U.S. Workers Stand Second to None in Opposing Israel's Slaughter of Palestinians
U.S. President Biden, has attempted to convince the working class and people in the United States that more U.S. military aid for Israel should be supported as it is "expanding production lines, strengthening the American economy and creating new American jobs." Without the least sense of shame he claimed that war funding means "American workers are building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom."
The working class and people of the United States are having none of it. Workers and students across the country are joining in defending Palestine and defending democracy by calling for an end to U.S. aid and an end to the U.S./Israeli genocide. Their internationalist spirit is shown in taking their stand for Palestine, in naming Palestinian children, in refusing to back down despite threats of firing, expulsions and more.
Never Again for Anyone
In many actions across the U.S.
and elsewhere, the call for Never
Again for Anyone is being given. It is part of the
stand in support of Palestine and against U.S./Israeli genocide,
and in recognition of the resistance waged against the Nazis in
World War II. It also embodies recognition of U.S. wars of
destruction abroad and egregious crimes in particular against
Blacks, Latinos, Immigrants and Asians as well as Indigenous
peoples at home. There is a broad sense of social
responsibility, with people of many nationalities and
backgrounds participating, against the criminal role of the U.S.
at home and abroad, especially today with its genocide in
Palestine.
Recent actions include those in New York City, where on November 6 Jewish Voice for Peace and people of many religions and backgrounds surrounded the Statue of Liberty. This follows the demonstration by thousands to shut down Grand Central Station during Friday rush hour, with 400 arrested. Ceasefire Now! Not in Our Name! was emblazoned on T-Shirts at both events. Not in Our Name is reflective of the consciousness that Biden and Congress do not represent the people. It recognizes the urgency to publicly stand with Palestine as an expression of the widespread public opinion in the U.S. against the Zionist aggression and U.S. support for it.
People are not buying White House claims that Biden can do nothing. Clearly stopping U.S. funding and supporting UN and international action for a ceasefire are a minimum Biden can do and he does not. Instead, he is still trying to get another $14.3 billion for Israel.
The fraud of U.S. defence of Jewish people was also brought to light by some of the protestors, who spoke of how Jewish family members were denied entry into the U.S. after WWII, while Nazi war criminals were brought in. Families of Holocaust survivors were also present to denounce the current U.S./Israeli genocide.
New York City has the largest
Jewish population outside of Israel and the Zionists often claim
it is their stronghold. These actions -- like many more across
the country where Jewish people are participating or organizing
the resistance -- exposed that fraud. Jews present and past are
an important and integral part of the struggle for progress,
including in the communist and workers' movement. It is the
Zionists, themselves collaborators with the Nazis, that the U.S.
has always protected and defended, including by ensuring Israel
was established in the first place to provide the U.S. with a
political and military base in the region. The U.S. backing and
massive funding is what enables Israel to carry out their
horrific crimes -- making the U.S. as guilty of genocide.
There were many more demonstrations and teach-ins November 9, with high school and university students in many places walking out of class. On November 11, what is called Veterans Day in the U.S., there were webinars and other activities remembering veterans of the resistance movement, such as political prisoners Mumia Abdul Jamal and Leonard Peltier. They too, and many more, are not forgotten. Various actions continue, as people demand a Ceasefire Now and affirm that the U.S./Israeli genocide is NOT in Our Name.
Longshore Workers Support Actions Defending Palestine
Israeli ship blocked in Oakland, California, November 3, 2023
As part of the current struggle to defend Palestine, people are taking the initiative to block transport of military materiel to Israel. This includes a picket line at the port in Oakland, California under the banner No U.S. Aid to Israel. For nine hours a ship to be used for military supplies for Israel was blocked from leaving port. Longshoremen respected the line and did not cross. Eventually the ship headed to Tacoma, Washington, a main port south of Seattle, where military supplies for Israel were to be loaded. Despite changing both the day and time for when the cargo was to be loaded, 1,000 demonstrators came out to block the ship for hours in Tacoma as well.
Ship bound for Israel blocked from loading in Tacoma both on
shore and by Indigenous water defenders on the water, November
6, 2023.
The government was forced to have the military load the cargo as the longshoremen again supported the action by refusing to cross the line of protesters. One worker who had gone aboard disembarked on seeing the protest and sent the message, "Keep fighting, unionize, show the great powers of the world that we, united, can overcome senseless slaughter and develop a global consciousness for one another's humanity." Then, from the water, a dozen Water Warriors of the Puyallup Nation used several kayaks to delay the MV Cape Orlando, dubbed the Genocide Ship, even longer.
Longshoremen, especially on the West Coast have a long history of refusing to cross protest lines and refusing to load war materiel, including for Israel in 2021 and for U.S.-led aggression against Iraq, and by joining the boycott against apartheid South Africa before that. Their participation now is a significant development for the strengthening of the resistance, as is that by transport workers in Spain, Turkey and elsewhere.
Boeing Blockaded in St. Charles, Missouri
Palestine defenders rejected reliance on Biden and Congress to stop U.S. aid to Israel by erecting a blockade at the Boeing plant in St. Charles, Missouri, about 40 kilometres west of St. Louis. Some 75 youth blocked all three entrances to Boeing Building 598. Boeing is one of the largest war monopolies and profiteers. The action disrupted Boeing's delivery of more than 1,000 bombs to Israel, with no shipments made that day and workers told to stay home. The demonstrators used a 35-foot banner with the names of about 1,300 Palestinian children, now numbering more than 4,000 massacred by the U.S./Israeli genocide.
Many Contingents of Labour Join Support for Palestine
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) on November 8 became the largest U.S. union to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, joining a growing labour movement mobilization against Israel's assault on Gaza. Leaders of the APWU, which represents more than 200,000 U.S. Postal Service employees and close to 2,000 mail workers in the private sector, said in a statement that their union is "shocked and saddened by the tragic and ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine."
"As a union that stands for equality, social justice, human and labour rights, and international solidarity, we unite with unions and people of goodwill around the world in calls for justice and peace," the APWU said. It said that "Israel's response [to Hamas violence on October 7] has made the prospects for peace more remote." The APWU decried the thousands of innocent civilians, including 4,000 children, who have been killed "by the relentless and indiscriminate bombing campaign on Gaza. Israel has shut off the flow of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, a war crime. A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding every day in Gaza. Thousands more innocent civilians stand to die wholly preventable deaths," the APWU said.
To put an end to the bloodshed and begin confronting Gaza's appalling humanitarian crisis, the APWU called on the Biden administration to "use all its power" as Israel's "primary foreign benefactor" to "help bring about peace in the region, and not use our tax dollars for more war."
"We join the calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and urgently needed massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less," concludes the union's statement, which was signed by APWU President Mark Dimondstein, Executive Vice President Debby Szeredy, and Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Powell.
The APWU is one of more than a dozen U.S. labour unions that
have called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Labor Notes
reported that after the Thurston-Lewis-Mason Central Labor
Council in Olympia, Washington unanimously approved a resolution
urging its parent federation to "publicly support an immediate
ceasefire and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis," on
October 20, the independent United Electrical, Radio, and
Machine Workers of America issued what it described as a "labour
call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine" and
urged "all union members" to sign on.
(Photos: lmillenium, @milkvamp, Electronic Intifada, P. Wilson)
This article was published in
Volume 53
Number 22 - November 17, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53229.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca