this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2024

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189

American Unions Long Backed Israel. Now, Some Are Protesting It. (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 10 months ago by breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world

27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For decades, the most prominent American unions were largely supportive of Israel. Today, though, amid a resurgence of the American labor movement, some activists are urging their unions to call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and succeeding — a change that reflects a broader generational shift.

But many unions are divided over what stance to take or whether to take any stance at all.

Some American labor leaders have remained supportive of Israel’s war against Hamas, and moved swiftly to condemn Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7. They are dismayed by the views of a younger generation of organizers who in some cases oppose Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.

“There has been a shift in society, and that’s reflected in the labor movement as it is every place else,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee and head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 33 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This just in: murdering civilians is unpopular and makes people question their friendship with a bully.

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Then when someone goes, "Please don't kill civilians" they shout "STOP BEING A ANTISEMITE."

[–] Humanius@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Regardless of your stance on what is going on in Gaza, I don't think unions should be picking a side either way.

The point of a union is to represent the worker toward their employer. This is most effective if all workers stand together.
Taking a stance on a matter that is so politically controversial as the situation in Gaza/Israel, only serves to divide workers, reducing the effectiveness of unions to achieve their core purpose.

If individuals (or groups of individuals) want to support or denounce either Israel or Palestine that should be their choice, but I don't think a union should get involved in that.

[–] ComradePorkRoll@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago

Hard disagree. Unions have taken political stances on numerous occasions throughout history. It's one of the most effective tools the working class has to fight imperialism. Imperialism is something the working class should fight against.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I agree with this. World conflict, culture war bullshit and other wedge issues are used too often by oligarch funded media to make the working class fight with each other and forget who are really pulling the strings.

Even if I feel strongly about a particular issue, the union should be focused on getting fair working conditions for its members, and separate advocacy organizations should be focused on spreading awareness on the topic(s) they are concerned with.

[–] spider@lemmy.nz 4 points 10 months ago

World conflict, culture war bullshit and other wedge issues are used too often by oligarch funded media to make the working class fight with each other and forget who are really pulling the strings.

Divide and conquer is one of the oldest games in the book.

[–] White111@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Some issues are obviously more urgent than others and a total massacre is one. No members are gonna disagree with that.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

So why have unions supported Israel for decades?

[–] Humanius@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I never said I approved of that either. I'm just voicing my opinion on what the role of unions is / should be.

[+] queermunist@lemmy.ml -14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That wasn't my question.

Your theory, that unions should avoid picking a side, does not have any basis in how actual unions act in the real world.

Why do you think that is?

[–] Speex@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wow. Reading comprehension is a tough.

[+] queermunist@lemmy.ml -13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

🙄

They had so much to say about why unions should remain neutral, but I keep coming back to the fact that the unions have never been neutral. So either the poster believes they have cracked the code and all other union leaders are too stupid to grasp it, or something else is going on.

[–] Speex@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think you don’t really have a point and are simply looking to argue.

It was very clearly stated in the comment what the intent of the comment was.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 0 points 10 months ago

Unions made a huge mistake when they welded themselves to the military-industrial complex. Glad to hear the trend might reverse.

[+] gedaliyah@lemmy.world -27 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Of course there's a sign about everyone's favorite boogyman, AIPAC. No one likes to mention the billions in Saudi, UAE, and Qatari influence that drive anti-Israel movements.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Israel's own genocidal actions drive anti-Israel movements while AIPAC is trying to unseat progressives.

Are Saudi, UAE, or Qatar trying to get anti-Israel politicians elected? Anywhere? lol

[–] Goferking0@ttrpg.network 5 points 10 months ago

Plus it's not like anyone is really supportive of those terrible governments either.

[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world -5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

AIPAC is such a tiny player in politics, which is obvious to anyone who can do basic addition. They do make a convenient scapegoat to distract from the real power players influencing US policy.

The USA gives twice the arms to Saudi Arabia than Israel. Ten times more Houthis have been killed than Gazans. At least twice as many are displaced.

I'm not defending AIPAC. I'm pointing out that there is a bizarre and disproportionate vilification of one of the smallest players in the game. AIPAC is smaller than the Real Estate, Finance, or Oil lobby. When was the last time you saw a protester with a sign condemning the Susquehanna International Group, or Thiel Capital, or National Assn of Realtors? They all dwarf the size of the little Israel lobby.

Think about who the distraction benefits.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml -3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I think AIPAC is blamed too much for American support, because America has a special interest in Israel already. If Israel didn't exist, America would have to create it to serve her interests. That's not a secret, but blaming AIPAC is a way that Americans try to absolve our government from the evil it commits i.e. "it's not America's fault, it's those damn lobbyists!"

We shouldn't blame AIPAC for our own government supporting genocide. That's just ordinary American policy.

But uh, the recent pledge of $100M is more than any of the groups you listed as well - though who knows, maybe the others will start putting up more cash to compete. Also, do they actually do anti-Israel lobbying? Pretty sure that's just oil lobbying.

[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do you think that's also why there is such a disproportionate focus on the Israel-Hamas war as opposed to others in Yemen, Sudan, etc. that have such a higher humanitarian cost?

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml -3 points 10 months ago

I think the focus comes from how important Israel is to the US. Israel is the 51st state, all those other countries are just vassals on the periphery of the empire. That's why Biden can say he'll make Saudi a pariah, yet Israeli visitors have visa free travel to the US.

Think of it more like the Iraq War than a foreign war. It's not really just some foreign country attacking another - it's us vs them.

[+] trackcharlie@lemmynsfw.com -27 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Lmao.

Nothing like watching unions exhibit a complete lack of understanding of nuance, as usual. "I'm just going to say isreal bad because I've completely missed the boat on actually informing myself of the situation over there, but I want the brownie points from strangers to make myself feel good and pretend I'm a good person while contributing literally nothing positive to the situation. My whining and bitching is definitely going to stop the hamas terrorists from conducting terror attacks and raping innocent women and children and my whining will absolutely make sure isreal stops retaliating for the attacks on their people. No need to inform myself further on the nuance of the controlling government body of palestine being a terrorist organization, nor do I need to educate myself on the reality that the isreali government has less than 20% of the populations support! My backwater trash brain will soak up the praise of random idiots who also don't educate themselves on the history of the region so I can feel good about my absolutely terrible and bat shit decisions"

[–] Shyfer@ttrpg.network 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What a strange comment. It's the complete opposite. The more people have educated themselves on the situation and history over there, the worse it looks for Israel. The only reason Isreal has gotten away with their behavior this long is because of the ignorance of the general population of the US up to now.

[–] White111@lemmy.world -2 points 10 months ago

Totally this. But the jee-bot propaganda machine would like you.to think otherwise.