PRESENTATION

More than 14,000 Palestinians, along with Israeli Jews, have signed an “Open Letter to Our Jewish Allies.” They have spoken out against the massacres committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza and have pledged their support for a democratic solution in Palestine. To date, 617 trade unionists, activists, political leaders, and public figures in 25 countries have signed this Appeal to express their support for this initiative. We call upon you to support this effort and to distribute the Appeal widely.

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“An Open Letter to Our Jewish Allies”: Appeal Issued by 14,018 Palestinians — Please Endorse!

We – the undersigned, workers, young people, trade union activists, political activists of all tendencies in the labor movement, democratic rights activists, elected representatives – are part of the international mobilization in all its forms to stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, to stop Israel’s military intervention in Gaza, and to lift the criminal blockade.

In addition to continuing the essential mobilization to ensure that the Palestinian people can live, we affirm our support for a democratic solution in Palestine, which presupposes giving a voice to the inhabitants of Palestine, whatever their origin, religion or language.

We fully agree with the terms of the “Open Letter to Our Jewish Allies,” which has just been countersigned in the space of a few days by more than 14,018 Palestinians (as of November 5), on the initiative of the One Democratic State Initiative (ODSI).

Addressed to Jews who – notably in the United States but also in the State of Israel – have spoken out in favor of an immediate halt to the massacres in Gaza, this Open Letter states:

“Truth is on the side of your courageous political stances. For hundreds of years, Jews have resided in peace in Palestine, amidst Palestinians, as Palestinians. Gaza itself had a flourishing Jewish quarter whose tranquility was only disturbed after the Zionist advent to Palestine. It is Zionist colonialism, not religious differences or ‘clashes of civilizations’, that caused the rift. 

“Today, our struggle as Palestinians is not against Jews, but against the ideology and movement that manufactured this sectarian rift and weaponized it to justify its supremacist endeavor. We aim, not to ‘evict Jews from Palestine’, but to dismantle the so-called ‘Jewish state’ and its oppressive colonial relations of power, and to replace it with its fundamental antithesis: one democratic, secular, Palestinian state, from the river to the sea. 

“Democratic, in that it would provide equal rights and representation to all its citizens; 

“Secular, in that it would guarantee freedom of worship and would not segregate on the basis of religious, ethnic or other identities; 

“Palestinian, in that it would guarantee the right of Palestinian refugees to return, end once and for all the apartheid regime maintained against the Palestinian people, and restore the multicultural Palestinian society to what it was before Israel: A beautiful mosaic of life.”

We support this declaration and have decided to make it widely known in our respective countries. We call upon all activists and defenders of democratic rights, whatever their religion or ethnic origin, to endorse this statement.

There are two options for endorsement:

• By using the QR code below, or
• By pressing the following url: https://tinyurl.com/ycx7ar24

INITIAL U.S. ENDORSERS

(first list of U.S. signatories to this reply, all unions and titles listed for id.only)

Michael Steven Smith, Law and Disorder Radio, mssmith97@aol.com, USA;  Gene Bruskin, Co-founder, US Labor Against the War, Member, National Writers Union, Washington, DC;  Mya Shone, Editorial Board member, The Organizer Newspaper, Vallejo, CA;  Clarence Thomas, Past secretary treasurer, ILWU Local 10 retired, Oakland, CA;  Monadel Herzallah, Arab American Union Members Council, (AAUMC), North Bay, CA;  Michael Eisenscher, National Coordinator Emeritus, US Labor Against the War, Oakland, CA;  Alan Benjamin, Past OPEIU 29 Delegate to SF Labor Council, Past SFLC Exec. Bd. Member, (now living in New York, NY);  Donna Dewitt, President Emeritus, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America (CWA), National Writers Union (NWU), Charleston, South Carolina;  Jim Lafferty, Executive Director Emeritus;  National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA;  Desirée Rojas, Past President,, Sacramento LCLAA, Sacramento, CA;  Mark Loy, SEIU Local 1000 – Retired, Richmond, CA;  Barbara Mutnick, Lift the Cuba Blockade Campaign, New York City, NY;  Lou Wolf, Editor, Covert Action Magazine;  Julian Kunnie, Member, IPMDSL; Black Alliance for Peace; Free Mumia Movement;  First Nations Enforcement Agency, Tucson, Arizona;  Bill Leumer, Former president, IAM Local 565, San Francisco, CA;  Cliff Conner, Author, A People’s History of Science, New York, NY;  Seth Morrison, El Cerrito, CA;  Kimberly Guptill, Socialist Organizer, San Jose, CA;  Lisa Knox, human rights attorney, Oakland, CA;  Millie Phillips, member, CWA 9415, Oakland, CA;  David Walters, IBEW Local 1245, Retired, Pacifica, CA;  Don Bryant, National Association of Letter Carriers (retired), NALC-Branch 40, Cleveland, Ohio;  Robert Benjamin, Democratic Rights Advocate, New York, NY;  Micheal Lyon, Political activist, San Francisco, CA

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