22 July 2005

A far-left pro-Palestinian group is seeking to bring a resolution to
the floor of the AFL-CIO convention next week demanding that the
labor federation divest from Israel Bonds and from companies doing
business in Israel, according to Jewish labor activists who hope to
counter the measure.

The group, Labor for Palestine, failed in an earlier attempt to get
a local union to pass a similar resolution. At the AFL-CIO
convention, any delegate can offer a resolution from the convention
floor.

The Jewish labor activists said that the proposed Labor for
Palestine resolution is likely to fail on the floor of the
convention and be referred to a committee because it conflicts with
AFL-CIO policy. The AFL-CIO, which has invested heavily in Israel
Bonds, has an established policy of opposing divestment, believing
that it should invest in parties seeking peace, including Israel and
moderate Palestinian forces.

Labor for Palestine is an affiliate of Al Awda: The Palestine Right
to Return Coalition, which describes itself as "a broad-based
nonpartisan global democratic association of thousands of
grass-roots activists, including students and organizational
representatives, concerned for the Palestinian refugees' right to
return." According to its Web site, it has links with leftist
Palestinian factions and the Marxist-dominated anti-war coalition
International Answer. Messages to Labor for Palestine and Al Awda
asking for comment went unreturned.

Leaders of the American labor movement have long maintained close
ties with Israel, which was founded by socialists and has one of the
world's most vibrant labor movements, represented by the mammoth
General Federation of Labor, or Histadrut.

The director of communications for Israel Bonds, Raphael Rothstein,
said of the resolution: "We think it's misguided and will fizzle
out. For American labor, Israel is a country with a union tag."