AFT
PEACE AND
JUSTICE CAUCUS
KEY RESOLUTIONS PASSED
AT THE AFT CONVENTION,
CHICAGO, JULY 11-14, 2008
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PREEMPTIVE WAR
| IRAN |
JENA 6 |
OTHER
AGAINST THE CURRENT U.S.
POLICY OF PERMANENT AND “PREEMPTIVE” WAR
Whereas, the Bush
administration, too often with bipartisan support, has used the idea of
a “war on terror” to justify permanent and preemptive war and to provide
political cover for:
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attacking and occupying other nations (Iraq 2003) and for possible future “preemptive” attacks (including against Iran);
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massively increasing US investment in war and disinvesting in education, health care, environmental safety and other human needs;
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dismantling civil liberties, compromising constitutional rights and violating international law in the name of fighting terrorism;
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transferring billions of dollars from public treasuries to private corporations as unprecedented war profiteering; and
Whereas, the “war on terror” is
an ideological construct that obscures the reasons for the real
war-which include control over wealth and resources; and
Whereas, the Bush administration announced a “National Security
Strategy” of “preemptive war” in September 2002 that arrogated to the
United States the unilateral right of the “use of force before attacks
occur” at any time against any country that it deems hostile, even if
that country has not taken any aggressive action against the U.S; and
Whereas, in line with its “National Security Strategy” of
“preemptive war,” the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003; and
Whereas, the war in Iraq has so far cost the lives of thousands
of US and Iraqi soldiers, and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians; has
displaced more than 4 million Iraqis, only a few of whom have returned
in recent months, and has had a financial cost of more than $2 trillion;
and
Whereas, the $720 million a day that the war costs could pay for
84 new elementary schools or 12,478 elementary school teachers or 95,364
Head Start places for children or a year of free school lunches for
1,153,846 children or a year of healthcare for 423,529 children or homes
for 6,482 families or 34,904 four-year scholarships for students at
state universities (source:
www.afsc.org/cost/); and
Whereas, the 911 Commission found no "collaborative relationship"
between Iraq and al Qaeda;” and
Whereas, since the war in Iraq began, Iraq has become a new
breeding ground for terrorists, prompting a September 2006 U.S. National
Intelligence Estimate to state that "the Iraq conflict has become the
'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S.
involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the
global jihadist movement;" and
Whereas, the Bush administration, in the name of fighting a “war
on terror,” has tarnished our constitution, debased our civil liberties,
and brazenly ignored international law by:
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denying the right of Habeas Corpus to both non-citizens and citizens under the Military Commissions Act;
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sanctioning rendition, the practice of seizing unindicted individuals and shipping them to nations where torture is used as a method of interrogation;
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detaining almost 400 individuals at Guantanamo Bay without charges and without access to U.S. courts;
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allowing the CIA, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, to use water boarding, a method of interrogation that simulates drowning;
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authorizing surveillance of U.S. citizens without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment;
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exercising the theory of a “unitary executive” to aggrandize presidential power and limit congressional oversight; and
Whereas the longer the war in
Iraq continues, the more privatized both destruction and reconstruction
become, with many of the functions of the military contracted to private
firms with Halliburton getting more than $20 billion in Iraq contracts
and Blackwater and the mercenary industry more than $4 billion:
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers go on record
in opposition to the Bush administration's theory and practice of
permanent and “preemptive war;” and
Be it further resolved that the American Federation of Teachers
demand that the United States immediately begin a complete withdrawal of
armed forces from Iraq, and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers call for an
end to private war profiteering and that contractors be held responsible
for their crimes while engaged in contracted activities; and
Resolved, that the 2008 American Federation of Teachers national
convention expresses its solidarity with all Iraqi unions in their
efforts to organize and establish free and independent unions, and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers supports Iraqi
labor efforts to protect the national sovereignty of its oil, other
natural resources and public assets; and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers' president
will communicate our concerns and support for independent trade unions
in Iraq to the Iraqi unions, the Iraqi government through its
ambassador in Washington, DC and the United States government, including
the president, the Congress, and the Department of State, and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers call for a
reversal of the current federal funding priorities that create austerity
for labor by investing in unending war while at the same time taking
funds from education, health care, environmental safety and other human
needs; and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers call for full
restoration of the fundamental constitutional, civil and human rights
that have been suspended in order to pursue the “war on terror” and that
the AFT advocate for (1) the elimination of the practices of rendition,
torture and warrantless surveillance, (2) the closing of the prison at
Guantanamo Bay and (3) the repeal of the Military Commission Act and the
Patriot Act; and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers consider the
principles enunciated in this resolution when making endorsements in the
2008 presidential and congressional elections; and,
Resolved, that American Federation of Teachers establish
relationships with organizations of veterans and military families and
build a network of union members who are vets or in military families,
and
Resolved, that the American Federation of Teachers communicate to
its affiliate locals and state and regional bodies, and the AFL-CIO, the
existence and significance of these issues and encourage those bodies to
undertake appropriate education and solidarity actions in line with
these resolutions
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OPPOSING U. S. EXPANSION
OF THE WAR INTO IRAN
Whereas, the American Federation of Teachers
passed a resolution calling for an end to the war in Iraq at its 2006
convention, and
Whereas, preventing U.S. expansion of the war into Iran is in the
spirit of AFT, NEA and AFL-CIO union resolutions calling for rapid
withdrawal from Iraq; and
Whereas, the Bush administration's pretexts for expanding the war
into Iran
Bear a striking resemblance to its false pretext for the invasion and
occupation of Iraq (including selectively demonizing Iran while not
demonizing the equally repressive Saudi Arabia); and
Whereas, expansion of the disastrous U. S. war in Iraq into its
more powerful neighbor Iran seems increasingly possible to informed
observers of differing political views and would lead to devastating
loss of life in Iran, a further drain on the education and health
budgets in the U.S., and catastrophic consequences for the region and
the world; and
Whereas, the U. S. government National Intelligence Estimate
report, released in December 2007, makes it clear that Iran halted its
nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that Iran is unlikely-“because of
foreseeable technical and programmatic problems”-to achieve the
capability to use nuclear weapons until after 2015; and
Whereas, the continuing concerns about Iran's use of nuclear
technology should be addressed through negotiation and diplomacy; and
Whereas, instead, the Bush administration and most of Congress
have supported keeping on the table all military options against Iran,
including nuclear strikes, and have sent carrier battle groups into the
Persian Gulf in classic colonial-style gunboat diplomacy; and
Whereas, AFT stands in solidarity with our sister and brother
workers in Iran oppressed by the right wing, anti-labor Ahmadinejad
regime, which would only be strengthened by Iranian national outrage at
a U. S. military attack:
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers unequivocally
condemn the reactionary regime of Ahmadinejad, his anti-Semitic denial
of the Holocaust and his denial of the right of Israel to exist and his
oppressive policies against workers, women, ethnic minorities, gays and
lesbians; and
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers also oppose
any U. S. intervention in Iran, and demand that the Bush administration
and Congress begin immediately negotiations in concert with other
nations and international bodies to peacefully resolve the crisis caused
by Iran's program to develop nuclear weapons; and
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers communicate
this resolution to the NEA, the AAUP and the AFL-CIO and urge them to
educate and organize teachers, students, and union members to oppose U.
S. military intervention in Iran.
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A Teacher Union Campaign to Defend the “Jena 6.”
WHEREAS, the AFT Executive Committee in October 2007 passed a resolution, Denouncing Racism Surrounding Events in Jena, La., which stated, in part, that “the AFT has long been committed to the principle of true equality for all people, without regard to race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin,” and that “racism and racial discrimination threaten humanity by preventing fulfillment of basic human rights”; and
WHEREAS, the AFT has begun collecting signatures on a petition to the U.S. Department of Justice calling on the Department to “investigate this situation and take appropriate legal action to prevent its repetition anywhere in our nation, and to remove all rules, policies and procedures that encourage, protect, sanction and/or ignore racial prejudice”; and
WHEREAS, our sister AFT local, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, passed a resolution in November 2007 that “UTLA condemn the individual and systemic racist attacks against the Jena 6, in Louisiana, financially support their legal defense by giving them $1,000, and encourage teachers, parents and students to sign and circulate the NAACP petition that is found on their website…We must defend and stand together with any and all victims, especially students, of racism”; and
WHEREAS, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond called the noose-hanging and the heavy charges against the Jena 6 “an American outrage that demonstrates the continuing shame of racial division in our country. Join us in making it one of the last”; and
WHEREAS, the events at Jena High School, according to the account on the NAACP website (www.naacp.org/youth/college/jena6), began with a challenge by black students to a segregated “white tree” in the playground. A black student asked permission from school administrators to sit under the shade of a tree commonly reserved for the enjoyment of white students. School officials advised the black students to sit wherever they wanted, and they did. Three racist students responded by hanging nooses from the tree, receiving only mild in-school discipline for what should be considered a hate crime, after the school principal’s decision to suspend the students was overruled by the superintendent. Black students decided to resist and organized a sit-in under the tree to protest the fact that the white students who hung nooses were given only what amounted to a slap on the wrist. Racial tensions remained high throughout the fall, and on December 4, 2007, after a white student had been delivering racist taunts to black students and supporting the students who hung the nooses, a fight broke out. The result was no punishment for white students, but severe and criminal charges against six black students—expulsion from school and heavy criminal charges (originally attempted murder), even though the injuries in question (to one white student, Jason Barker) were slight; and
WHEREAS, a large antiracist protest rally of at least 20,000 was held in Jena on September 20, 2007, a rally many commentators likened to “a new civil rights movement”; and
WHEREAS, although one defendant, Mychal Bell, accepted a plea agreement, reportedly under pressure, charges of second-degree battery are still pending against four defendants (the sixth being in juvenile court), so that a defense campaign is still needed; and
WHEREAS, unionized teachers in the American Federation of Teachers should build on the resolution passed by the AFT in October 2007 and set an example of organized workers’ opposition to racism, linking the egregious example of the Jena 6 to other racist injustices committed against black youth and other young people of color in the education system (such as discriminatory abuse of standardized tests), and in the criminal justice system (where young black men make up 50% of the prison population but only 6% of the general population); and
WHEREAS, following the appearance of nooses in Jena, nooses began to appear elsewhere in the country, almost always directed against African Americans, always signifying a threat, and—disturbingly—often in the context of schools or colleges; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers condemn the noose-hangings at Jena High School and Columbia Teachers College, the delivery of a noose to a school principal in Brooklyn, and the display of nooses in other workplaces, communities and educational institutions: there is no place for racism in our schools, workplaces or communities; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers call on the Louisiana Governor and Attorney General to drop all charges against the Jena 6; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers organize a Jena 6 defense campaign, in which our local unions would undertake such activities as publicizing the case, raising funds for the NAACP Jena 6 Defense Fund, collecting signatures on the NAACP petition to the Louisiana Governor and Attorney General, and unite faculty, staff, other workers, and students in vigorous opposition to racism in Jena and in all of our schools and colleges.
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1. SUPPORT FOR SINGLE-PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE and "the passage of HR 676."
2. AN IMMIGRATION RESOLUTION calling for an end to ICE raids and deportations and for schools to become sanctuary zones for immigrants and their families.
3. AN ANTI-RACISM RESOLUTION entitled "A Teachers' Campaign Against racism and in Defense of the 'Jena 6.'" There was also a resolution passed supporting a national holiday in honor of Cesar Chavez.
4. SUPPORT FOR PUERTO RICAN TEACHERS against government repression of a massive teachers' strike.
Go To:
PREEMPTIVE WAR | IRAN
|
JENA 6 |
OTHER
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