Source: Mondoweiss.net
Rank-and-file members of the Harvard Graduate Student Union are appalled by union leadership’s refusal to honor members’ majority vote to condemn the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
Editor’s Note: The Harvard Graduate Student Union Rank-and-File issued the following statement on October 17, 2023.
On October 16, the Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU) held a last-minute special membership meeting calling for a member vote on a statement against Israel’s US-backed genocide of the Palestinian people. This statement, supported by an overwhelming majority of present union members, also expressed support for Harvard students who have been harassed and doxxed for speaking out against over 75 years of Israeli occupation and apartheid. Members at this meeting were met with a coordinated campaign to prevent a democratic vote on this resolution through procedural delays. Access to this members-only meeting was leaked by an attendee to a reporter who began live tweeting the proceedings in a clear attempt to intimidate pro-Palestine members. Subsequently, a minority of members at the meeting proceeded to obstruct a vote on any statement for over three hours. With only 20% of the vote—all that was required according to an obscure union bylaw—the minority forced a two-week delay on publishing the proposed statement. The clear majority of attendees in support of the statement then voted to adjourn the meeting to protest this delay tactic designed to prevent our union from making a timely statement in response to this urgent crisis. We recognize this delay–as well as the ongoing presence of doxxing trucks on campus–as part of a broader Zionist bullying campaign aimed at silencing any resistance to Israel’s genocide.
As rank-and-file members of the HGSU, we are appalled by our leadership’s refusal to voice our majority view condemning the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Since 2021, our membership has consistently and overwhelmingly voted to voice support for Palestinian freedom. We refuse to accept the silencing of pro-Palestine voices in the US as genocide rages on. Following the call to action by the Palestinian Trade Unions, we release our statement below and call upon all rank-and-file members across unions in the United States settler-colony and the world to show their solidarity–in words and deeds–with the Palestinian people!…