Submitted on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 7:59pm
The following motion was passed at the San Francisco Bay Area GMB January meeting, Thursday, Janury 8, 2009 with few dissenting votes:
"WHEREAS the Apartheid State of Israel has conducted a siege of Gaza
for many months; and
WHEREAS this siege, itself, is an act of war as well as an act of collective punishment; and
WHEREAS this siege is simply a further extension of the apartheid policies of the State of Israel, including calls within Israel for
ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Israel, stealing of land and water
rights from Palestinians both within Israel as well as in the West Bank, and
the
building of the Apartheid Wall, as well as other measures; and
WHEREAS the Industrial Workers of the World stands for working class unity, which is impossible as long as any sector of the working class
is oppressed in the way that the Palestinian people are by the State of Israel; now be it
RESOLVED that the San Francisco chapter of the IWW unreservedly condemns the Israeli attack on the people of Gaza; and be it
further
RESOLVED that we also oppose all terrorist acts aimed at civilians, whether they be Palestinian, Jew or anybody else, and in this
particular case we recognize that the rocket attacks on Israel being carried out
by Hamas can only serve as a cover for official Israeli racism and expansionism, even though we recognize that the State of Israel bears primary responsibility for the situation; and be it further
RESOLVED that we call for complete Israeli withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders, including dismantling of the settlements and the Apartheid
Wall, the right to return of the Palestinians driven into refugee status,
and for equal rights for all within the State of Israel; and be it
further
RESOLVED that we recognize that the Histadrut leadership, in their
support for the Israeli bosses and the bosses' politicians as well as their support for the apartheid policies of the State of Israel, have
placed themselves squarely in the camp of the class opponents of the working class; and be it further
RESOLVED that we oppose the state imposition of or support for any religion; and be it finally
RESOLVED that we will support any steps to oppose division within the working class as well as racism and all forms of special oppression in
our struggle for workers' rights and workers' power internationally."