Israele ha chiesto che 1,1 milioni di palestinesi evacuino la metà settentrionale di Gaza, sottoponendoli a continui bombardamenti. Questa mossa spietata fa parte del piano di Israele, sostenuto dal sostegno incrollabile e dalla partecipazione attiva degli Stati Uniti e della maggior parte degli stati europei, volto a compiere massacri atroci e senza precedenti contro 2,3 milioni di palestinesi a Gaza e ad effettuare una pulizia etnica totale. Da sabato Israele ha bombardato indiscriminatamente e intensamente Gaza, tagliando carburante, elettricità, acqua, cibo e forniture mediche. Israele ha ucciso più di 2.600 palestinesi, tra cui 724 bambini, raso al suolo interi quartieri, spazzando via intere famiglie e ferendo più di 10.000 persone. Alcuni esperti di diritto internazionale hanno iniziato a mettere in guardia sugli atti genocidi di Israele.
Altrove, il governo di estrema destra israeliano ha distribuito più di 10.000 fucili ai coloni estremisti nella Palestina del ’48 e nella Cisgiordania occupata per facilitare i loro crescenti attacchi e pogrom contro i palestinesi. Le azioni, i massacri e la retorica di Israele evidenziano la sua intenzione di attuare la seconda Nakba promessa da tempo, espellendo quanti più palestinesi possibile e creando un “Nuovo Medio Oriente” in cui i palestinesi vivano in perenne sottomissione.
La risposta degli stati occidentali è stata di completo e totale sostegno allo Stato di Israele, senza nemmeno un frettoloso cenno al diritto internazionale. Ciò ha amplificato l’impunità di Israele, dandogli carta bianca per portare avanti senza limiti la sua guerra genocida. Oltre al sostegno diplomatico, gli stati occidentali forniscono armamenti a Israele, autorizzando l’attività delle aziende produttrici di armi israeliane all’interno dei loro confini.
Mentre Israele intensifica la sua campagna militare, i sindacati palestinesi chiedono agli altri sindacati a livello internazionale e a tutte le persone dotate di coscienza di porre fine ad ogni forma di complicità con i crimini di Israele, fermando con urgenza il commercio di armi con Israele, così come tutti i finanziamenti e la ricerca militare. Il momento di agire è adesso: le vite dei palestinesi sono in bilico.
Questa situazione urgente e genocida può essere prevenuta solo da un aumento massiccio della solidarietà globale con il popolo palestinese – ciò può frenare la macchina da guerra israeliana. Abbiamo bisogno che voi agiate immediatamente, ovunque siate nel mondo, per impedire l’armamento dello Stato israeliano e delle aziende coinvolte nelle infrastrutture del blocco. Ci ispiriamo alle precedenti mobilitazioni dei sindacati in Italia, Sud Africa e negli Stati Uniti, e a simili mobilitazioni internazionali contro l’invasione italiana dell’Etiopia negli anni ’30, la dittatura fascista in Cile negli anni ’70 e altrove dove la solidarietà globale ha limitato la portata della brutalità coloniale.
Chiediamo ai sindacati dei settori interessati di:
1. Rifiutarsi di costruire armi destinate a Israele.
2. Rifiutarsi di trasportare armi in Israele.
3. Approvare mozioni nel loro sindacato in tal senso.
4. Agire contro le aziende complici coinvolte nell’attuazione dell’assedio brutale e illegale di Israele, soprattutto se hanno contratti con la vostra istituzione.
5. Fare pressione sui governi affinché interrompano ogni commercio militare con Israele e, nel caso degli Stati Uniti, i relativi finanziamenti.
Lanciamo questo appello mentre assistiamo ai tentativi di vietare e mettere a tacere ogni forma di solidarietà con il popolo palestinese. Vi chiediamo di parlare apertamente e di agire di fronte all’ingiustizia come hanno fatto storicamente i sindacati. Facciamo questo appello nella convinzione che la lotta per la giustizia e la liberazione palestinese non sia solo una lotta determinata a livello regionale e globale. È una leva per la liberazione di tutti i diseredati e gli sfruttati del mondo.
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, Gaza.
General Union of Public Service and Trade Workers
General Union of Municipal Workers
General Union of Kindergarten Workers
General Union of Petrochemicals Workers
General Union of Agricultural Workers
Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees Generation
Union of Media and Print Workers
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
General Union of Palestinian Teachers
General Union of Palestinian Women
General Union of Palestinian Engineers
Palestinian Accountants’ Association
Professional Associations Federation including:
Palestinian Dental Association—Jerusalem center
Palestinian Pharmacists Association—Jerusalem Center
Medical Association—Jerusalem Center
Engineers Association—Jerusalem Center
Agricultural Engineers Association—Jerusalem Center
Veterinarians Syndicate—Jerusalem Branch.
Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate
Palestinian Bar Association
Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association
Union of Kindergartens Workers
Palestinian Postal Services Workers Union
Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities Professors & Employees
The General Federation of Independent Trade Unions, Palestine
The Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions
Palestinian General Union of Writers
Palestinian Contractors Union
Federation of Health Professionals Syndicates
Palestinian Union of Psychologists and Social Workers
***
Palestinian Trade Unions Call for an End to Arming Israel, 10.16.2023
On Monday October 16, 2023, Palestinian trade unions released an urgent call for international trade unions to take action to halt the arms trade to Israel. The call comes amid a ruthless bombing campaign of Gaza, following Hamas’ October 7 offensive into Israel, and as Israel prepares for a ground invasion into the territory.
A man reacts as he watches rescuers and civilians remove the rubble of a home destroyed following an Israeli attack on the town of Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023. Mohammed Faeq/AFP via Getty Images
In the week following October 7, the full force of the Israeli military-industrial apparatus was put on display. Over just six days, Israel dropped more than 6,000 bombs onto Gaza. Human Rights Watch verified videos documenting Israel’s use of the lethal chemical white phosphorous in Gaza and Southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced the ministry was purchasing 10,000 rifles, body armor and helmets to distribute to settler militias for use in the West Bank.
As Israeli politicians called for retaliation, using genocidal language that likened Gazans to “human animals,” leaders in Britain and the United States in the week following October 7, dispensed with even the fig leaf of “restraint” that usually accompanies Israeli bombing campaigns of Gaza.[1] The United States, in addition to dispatching two aircraft carriers laden with F-18 fighter jets to the region has instructed US defense companies to expedite munitions to Israel, causing an immediate $30 billion surge in US defense stocks.
During the May 2021 Unity Intifada, a collective of Palestinian trade unions called for international solidarity from international unions, urging them to divest their pensions from companies implicated in the occupation and release statements of solidarity. The latest call—which is reprinted in full below—focuses on the weapons industry and infrastructure of the blockade and occupation.
‘An Urgent Call from Palestinian Trade Unions—End all Complicity, Stop Arming Israel’
Graphic designed during the Unity Intifada in May 2021, courtesy of Workers in Palestine.
Israel has demanded that 1.1 million Palestinians evacuate the northern half of Gaza, whilst subjecting them to constant bombardment. This ruthless move is part of Israel’s plan, backed by unwavering support and active participation from the US and majority of European states, to carry out unprecedented and heinous massacres against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and to ethnically cleanse it altogether. Since Saturday Israel has indiscriminately and intensively bombarded Gaza, and cut off fuel, electricity, water, food, and medical supplies. Israel has killed more than 2,600 Palestinians—including 724 children—leveling whole neighbourhoods, wiping out entire families and injuring more than 10,000 people. Some international law experts have begun warning of Israel’s genocidal acts.
Elsewhere, Israel’s far-right government has distributed more than 10,000 rifles to extremist settlers in ‘48 Palestine and the occupied West Bank to facilitate their escalating attacks and pogroms against Palestinians. Israel’s actions, massacres, and rhetoric point to its intention to implement its long promised second Nakba, expelling as many Palestinians as possible and creating a ‘New Middle East’ in which Palestinians live in perpetual subjugation.
The response by Western states has been one of complete and total support for the State of Israel, without even a cursory nod towards international law. This has amplified Israel impunity, giving it carte blanche to carry out its genocidal war without limit. Beyond diplomatic support, Western states are supplying Israel with armament, sanctioning the operation of Israeli weapons companies within their borders.
As Israel escalates its military campaign, Palestinian trade unions call on our counterparts internationally and all people of conscience to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes—most urgently halting the arms trade with Israel, as well as all funding and military research. The time for action is now—Palestinian lives hang in the balance.
This urgent, genocidal situation can only be prevented by a mass increase of global solidarity with the people of Palestine and that can restrain the Israeli war machine. We need you to take immediate action—wherever you are in the world—to prevent the arming of the Israeli state and the companies involved in the infrastructure of the blockade. We take inspiration from previous mobilisations by trade unions in Italy, South Africa and the United States, and similar international mobilisations against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s, the fascist dictatorship in Chile in the 1970s and elsewhere where global solidarity limited the extent of colonial brutality.
We are calling on trade unions in relevant industries:
- To refuse to build weapons destined for Israel.
- To refuse to transport weapons to Israel.
- To pass motions in their trade union to this effect.
- To take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, especially if they have contracts with your institution.
- Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the US, funding to it.
We make this call as we see attempts to ban and silence all forms of solidarity with the Palestinian people. We ask you to speak out and take action in the face of injustice as trade unions have done historically. We make this call in the belief that the struggle for Palestinian justice and liberation is not only a regionally and globally determined struggle. It is a lever for the liberation of all dispossessed and exploited people of the world.
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, Gaza.
General Union of Public Service and Trade Workers
General Union of Municipal Workers
General Union of Kindergarten Workers
General Union of Petrochemicals Workers
General Union of Agricultural Workers
Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees Generation
Union of Media and Print Workers
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
General Union of Palestinian Teachers
General Union of Palestinian Women
General Union of Palestinian Engineers
Palestinian Accountants’ Association
Professional Associations Federation including:
Palestinian Dental Association—Jerusalem center
Palestinian Pharmacists Association—Jerusalem Center
Medical Association—Jerusalem Center
Engineers Association—Jerusalem Center
Agricultural Engineers Association—Jerusalem Center
Veterinarians Syndicate—Jerusalem Branch.
Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate
Palestinian Bar Association
Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association
Union of Kindergartens Workers
Palestinian Postal Services Workers Union
Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities Professors & Employees
The General Federation of Independent Trade Unions, Palestine
The Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions
Palestinian General Union of Writers
Palestinian Contractors Union
Federation of Health Professionals Syndicates
Palestinian Union of Psychologists and Social Workers
[1] Alice Speri, “Israel Responds to Hamas Crimes by Ordering Mass War Crimes in Gaza,” The Intercept, October 9, 2023.
How to cite this article:
“Palestinian Trade Unions Call for an End to Arming Israel,” Middle East Report Online, October 16, 2023
https://merip.org/2023/10/palestinian-trade-unions-call-for-an-end-to-arming-israel/
Cari fratelli e sorelle della Palestina,
il SI Cobas, un sindacato di base in Italia, che organizza soprattutto lavoratori immigrati, molti dei quali provenienti da Paesi arabi, sta partecipando a, e organizzando, cortei e manifestazioni in solidarietà con il popolo palestinese, contro l’attacco genocida a Gaza da parte dell’esercito israeliano, contro il sostegno del governo italiano al governo sionista e per la fine dell’oppressione di tre generazioni sul vostro popolo.
Sosteniamo il vostro appello a boicottare la consegna di armi a Israele, che verrebbero utilizzate contro il popolo palestinese. L’Italia è il terzo esportatore di armi a Israele; principale fornitore è il gruppo militare Leonardo, controllato dal governo.
Essendo un importante sindacato della logistica, i lavoratori del SI Cobas si opporranno a qualsiasi spedizione di armi a Israele di cui vengano a conoscenza.
Siamo convinti che una giusta soluzione della questione palestinese non potrà venire dalle grandi potenze o dai governi capitalisti della regione, ma potrà venire solo dalla lotta comune dei lavoratori del Medio Oriente, di tutte le nazionalità e le religioni, con il sostegno dei lavoratori di tutto il mondo.