Twin Cities DSA stands with Minneapolis union educators who hosted an event for educational professionals to support and educate each other in standing on the side of justice through their work. Like many residents of the Twin Cities area, they cannot stand by while Israel annihilates the Palestinian people and pushes us toward wider war with Lebanon, Iran, and beyond. We applaud these educators for finding ways to expose Israeli apartheid and genocide. We also believe that the genocide and ceasefire are union issues. We are proud that our DSA members in unions are taking stands against Israeli actions.
The right wing, Zionists, and Christian nationalists would prefer that no discussion take place and that Israel be allowed to carry out their bombing and killings with no interference and with global silence. They have gone to great lengths to make sure that no voice but their own is heard. Taher Herzallah, the Palestinian leader who spoke at an event sponsored by MFT Educators for Palestine, has been accused by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of being an anti-Semite.
According to the Star Tribune article linked in the previous sentence, Herzallah has clarified the offensive statement that Mayor Frey accuses him of saying. We therefore demand that Mayor Frey retract his accusations.
The fact that Herzallah regularly works with Jews, Christians and Muslims to stop the genocide speaks volumes about the false nature of Frey’s charge. With the charge of anti-Semitism, Israel and their supporters in the U.S. simply want to silence critics and be the only narrative that is heard.
One issue that often arises is whether or not workers, union members, and unions should take a stand against Israeli genocide and US complicity. We believe the answer is yes. First, Palestinian workers and union members are being murdered by the thousands. We believe that, “An injury to one, is an injury to all,” even if the injury occurs across an ocean. Second, the treasury of the United States is being used to finance genocide. More money is being spent on Israel’s war on Gaza than the entire budget of the Department of Education. This is obviously an issue of great concern to educators who already are looking at school budget shortfalls. So, yes, especially for union educators, this is a union issue. Finally, unions have a long tradition of standing for social justice and against oppression. Unions were stalwart allies of the Civil Rights movement; the South African anti-apartheid movement; the movement against U.S. intervention in Central America. Our siblings at MFT are standing in that proud tradition.
A Statement from Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America