I’m #StrikeReady… Rising power! Los Angeles is strike ready for our students! #UTLAStrong

UTLA

“The Palestinian people are determined to continue the intifada for all of the national rights of our people. This position is naturally consistent with the struggle of all progressive global forces confronting global imperial arrogance and struggling for independence, self-determination and liberation, for social justice, equality and socialism, based on a fair distribution of the wealth and human principles of peace, rejection of war, imperialism and all forms of oppression and exploitation…” – Ahmad Sa’adat

Today, we remember the 10th anniversary of the Israeli sentencing of prominent Palestinian national liberation and international left leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. We urge you to join us for an International Week of Action between 15 and 22 January 2019 to free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners!

On 15 January 2019, we will mark the 17th anniversary of Sa’adat’s arrest by the Palestinian Authority in the context of “security cooperation” with the Israeli occupation. After a violent attack on the PA’s Jericho prison in 2006, where Sa’adat was held under United States and British guards, Ahmad Sa’adat and his comrades are serving lengthy sentences in Israeli prisons. Sa’adat was sentenced to 30 years in prison, convicted in an Israeli military court of leading a prohibited organization and “incitement.”

Sa’adat is a leader in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian national liberation movement. He is a figure of international importance and political clarity, targeted behind bars in an attempt to isolate him from his political role. He stands alongside nearly 6,000 fellow Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails on the front lines of the liberation struggle. As such, he is a symbol of Palestinian, Arab and internationalist resistance to capitalism, racism, apartheid and colonization.

The case of Ahmad Sa’adat also clearly highlights the complicity of international powers in the occupation and colonization of Palestine. He and his comrades were held for years under U.S. and British guards in a Palestinian Authority prison – and those guards moved away in a prearranged agreement to allow the Israeli occupation army to attack Jericho prison in 2006. The support of the United States, Britain, Canada, the European Union, Australia and others for the Israeli colonial project continues to perpetuate its impunity as it carries out land confiscations, home demolitions, mass imprisonment, extrajudicial executions, the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, the siege on Gaza and further crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The Palestinian Authority kidnapped Sa’adat under false pretenses and imprisoned him for four years before its prison was attacked by the Israeli occupation. This is part and parcel of the policy of “security coordination” that has led to the repeated imprisonment of Palestinians for their political involvement by the PA. Despite critical words, the policy remains firmly in place – with devastating and deadly consequences for Palestinians, as seen in the case of Basil al-Araj.

On 15-22 January 2019, join us in a collective call for the freedom of Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners. Join us to build the global grassroots campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions from Israel and complicit corporations. Join us to fight for an end to aid and support for the Israeli occupation that has been confiscating land and lives for over 70 years.

We urge you to organize events, actions and protests in cities, campuses, communities, towns, campuses and all other public spaces. When we raise our voices, we can help to break the Israeli isolation of Ahmad Sa’adat and his fellow Palestinian prisoners. Free Ahmad Sa’adat! Free all Palestinian Prisoners! Free Palestine!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat

TAKE ACTION:

1. Organize events, actions and protests at Israeli embassies and consulates around the world to urge freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat. Protest in public squares and other open community spaces. Send us your events! Use this form or email samidoun@samidoun.net (Read about past years’ events here.)

2. Distribute this call to action and take media actions, like posting photos with posters calling for freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and other Palestinian prisoners. Download the posters below and send us your photos! Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net or send us a message on Facebook.

3. Include Ahmad Sa’adat and the Palestinian prisoners in your Palestine solidarity, anti-racism, anti-imperialist and social justice events. Bring flyers and posters or share a statement from Sa’adat as part of your program. Let us know what you’re doing: Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net or send us a message on Facebook.

Important recent writings and interviews by Sa’adat (English):

• Ahmad Sa’adat: Palestine will be freed by the people, not the elites
• Ahmad Sa’adat: Prisons, the Black Liberation movement and the struggle for Palestine
• Letter from Ahmad Sa’adat to Georges Abdallah: “You remain a symbol and a model for us”
• Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat from prison: We are struggling for democracy, liberation and justice for all
• Call to action from Ahmad Sa’adat: Boycott Israel!

POSTERS

Languages: English | Arabic | French | Dutch | Swedish | German | Turkish | Greek | Italian | Spanish | Danish

ENGLISH

Rally to End the Government Shutdown

815 16th Street, NW, AFL-CIO, 12 NOON – 2 P.M.

Join us for a union-led rally to protest the continuing shutdown and resulting furloughs that are financially hurting 800,000 federal employees and families.

The rally will begin at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C. and will continue with a brief march to the White House after keynote speakers to include furloughed federal employees, Union Leaders, and Members of Congress.

Mark your calendars and come down to have your voice heard!

This event is hosted by: AFGE, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, APWU, DPE, FEA/NEA, IAFF, IAMAW, IBEW, IBT, IFPTE, MM&P, LIUNA, MEBA MTD, NATCA, NAGE, NALC, NFFE, NNU, NPMHU, NRLCA, NTEU, NWSEO, POPA, PASS, SIU, SEIU, SMART, SATCO, UPTO.

Appalachians Against Pipelines

Defending Appalachia from the Mountain Valley Pipeline, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and more. No new pipelines in Appalachia!

Voces de la Frontera

Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration

Racine Interfaith Coalition (RIC)

Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES)

Voces de la Frontera

https://www.utla.net/

UTLA

MEDIA NOTE: Tune in to KPCC’s ‘AirTalk‘ at 10 a.m. tomorrow for Kyle Stokes’ interview with UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl.

As you know, today Austin Beutner attempted another end-run around the formal bargaining process by talking to the media and sending a letter to our members. This is the behavior of a corporate down-sizer, breaking the rules to get his way. See our press statement on that here.

Later in the day, about 15 minutes after we released a media statement calling out Beutner’s latest tactics, Rob Samples from LAUSD Labor Relations sent a response to our email on Dec. 31, 2018, which had asked Samples to clarify a confusing and unorthodox chart that he had sent a couple of days earlier. Today, Samples refused to answer our questions and insisted that the chart is an offer, with no further clarification.

The chart is not a formal offer. But, inasmuch as we want to be responsive, we reached back out to Samples tonight and rejected LAUSD’s so-called offer. See the district’s chart, a chain of emails back and forth, and our response to Samples here.

The so-called offer is basically the same as LAUSD has been putting forward for months, just dressed up slightly differently.

We additionally stated in tonight’s email to Samples that our bargaining team is available to meet on Monday if the district has a legitimate and clear offer for us to consider. We hope they do, as we would like to make progress on bargaining if possible.

We rejected the district’s most recent “offer” for several reasons:

1. Pay raise still contingent on healthcare rollback: Though unclear, it appears to still make the 3% salary increase in 2017-2018 and 3% in 2018-2019 contingent on cutting future members’ healthcare.

2. Section 1.5 not eliminated: Though unclear, it appears to maintain Section 1.5 of the contract, which allows the district to unilaterally raise class sizes.

3. Anemic movement on class size and more nurses, counselors, and librarians: Though unclear, if we pieced it together with other recent district communications (not something we want to do, but had no choice given Samples’ lack of response), it appears to offer only $30 million for class-size reduction, and additional counselors, nurses, librarians, etc. This is less than 2% of the almost $2 billion reserve. This would provide only one additional staff person (supposedly filling a need for class-size reduction AND health and human services staffing) at only 30% of district schools. Because the “offer” is so poorly written, it is unclear as to whether the district is maintaining that they would like to have this $30 million applied only to 10% of the 900 schools, which they had proposed on October 30. It is also unclear as to whether the district is maintaining its October 30 proposal to raise class sizes across the board.

4. No progress on other critical proposals: It does not address the rest of our comprehensive package of proposals built to improve learning conditions for students, to improve working conditions for educators, and to ensure the long-term stability of LAUSD as a civic institution for the common good.

Interpreting the district’s chart was made more difficult by the fact that, just today, LAUSD sent a press statement, a letter to our members, a letter to parents, and made statements on KPCC, all of which were inconsistent with each other. This is an unprofessional and misleading set-up to prevent us from arriving at substantive agreements that help our students.  We expect more from the superintendent of the second-largest school district in the country.

We will keep you informed, and hope that LAUSD agrees to meet on Monday, and has a clear and legitimate offer for us to consider at that time. Stay united, stay informed, and stay focused on our goal: a deep reinvestment in educators and students to sustain public education in LA.

HEAR MORE: Tune in to KPCC’s ‘AirTalk‘ at 10 a.m. tomorrow for Kyle Stokes’ interview with UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl.

https://www.utla.net/

UTLA

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UTLA leaders and thousands of members and supporters march for education in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018.