Above photo: Palestine solidarity demonstrators march in New York City. Wyatt Souers.
Palestinian trade unions mark one year of resistance to genocide.
In latest statement, they express support for solidarity actions taken by workers across the globe.
The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions has issued a statement marking nearly one year of resistance to genocide since October 7. Addressing their “Brothers and Sisters of trade and workers’ unions in North America, Europe, and the rest of the world,” the PGFTU calls on “the free world and the global labor movement to stand in a broad and pressing solidarity campaign with our people in Gaza.” The PGFTU expressed support for “dock workers unions in Africa, Europe, and other ports in taking action to stop the flow of weapons and disrupt the financial networks that finance the bombing of our people.”
“We ask you to refuse to deal with military shipments to Israel through all military ships and logistics companies, especially Maersk and ZIM,” the PGFTU continued. The Palestinian Youth Movement, and international Palestinian diaspora organization, has already launched a campaign specifically targeting Maersk for its key role in the flow of weapons to Israel. The campaign, titled “Mask off Maersk,” has launched actions around the globe.
The PGFTU also extended appreciation to the seven trade unions in the United States who called on their government to cut off US military aid to Israel. These unions—the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), the National Education Association (NEA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the United Electrical Workers (UE)—represented almost half of the entire unionized workforce in the US.
“We call on all unions to take similar courageous stands,” stated the PGFTU, “The call for a ceasefire is a reasonable, necessary, and courageous first step, but all union councils and local governments must supplement these calls.”
“We call on all unions to elevate the level of their political pressure, strategies, and tactics to demand an immediate end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We call on you to follow the lead of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) in the U.S. by adopting resolutions supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and demanding that the Biden administration end all military aid to Israel,” the Federation articulated.
Read the full text of the statement by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions below:
Appeal from the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions on the occasion of a year of resistance to genocide
Brothers and Sisters of trade and workers’ unions in North America, Europe, and the rest of the world.
We write to you once again from Gaza as we approach the one-year mark since the start of this genocidal war – a year of torture, pain, and suffering; a year in which our people have faced forced displacement, a war of starvation, death bombs that rain on the heads of civilians, and the almost complete destruction of life from the bombardment of homes and their inhabitants, schools, hospitals, mosques, and churches; a year in which we have witnessed the wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure, the systematic destruction of civil society, and the near complete destruction of the offices and headquarters of most unions.
Despite these harsh conditions, we have done everything possible to aid our communities with our limited resources. This is the cruelest ethnic cleansing campaign we have experienced throughout the past 76 years of occupation; this unprecedented monstrous aggression of Israel has increased the torment of the Palestinians in Gaza through the demolition of homes over the heads of their inhabitants and the deprivation of electricity, water, fuel, medicine, and necessary medical supplies due to the suffocating siege on the Strip for the seventeenth consecutive year.
The number of martyrs that Israel has killed in this devastating war exceeds 40,700 casualties, most of whom are women, children, and thousands of workers and their families, in a toll unprecedented in modern history, with more than 16,700 children and 11,300 women counted among them. More than 94,100 people have been injured or wounded. More than 12,000 citizens are trapped under the rubble, in addition to the destruction of hundreds of
hospitals and the bombing of refugee camps for the displaced, leaving children prey to epidemics, diseases, and malnutrition, now including a polio epidemic.
In the face of this tragic reality, we continue to bury our loved ones while facing daily genocide that is unprecedented in modern history, whether in terms of its horrific crimes or the use of weapons of destruction and death.
Despite all this, we heal our wounds and raise our voices in international forums, calling on the free world and the global labor movement to stand in a broad and pressing solidarity campaign with our people in Gaza.
We, in the Federation of Palestinian Workers’ Unions, amidst the legendary resilience of our people and their rejection of displacement policies, continue to live on our land despite cases of internal displacement, fleeing inevitable death, where the percentage of displaced people has exceeded 80% of the population. These citizens have endured extremely harsh conditions in mobile tents for several months, far from civilian life, in severely inhumane conditions. Additionally, in the areas of Gaza and the north, which have long been subjected to forced starvation and the loss of most necessities, our people have chosen patience and endured suffering over abandoning their homes and original homeland.
From the heart of Gaza, on behalf of ourselves, the General Federation of Palestinian Workers’ Unions, and all workers who have been forcibly unemployed since the onset of this brutal and destructive war, and in continuation of our communication with you to strengthen our resolve and express our gratitude for your support with us, we emphasize the following:
- We appreciate your solidarity with us on International Workers’ Day in response to our previous call. We would also like to congratulate the seven labor unions in the United States – the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), the National Education Association (NEA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the United Electrical Workers (UE) – representing more than 6 million workers for their courageous stance and public call on the Biden administration to cut o all military aid to Israel immediately.
- We call on all unions to take similar courageous stands. Your efforts have made the movement for Palestine indispensable and demonstrated the power and importance of international labor solidarity. The call for a ceasefire is a reasonable, necessary, and courageous first step, but all union councils and local governments must supplement these calls.
- We recognize that the thousands of bombs being dropped on our heads and the heads of our children are American-made. We call on all unions to elevate the level of their political pressure, strategies, and tactics to demand an immediate end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We call on you to follow the lead of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) in the U.S. by adopting resolutions supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and demanding that the Biden administration end all military aid to Israel.
- We highly appreciate the role of the dock workers unions in Africa, Europe, and other ports in taking action to stop the flow of weapons and disrupt the financial networks that finance the bombing of our people. We ask you to refuse to deal with military shipments to Israel through all military ships and logistics companies, especially Maersk and ZIM.
- We affirm that the essential goal of issuing this appeal is to mobilize your efforts and the efforts of all free people of the world to deepen the occupation’s isolation and strengthen global solidarity with the struggle of our people, especially on the labor union front in the world as a whole, not just the United States.
- We emphasize that we do not bet at all on the occupation workers’ union “Histadrut” to stop the aggression or compel the war criminal Netanyahu to stop the war. Still, instead, it comes in the context of internal disputes and the bias of this union in favor of the opposition regime, whose hands are also stained with the blood of our people and which considers itself more committed to the continuity of the occupation state.
Dear trade unionists and professionals in North America, Europe, and around the world,
Our appeal to you is not just words but a cry from the depths of wounds and pain, from under the rubble and from among the tears of orphaned, bereaved, and hungry children. We address your consciences to stand together in the face of this significant humanitarian disaster created by the occupation and its sponsors in the West, headed by the U.S., because we believe that the world is not a place for neutrality in the face of injustice, but rather an arena for testing human values and moral principles. Let your solidarity with us be a light in the darkness of bias, and let your courageous positions be the voice of truth in the face of falsehood. We, with our souls and bodies, continue to resist the death that is imposed on us, and we trust that you will continue to raise the banner of solidarity and struggle to stop the aggression and to live a dignified life for a freedom that is not negotiable and for a justice that does not bow to anyone.
Long live Palestine and its people… and victory for the working class!
Glory to the martyrs of the working class and all the martyrs of Palestine, humanity, and freedom.
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions Signatory:
Basheer Al-Sisi is a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions—City of Gaza.
Dr. Salama Abu Zuaiter is a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions—City of Gaza.