be read and voted on. The June DA was the final DA of the school year. The resolution will be resubmitted for the first DA of the 21–22 school year.