Tidbits - July 18, 2011

* More - Israel-Palestine Developments the U.S. Left & the
  U.S. Jewish Left Seem to be Ignoring (Michael A. Dover,
  Sabina Virgo and Michael Kaufman)
* Re: First NAFTA-Wide Union Could Emerge This Year (Jackie
  Cody)
* Re: Charlie Chaplin in Berlin (Cyril Robinson)
* Re: The Google Effect: How the Internet Is Changing Our
  Memory (Terence Cannon)
* Young workers should know about this (Liz Shuler,
  Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO)


==========


* More -- Re: Israel-Palestine Developments the U.S. Left &
the U.S. Jewish Left Seem to be Ignoring


Ivan Handler made two important points. I'm a member of J
Street and largely agree with Ivan Handler's Tidbits Posting
of July 16. Also, I disagree with Ira Grupper's July 14
posting in support a petition favoring U.S. support for the
UN resolution, something which President Obama's speech at
AIPAC showed is clearly not going to happen. However,
something Ivan said had more general implications: "This is
what I find to be the most difficult for many on the left to
accept, that they must leave their left identities behind if
they wish to become politically effective. That does not
mean giving up values, it means being strategic...


Unfortunately, I am afraid that too many on the left confuse
moral posturing with grappling with political power." It is
important to recognize that what is progressive at any one
point in history is not necessarily what seems most "left".


Michael A. Dover


===


Sabina Virgo and Michael Kaufman are completely in agreement
with Ira Grupper's Labor Paeans article on the U.S. Left's
Support for Palestinian Statehood. Ira's article has also
been published on Portside so discussions are going on
within many venues.


The Jewish left has a long history of urging Israel to live
up to a supposed Jewish heritage of fighting oppression.
But Israeli's sixty year policy of suppression of the
Palestinians' right of self determination should require
progressives to not just focus on Israel. We must also
affirmatively defend that right of those directly affected
by that suppression, the Palestinian people.


American progressives, who fought against the internment of
Japanese Americans, did not do so primarily in order to
defend the honor of non-Japanese Americans or the honor of
America's halting march toward justice. They did so to
defend the Japanese Americans from their illegal and unjust
internment, and to directly aid them in gaining their
liberty.

The struggle for marriage equality does not limit its
arguments to the benefits accruing to heterosexuals but,
instead, to the benefits of all people, specifically and
especially including those who are currently discriminated
against, the LGBT community.

To those who speak of Israel besmirching its progressive
heritage, we must also urge them to directly stand by the
side of the Palestinian people, as represented by their
democratically elected government, despite all of that
government's difficulties in achieving unity.

Progressive Jewish Americans must fight against the myth of
the existential threat to Israel and of the "indefensibility"
of the 1967 green line. After all, forty four years ago
Israel, much less powerful then it is now and existing only
within those borders, completely wiped out the combined
strength of multiple Arab Armies.


The U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state is not a threat
to Israel. It is nothing more than a partial realization of
the "2 state solution", which most people have adopted as a
path to peace.


The right of Palestinians, represented by their government,
to go to the U.N. to assert their right to self-
determination, to a state of their own, should be inviolable,
especially among progressive Jews.

Bruce Taub's Portside comment asserts that "grupper is
totally inaccurate about the position of jvp and the u.s.
campaign ... a serious disservice to u.s. allies of
palestine."

Yet Ira did nothing but praise Jewish Voice for Peace and
urge them to take a next step - a stand that they have, in
fact, not yet taken. There is nothing inaccurate in Ira's
piece about Jewish Voice for Peace.

Ivan Handler, in criticizing Ira's article, essentially tries
to justify J Street's limited attempts to maneuver within the
Washington consensus. But the right wing Israeli
government's intransigence is not a reason to equivocate on
the right of self determination.

During the Civil Rights movement, the anti-racists were
constantly told to "slow down", "be patient", etc, in the
face of racist intransigence. We all know how the brave
Freedom Riders and Selma marchers responded to that
temporizing.

In his critique Ivan says,: "This is what I find to be the
most difficult for many on the left to accept, that they must
leave their left identities behind if they wish to become
politically effective. That does not mean giving up values,
it means being strategic ..."

What could be more strategic then to acknowledge the right of
self determination, and the legitimacy of the democratically
installed unity government of the Palestinians to assert that
right?

If J Street is for a "2 state solution" then that means,
among many other things, two states that are recognized by
the U.N. What could be more strategic then building Jewish
Palestinian unity upon this point?

We urge all progressive Jews and their organizations to
recognize the weakness of the Obama Administration's two
years of no progress and backsliding on this issue, and to
step forward in unity with Palestinians to concretely aid
their efforts in gaining that 2 state solution.

Sabina & Michael


==========


* Re: First NAFTA-Wide Union Could Emerge This Year


Small step, but significant.


Jackie Cody


==========


* Re: Charlie Chaplin in Berlin


I am old enough to have seen the films of Chaplin when they
appeared in theaters in The Bronx, NY where I then lived. I
recall the attacks on Chaplin during the McCarthy period,
but the most significant memory is of his reaction when he
was "accused" of being Jewish. There was a persistent rumor
that Chaplin was Jewish. He was not, but he said he would
not deny he was Jewish as long as the life of any Jew was
threatened.


Cyril Robinson, emeritus professor,
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Il


==========


* Re: The Google Effect: How the Internet Is Changing Our
Memory


The late lamented Socrates condemned the new technological
advance of scholarly writing because, he argued, it would
replace the need of his students to memorize the classics.
Why should they, when they could just Google them in script?
Needless to say......


Terence Cannon


==========


* Young workers should know about this


From the Wisconsin state capitol to Egypt's Tahrir Square
and all throughout America's labor movement, young workers
are making a difference. Facing record unemployment, soaring
education costs and widespread attacks on workplace and
voting rights, young workers need all the talent, leadership
skills, mobilization know-how and partnerships possible to
shape a future based on social and economic justice.


Hundreds of young workers, student activists and leaders
will come together in Minneapolis Sept. 29-Oct. 2 for the
second annual AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers Summit.


If you're a young worker, register now to join us. Share
this information with young workers you know.


This year, Next Up Young Workers Summit participants will
take part in:


* A creative, dynamic summit designed for young workers, by
young workers;
* Hands-on, movement-building workshops on organizing, young
worker activism, social media, leadership development and
more;
* Plenary discussions with experts on policy and legislative
issues affecting young workers;
* Community service projects to give back to the city of
Minneapolis;
* A local campaign action for justice;
* Networking;
* And for the first time - the Unconference.


Don't miss this unique opportunity for you or the young
workers you know.


Register now to join the AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers
Summit. Share this information with young workers you know.


Find out more and spread the word at www.nextupsummit.com,
www.facebook.com/aflcionextup and via the Twitter hashtag
#nextup.


In solidarity,


Liz Shuler
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO


=====


AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers Summit


Educating, Empowering and Mobilizing Young Workers for a
Just 21st Century Economy


Sept. 29 - Oct. 2
Minneapolis


Plan to be there and spread the word to young workers you
know.


www.nextupsummit.com


==========

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