Saturday, October 15, 1:10-2:35pm Working for Justice for Palestine in the US Labor Movement
Panelists:
*Ruth Jennison, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Western Mass Labor for Palestine
*Suzanne Adely, Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine; Former Staff, Global Organizing Institute, UAW
*Jaime Veve, Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine; Transport Workers Union 100, NYC (retired)
*Anais N. Surkin, Union Representative/Organizer, GEO/UAW 2322
The workshop will familiarize participants with the history of U.S. labor’s position on Palestine, including the development of the close ties between the AFL-CIO and the Israeli labor federation, the Histadrut.
We will also explore the rise of rank-and-file movements for Palestinian self-determination, starting with Detroit’s Arab and Black auto workers in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the creation of the Palestine Labor Action Network in the late 1980s/early 1990s during the first Intifada, and the founding of US Labor for Palestine in 2004 during the second Intifada.
We will focus on the most recent and exciting solidarity actions in response to the Palestinian call for BDS in 2005: ILWU members' refusal to handle Israeli Zim Line cargo, and resolutions in the UAW, UE, Connecticut AFL-CIO, and AFT. During the last third of the workshop, we will have an open forum for networking and strategizing about how to build BDS in today's labor movement. Sunday, October 16, 12:30-1:45pm Labor for Palestine Organizing Caucus Share experiences and learn from each other. Facilitator: Nastaran Mohit, Organizer, Newspaper Guild of New York Also of interest: October 15, 2:50-4pm Palestinian Return: The Most Significant Right in the BDS Call
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
The 1967 occupation is not Israel's original sin, nor did it occur in a vacuum. Rather, it is part and parcel of more than a century of Zionist settler colonialism, including the 1947-1949 Nakba that created a "Jewish state" through the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians.
Palestinian refugees from this ongoing campaign of dispossession now number seven million -- 70% of the entire Palestinian people -- and constitute the largest refugee population in the world. For this reason, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) co-founder Omar Barghouti describes internationally recognized Palestinian Right of Return as "absolutely the most significant right in the BDS call."
Our workshop will locate this “most significant right" within the broader struggle for Palestinian liberation, and explore ways of advocating Return, directly and creatively, in our solidarity work.
Featured panelists/facilitators:
*Amena ElAshkar
Borj El Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp, Lebanon/The North American Nakba Tour
*David Letwin
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
