Israel-Hamas War – COMMUNIST PARTY OF MAINE

_{^{Demonstrators rally in support of a cease-fire in Gaza on October 16, 2023 in Washington, D.C. | (Photo: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)}}

_{Reposted from Common Dreams}

_{“We join the calls for an immediate cease-fire, the release of hostages, and urgently needed massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less.”}

The American Postal Workers Union on Wednesday became the largest U.S. union to call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, joining a growing labor movement mobilization against Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave.

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 labor rights, and international solidarity, we unite with unions and people of goodwill around the world in calls for justice and peace,” the APWU said. “We unreservedly condemn the Hamas violence of October 7, which killed over 1,000 Israeli civilians and saw the kidnapping of more than 200 people.”

“However, Israel’s response has made the prospects for peace more remote,” the union added. “Over 10,000 innocent civilians, including 4,000 children, 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.”

To put an end to the bloodshed and begin confronting Gaza’s appalling humanitarian crisis, 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. labor unions that have called for a cease-fire in Gaza as the leadership of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest union federation, remains silent on the issue—and works to suppress member organizations that are speaking out.

Labor Notes reported last week 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 cease-fire and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis,” the national AFL-CIO told council officers that the measure “goes beyond the position that the AFL-CIO has taken” and asked if they intended to “retract the resolution.”

“By the end of the week, the council president yielded to the push from the national office, and posts about the resolution were taken down,” according to Labor Notes.

During a meeting of the AFL-CIO executive committee last month, Dimondstein—a self-described “anti-Zionist Jew”—called for the AFL-CIO to demand a cease-fire in Gaza, The New York Timesreported.

“No other labor leader in the meeting offered vocal support for his position,” the Times added.

According to labor historian Jeff Schuhrke, the APWU is the first national union affiliated with the AFL-CIO to publicly endorse a cease-fire in Gaza.

On October 20, the independent United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America issued what it described as a “labor call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine” and urged “all union members” to sign on.

“We, members of the American labor movement, mourn the loss of life in Israel and Palestine,” reads the petition, which has been signed by 14 unions so far. “We express our solidarity with all workers and our common desire for peace in Palestine and Israel, and we call on President Joe Biden and Congress to push for an immediate cease-fire and end to the siege of Gaza. We cannot bomb our way to peace. We also condemn any hate crimes against Muslims, Jews, or anyone else.”

Intensifying labor demands for a cease-fire come as the Biden administration continues to respond dismissively to the proposal, which has been backed by more than 20 members of Congress, the head of the United Nations, and major human rights groups.

Speaking to members of the press on Thursday, Biden said there is currently “no possibility” of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government, led by far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has taken the same stance against a cease-fire. The Guardianreported Thursday that Netanyahu “rejected a deal for a five-day ceasefire with Palestinian militant groups in Gaza in return for the release of some of the hostages held in the territory.”

The White House said Thursday that Israel has agreed to implement four-hour daily “humanitarian pauses” in parts of northern Gaza and open a new corridor for Gazans to flee the area. Israeli forces have been accused of bombing such “safe passage” routes and firing on Gazans attempting to move through them.

_{Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.}

_{^{Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) attend a vigil with other members of Congress on November 7, 2023 to commemorate one month since the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel | (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)}}

_{Reposted from Common Dreams}

“Congresswoman Tlaib’s moral courage will never be extinguishable, but these 22 Democrats’ cowardice, bigotry, and fanaticism will be the only thing the American people ever remember of them,” said Justice Democrats.

Twenty-two Democrats in the U.S. House voted with Republicans on Tuesday to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib—the only Palestinian-American member of Congress—over her response to the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the Israeli military’s response, which has killed more than 10,000 people in just a month.

The censure resolution, led by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), falsely accuses Tlaib (D-Mich.) of defending the Hamas attack as “justified” resistance and calling for the “destruction of the state of Israel.”

The final vote on the measure was 234-188, with four Republicans and 184 Democrats voting no. The 22 Democratic yes votes included Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Jared Golden (Maine), Susie Lee (Nev.), Brad Schneider (Ill.) and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.).

In a floor speech ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Tlaib said that “trying to bully or censure me won’t work because this movement for a cease-fire is much bigger than one person.”

“There are millions of people across our country who oppose [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extremism and are done watching our government support collective punishment and the use of white phosphorous bombs that melt flesh to the bone,” she continued. “But let me be clear: My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and Netanyahu’s actions. It is important to separate people and governments.”

“No government is beyond criticism,” Tlaib added. “The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent, and it’s being used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation.”

In a statement responding to the censure vote, the progressive group Justice Democrats accused the House of taking out “its anti-Palestinian bigotry out on the only Palestinian American in Congress” and called out by name each of the Democratic members who voted yes.

“We ask Representatives Steve Cohen, Jim Costa, Angie Craig, Don Davis, Lois Frankel, Jared Golden, Dan Goldman, Josh Gottheimer, Greg Landsman, Susie Lee, Kathy Manning, Jared Moskowitz, Wiley Nickel, Chris Pappas, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Pat Ryan, Brad Schneider, Kim Schrier, Darren Soto, Ritchie Torres, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Frederica Wilson why the cries of Palestinian babies sound different to them,” said Alexandra Rojas, the group’s executive director.

Tlaib is one of more than 20 members of Congress who have called for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which is facing an appalling humanitarian crisis as Israel continues bombing the besieged territory and ramping up its ground attack. Major human rights groups and the head of the United Nations have also called for a cease-fire, which is overwhelmingly popular with the U.S. public.

But Tlaib and other progressive U.S. lawmakers who have called for a cease-fire have been met with open criticism from members of their own party and the Biden White House.

Tlaib has accused President Joe Biden of supporting genocide in Gaza, echoing the assessments of legal experts who say the administration’s unconditional arming of Israel and unwavering political support rise to the level of complicity in Israeli war crimes.

A group of United Nations experts warned last week that “the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide.”

“The time for action is now,” they added. “Israel’s allies also bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action.”

Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid noted in a statement Wednesday that “the House did not censure Rep. Brian Mast for stating there is no such thing as an innocent Palestinian civilian and comparing all Palestinians to Nazis, nor Rep. Max Miller for saying Gaza should be turned into a ‘parking lot,’ nor Rep. Josh Gottheimer who was reported in two outlets to have blamed all Muslims for the attacks of October 7.”

“Representative Tlaib has repeatedly called for the recognition of the shared humanity of all Israelis and Palestinians,” Shahid added. “It is clear that while Israelis and Palestinians may be equal in the eyes of God, they are not in the eyes of the United States government. It’s now up to Democrats of conscience to dismantle the horrific hierarchy of human value that has taken hold at the highest places in our party and government.”

_{Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.}