US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation: Thank CT Union for Urging National AFL-CIO to Adopt BDS!

Recently, the Connecticut AFL-CIO passed a powerful resolution calling for theNational AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) toapply diplomatic and economic tools to end Israel’s occupationof Palestinian lands including through Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) targeting companies and investments profiting from Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights as part of a broader commitment to fight racism and exploitation in all its forms.

Predictably, the Connecticut AFL-CIO has come under intense attack, pressuring the group to reverse its decision. CT AFL-CIO needs to know the broad support behind their principled decision:

Click to sign a petition thanking CT AFL-CIO today!

CT AFL-CIO’s ground-breaking vote stemmed from a historic relationship between the AFL-CIO and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) as well as a transformative delegation of trade unionists that traveled to Palestine to see the situation firsthand organized by US Campaign member organization Tree of Life Educational Fund.

CT AFL-CIO is hearing from many of the usual sources pressuring them to back down. They need to hear from people like you, too!

CodePink: Stop Supporting – and Start Punishing – Saudi Arabia

Four reasons to take action against Saudi Arabia:

1. Saudi Arabia buys huge amounts of U.S. and European weaponry, which it uses to slaughter civilians in Yemen, including bombing a hospital, and to repress democracy at home and in neighboring Bahrain.
2. Saudi Arabia sells huge amounts of fossil fuels to the United States and other nations, which they use to render the earth’s climate uninhabitable.
3. Saudi Arabia is the leading source of funding for violent groups terrorizing the Middle East, as well as the attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.
4. Saudi Arabia brutally oppresses its own people, including beheading pro-democracy activists.

Western powers have generally seen points 1 and 2 above as positive — so positive in fact as to require ignoring points 3 and 4. It is time we changed this perspective. Please sign the petition below.

We call on the governments of the world to stop providing Saudi Arabia with weaponry, and to boycott, divest from, and implement sanctions against that country until the Saudi government ends its military aggression and abuse of human rights.

http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11735

US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation: Tell Center for American Progress… Netanyahu Is #NotProgressive

Tell Center for American Progress… Netanyahu Is #NotProgressive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington, DC on November 9-10 to meet with President Barack Obama to discuss the US providing up to $45 billion in more weapons over the next decade!

We’ve already delivered a petition to the State Department, signed by more than 60,000 people, calling for NoWeaponsForIsrael.org, which you can still sign if you haven’t yet.

Netanyahu will also be picking up an award from the American Enterprise Institute, a neocon think thank (no surprise there). And thanks to pressure from the Israeli Embassy and AIPAC, he’s also scheduled to speak at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a self-defined progressive policy institute.

Let’s be real. Netanyahu has no business speaking at CAP. Sign our petition to CAP’s President Neera Tanden telling her that Netanyahu is #NotProgressive and urging her to disinvite the Israeli prime minister. Help us reach 10,000 signatures and we’ll deliver the petition to her. 

The apartheid policies of Netanyahu and the Israeli government have alienated progressive opinion in the US. This heavy-handed pressure on CAP is a desperate measure by Israel and its lobby to woo progressives. Let Netanyahu speak at all the neocon events he wants. But let’s deny him the opportunity to present himself as a progressive. Sign our petition today at endtheoccupation.org/notprogressive

And for those of you near Washington, DC, join us for three protests November 9-10 against Netanyahu. All the details you need are posted here and below.

1. Protest War Criminal Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, November 9, 9:00 AM, White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Sponsored by ANSWER Coalition.

Protest outside the White House during President Obama’s meeting with Netanyahu.

For more details, see the Facebook event. 

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2. No US Tax Dollars for Israel’s Occupation, Monday, November 9, 5:00 PM, National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW. Sponsored by a coalition of DC-area pro-Palestinian organizations. 

Protest outside of the American Enterprise Institute’s event giving Netanyahu an award.

For more details, see the Facebook event.

If you’re near DC and would like to volunteer to help plan this protest, please let us know.

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3. Netanyahu Is #NotProgressive, Tuesday, November 10, 8:00 AM, Center for American Progress, 1333 H Street NW. Sponsored by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

Picket outside of the Center for American Progress encouraging employees of this progressive policy institute not to attend Netanyahu’s speech.

For more details, see the Facebook event.

Not able to make it to DC? Plan your own protest of Netanyahu and let us know about it. 

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,

Josh Ruebner
Policy Director

PS: Read former CAP staffer Ali Gharib’s article in The Nation, “Why Is the Center for American Progress Hosting Benjamin Netanyahu?” for more background on how CAP has been subjected to AIPAC pressure in the past.

– See more at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=4583#sthash.jPg1FVDB.dpuf

– See more at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=4583#sthash.jPg1FVDB.dpuf