Los Angeles teachers union supports blocking US arms sales to Israel

The governing body of the Los Angeles teachers union weighed in on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, voting Wednesday to support a congressional effort to block the sale of more than $20 billion in U.S. weapons to Israel on the grounds that weapons supplied by the United States were being used against civilians.

The United Teachers Los Angeles union vote calls on California Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler to pledge support for a government action called Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, which its sponsors, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), say, would put an end to specific arms sales to Israel. The issue is expected to be addressed after the Senate reconvenes in November.

UTLA's stated goal is to promote a peaceful solution to the spreading war in the Middle East, consistent with our March 2024 call for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine.

Union documents prepared for a board meeting and obtained by The Times lay out the reasons for such a stance: The weapons mentioned were used to violate U.S. and international law, indiscriminately killing large numbers of civilians. , many of them children.

The rationale also explained why it was appropriate for UTLA to take up the matter.

As educators, we watched for a year as Israel decimated the education system for current and future Palestinians, destroying all of Gaza's universities and forcing children to go to school in refugee camps or not at all. , the document explaining the unions' rationale for the resolution. States.

The union did not immediately release the vote tally, but it was easily relayed to the union's House of Representatives members who attended the virtual meeting, sources said. The UTLA House of Representatives is its official governing body.

On October 7, 2023, an attack by Hamas in southern Israel killed approximately 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage. More than 42,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have died in Israeli reprisal attacks, according to Gaza's health ministry, and the ongoing war has caused a humanitarian crisis and left the territory in ruins.

It is our duty as educators to advocate for the protection of education and all young people and their families, especially when it is our taxes that fuel this destruction and our government provides the weapons, per the justification provided to the board of directors. which the union says was not provided to House members before its vote.

Furthermore, the document continues, this directly affects our members; many UTLA rank-and-file members have loved ones who have lost their lives or livelihoods due to this conflict.

Israel blamed Hamas for the high number of casualties, saying the militant group stationed its fighters, supplies and weapons in civilian areas, where even targeted attacks would cause serious harm to the civilian population.

Among those opposing UTLA's resolution was union board member Scott Mandel, who shared a statement he said he read at the meeting.

Please understand that criticizing Israel is NOT anti-Semitic, he said in part. Criticizing the Jewish State without condemning Hamas atrocities IS an anti-Semitic act!

If this motion passes, Mandel added, not only will we lose many Jewish members and supporters of Israel, but the resulting negative public relations will be enormous, including potential harm to candidates the union supports for the Board. of Education.

At least two union members requested the vote be postponed because some Jewish members were not present due to the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret.

In March, UTLA called for a ceasefire.

In September 2021, the teachers union shelved a resolution that would have condemned Israel and supported the Palestinians. Instead, the unions' governing body overwhelmingly passed a substitute motion to create voluntary forums for union members to discuss the issue. At the time, union leadership said its decision was based on concerns that this was a highly controversial issue that could seriously damage union unity at a time when we need solidarity in our upcoming contract battles.

The rationale for the new resolution also draws attention to actions taken by other unions, including a call in July to immediately end all military aid to Israel. The unions that signed that earlier letter were the Assn. Flight Attendants, American Postal Workers Union, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, National Education Assn., Service Employees International Union, United Auto Workers and United Automobile Workers electricity.

In a rare and direct warning from the Biden administration, the president told Israel this month that it must allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip or risk reducing the flow of U.S. military weapons. Biden's deadline for action is after the November presidential election.

Sanders introduced the congressional resolutions, one or more of them co-sponsored by Senators Peter Welch of Vermont and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both Democrats.

For military aid to be blocked, the resolutions would have to be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by Biden.

Targeted weapons include 120-millimeter tank rounds, 120-millimeter high-explosive mortar rounds and 50 F-15IA aircraft, related weapons and parts, as well as upgrade kits for F-15 aircraft.

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