Oct. 26, 2024
AFSCME Local 3399’s Executive Board submitted the following resolution today at the Maryland AFSCME Council 3 convention calling for AFSCME to join fellow trade unions in the United States, Palestine and across the world in demanding the immediate halting of all U.S. military aid to Israel to help stop the ongoing genocide and intentional starvation of more than 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza. We also demand the immediate provision of lifesaving humanitarian aid, a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and the fair and equal establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Unfortunately, our resolution wasn’t approved by Council 3 so we call on the AFSCME International Executive Board and our fellow sisters and brothers in other AFSCME locals and Councils to raise their voices with us on this critical human rights issue.
Call for Halting of U.S. Military Aid to Israel
WHEREAS:
The Israeli military has waged war in Gaza for more than a year with reckless disregard for the life and safety of innocent civilians, including indiscriminate attacks on hospitals, refugee centers, and schools; and
WHEREAS:
The horrific attack by Hamas and the taking of hostages on Oct. 7, 2023 does not justify the killing of more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are innocent women and children with no connection to Hamas; and
WHEREAS:
The Israeli government has used starvation as a weapon of war in violation of U.S. and international laws by blocking humanitarian aid shipments and killing aid workers in Gaza, where 2 million people have been displaced from their homes with no safe place to shelter; and
WHEREAS:
The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for war crimes committed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli and Hamas leaders; and
WHEREAS:
U.S. taxpayers, including AFSCME members in Maryland and across the United States, have paid more than $17 billion over the past year for U.S. military aid to Israel when that funding could have been used for pressing needs in our own communities, including creating new jobs, improving schools, and upgrading infrastructure; and
WHEREAS:
Israel’s leaders have defied the U.S. government’s efforts to negotiate a ceasefire; and
WHEREAS:
The Israeli military is now expanding its invasion into Lebanon where more than 2,300 Lebanese people have been killed and United Nations peacekeepers have been targeted; and
WHEREAS:
Innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon have an undeniable right to life, security, and basic necessities, including clean water, food, medical treatment, and shelter; and
WHEREAS:
U.S. military aid is a key enabler of the Israeli government’s reckless policies and there is no incentive to protect civilian lives when this miliary aid continues unrestricted; and
WHEREAS:
A coalition of Palestinian trade unions has issued calls for solidarity from unions across the world to help stop the genocide in Gaza, including the halting of all military aid to Israel; and
WHEREAS:
Seven major labor unions, which represent almost half of all union members in the United States, have taken the lead and answered that call for solidarity by signing a public letter on July 22, 2024 calling on the Biden administration to immediately halt all military aid to Israel. Those seven unions, most of which are affiliated with the AFL-CIO like AFSCME, include the United Auto Workers (UAW), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), and United Electrical Workers (UE); and
WHEREAS:
A resolution that was approved at the 46th AFSCME International Convention called for a ceasefire but did not recommend any specific actions that would apply meaningful pressure on the Israeli government; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME has stood up for racial equity and human rights in the past, including the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike and resolutions opposing apartheid in South Africa; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
AFSCME Council 3 joins seven other major unions in signing on to their public letter to President Biden calling for the immediate halting of all military aid to Israel to help secure permanent ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
This resolution and the signed letter from Council 3 will be prominently posted on the Council 3 website and will be conveyed to the Biden administration, the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigns, and all AFSCME Council Executive Boards.
SUBMITTED BY: AFSCME Local 3399 Executive Board
Letter to President Biden from seven major unions
President Biden,
We write to publicly call upon your Administration to immediately halt all military aid to Israel as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
We all shared hope that the three-part ceasefire proposal you outlined in the final week of May would bear fruit, allowing for the immediate end of violence, the safe return of hostages, and the creation of space for a lasting peace.
As we write you today, however, neither Israel nor Hamas has accepted the agreement as proposed. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet members have publicly refused key elements of the deal, despite your characterizing it as an Israeli proposal.
As you said on May 31, the Israeli response has “devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months” and that “Hamas [is] no longer capable of carrying out another October 7th.” Yet it is clear that the Israeli government will continue to pursue its vicious response to the horrific attacks of October 7th until it is forced to stop.
We believe that immediately cutting US military aid to the Israeli government is necessary to bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Recent reports only underscore the urgency of our demands. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heartwrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza.
Furthermore, Israel’s refusal to minimize civilian harm and its demonstrated restriction of U.S. humanitarian aid call for a halt to U.S. military aid under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Control Export Act.
Mr. President, the time to act decisively to end this war is now. Stopping US military aid to Israel is the quickest and most sure way to do so, it is what U.S. law demands, and it will show your commitment to securing a lasting peace in the region.
Signed,
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA)
American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
International Union of Painters (IUPAT)
National Education Association (NEA)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
United Auto Workers (UAW)
United Electrical Workers (UE)