Thursday, October 5, 2006
Well, not the whole union, just the "Human Rights Committee." The conference is sponsored by the Movement for a Democratic Society -- apparently a version of the old radical SDS for people who can't possibly call themselves students anymore -- but is being hosted and advertised by the United Teachers of Los Angeles Human Rights Committee.
WHEN ? Saturday, October 14 , 2006 1 PM to 3 PM
WHERE ? United Teachers of Los Angeles Headquarters...
...Israel's apartheid and racist system of oppression closely resembles that which South Africa once had but which was eventually abolished in large part due to an international grassroots, activist movement to stop financial support of the regime.
HOW ?
A similar campaign to support the Palestinian people has been endorsed by over 150 organizations world-wide. We in Los Angeles can join this world-wide effort to bring justice to the Palestinian people through :
Boycott ( not buying Israeli products/services and boycotting companies that are invested in Israel or Israeli owned companies with a presence in Los Angeles )
Divestment ( stopping capital investment by companies doing business in Israel and by stopping trade unions , local / state governments ,churches and universities from investing their pension / endowment funds in Israeli companies , US companies invested in Israel or companies supplying Israel with military weapons )
Sanctions ( working to end US government foreign and military aid to Israel and impose a trade embargo )
Meeting Sponsored by : Los Angeles Chapter of MDS
Meeting Endorsed by : Los Angeles Palestine Labor Solidarity Committee
Cafe Intifada
Meeting Hosted by : UTLA Human Rights Committee...
This has, quite rightly, caused quite a stir, including a letter from the Weisenthal Center to union head A.J. Duffy:
It is distressing that there are individuals whom the community entrusts with our children, who are so willing to turn a blind eye to Arab terrorists targeting Israeli kids, their families and schools, and who present Israelis only as kidnappers, oppressors, racists, and perpetrators of apartheid. These are the charges that appear in MDS’s brief memo heralding their meeting at the UTLA Human Rights Committee (sic) [heh]. In the world in which we live today, such extreme anti-Israel demonization often leads to outright antisemitism-in word and deed...
Mr. Duffy is distancing himself and the union as a whole from the actions of the committee as rapidly as possible:
Therefore, I have decided to eliminate any links from UTLA Committee pages to outside websites. I apologize for any confusion this has created.
I will not interject my personal feelings into this matter and will simply remind you that this is a democratic union in a democratic nation and I will not sponsor censorship. As incensed as you or I might be, I would hope you would be ten times as incensed if I started to determine who can and who cannot speak on issues in our committees. The UTLA Human Rights Committee is one of 33 UTLA standing committees.
I encourage Jewish organizations to contact the Human Rights Committee to express their concerns and arrange for a presentation of their views.
Contact Stephen Seal, Human Rights Committee Chair at srs1984@lausd.k12.ca.us
When one surfs to the link to the Human Rights Committee web page, one finds a similar disclaimer with a large warning at the top of the page:
You are now leaving the UTLA website.
Well, it's good to see there are folks at the UTLA who have a measure of shame. Too bad they don't appear to be the people wielding the label of "Human Rights" as a brickbat.
