Discussion on the conflict in Israel and Palestine
At our May membership meeting, several members of our union raised their interest in discussing “Writing a letter to express solidarity with Palestinians”. After some discussion, members decided that more time would be necessary to properly reflect and reach agreement on such a nuanced topic. We then voted to have a follow up conversation this Wednesday at 6:30pm.
RSVP to join the discussion on the conflict in Israel and Palestine
This topic can be very personal for many of us, and first and foremost we need to remember that we are all union siblings united by our shared working conditions and aim of improving our living standards. Our priority is increased unity, not division, as a crucial way to increase our collective power.
A civil conversation where everyone’s voice is heard and respected, and where we learn each other’s opinions and backgrounds can foster greater mutual understanding and sense of common purpose. We encourage those interested to attend and invite other postdoctoral researchers to this forum with these objectives in mind.
Find here some materials that members shared at the meeting:
- Here are some examples of statements from other Academic unions: UAW 4121 (Univ. of Washington), HGSU UAW (Harvard), GSOC UAW (NYU), GAGE-AFT (Georgetown), GradLaborOrg-AFT (Brown) and GEO-AFT (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/opinion/bernie-sanders-israel-palestine-gaza.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeZ4yXyzUG0
Finally, if there are any other international or local issues that you would like your union to organize discussion on, please reach out to columbiapostdocunion@gmail.com.
Email columbiapostdocunion@gmail.com if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns.