San Francisco Teachers Union Votes to Endorse Anti-Israel BDS Movement
The San Francisco teachers union has come out in support of the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement that seeks to declare an economic war on Israel.
The United Educators of San Francisco in May passed what it called a “Resolution in Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”
“Whereas, as public school educators in the United States of America, we have a special responsibility to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people because of the 3.8 billion dollars annually that the US government gives to Israel, thus directly using our tax dollars to fund apartheid and war crimes,” the resolution stated.
The resolution “calls on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to stop aid to Israel.”
“[B]e it further resolved, that UESF endorse[s] the international campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel,” the resolution said.
The resolution calls Israel’s government “a regime of legalized racial discrimination perpetrated against the Palestinian people.”
Parents said they wished teachers would focus on education.
“The teachers union has failed in its most basic mission this year, opening schools and educating San Francisco’s children,” Todd David, a Jewish parent, said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“Instead of focusing on that, they are weighing in on an international political land dispute that experts have been unable to resolve for 70 years,” he said.
Parent Arik Luck said the union betrayed him because its statement “singled out Israel” and “did not even mention Hamas, an organization that is classified by our government as a terrorist group with a well-documented history of executing their political rivals and homosexuals.”
“I also question what my teachers union is doing wading into these waters at the expense of my kids,” he said.
“There are many Jewish people in this city, public school parents who feel the way I do, and a statement like this causes us to worry for the safety of our children in school.”
Union spokeswoman Amanda Hart said the union is for both sides.
“We stand by our call for the boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel and we unequivocally stand against anti-Semitism in all its forms,” she said.
Hart was referring to a resolution passed last week hoping to mollify critics that oppose anti-Semitism as well as other forms of hate.
And so it takes aim at whites.
“Whereas, white supremacists in the United States have exploited and continue to exploit bigotry and weaponize hate for political gain, targeting historically persecuted peoples, including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and others with verbal attacks, incitement, and violence,” the resolution said.
The resolution condemns anti-Semitism, But goes on to attack Israel, saying it has put in place “decades of systemic discrimination and the violation of the human rights of Christian and Muslim Palestinians, including militarily enforced restrictions of movement for over 4.7 million Palestinians; a brutal blockade on Gaza; confiscation of land; economic exploitation; and suspension of basic civil liberties.”
The resolution also noted that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, convicted of corruption, worked closely with former United States President Donald Trump, leading to an escalation of violent acts against Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere.”
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