Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are gathering outside George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on July 25, 2024, where Vice President and new Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris is speaking at the Teachers' Union Meeting. Pictured: A banner reads, ''ceasefire now!'' (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via AP)
UNIONS FOR PEACE
Members of a second federal employees’ union will officially call for a ceasefire in Gaza, in a sign of growing internal dissent over the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel, What A Day has exclusively learned.
- Opposition to U.S. handling of the crisis in Gaza has been gradually expanding for months among rank-and-file members of the administration, as the conflict’s death toll continues to surge. Now, a group representing over 1,000 federal employees is taking an official stand. Members of the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335, which represents Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees, voted last week to join other major labor unions in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a document obtained by What A Day. The group is only the second chapter of any federal government union to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and is due to make an official announcement as soon as Monday evening.
- “This humanitarian crisis has become too important to ignore,” Alexis Goldstein, a rank-and-file member of the union, told What A Day. “As campus protests are resuming, so are new pushes from within the government itself to end the war on Gaza.”
- The vote could put more pressure on big federal employee unions to take a stance. In March, one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s most vocal unions became the first federal government union to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Other major unions, including the United Auto Workers and the American Postal Workers Union, have called for protecting Palestinian rights, a release of the hostages held by Hamas militants, and a ceasefire to end the war.
The pushback comes one day before Vice President Kamala Harris’ first — and possibly only — debate against Donald Trump before the November presidential election.
- The Biden administration has faced internal dissent about its Israel policy since the war began last October: Several administration officials have resigned in protest and campaign staffers signed an anonymous letter voicing their discontent with President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. The White House hasn’t wavered in its support for Israel, approving massive amounts of military assistance to the nation — including a $20 billion weapons package last month — as Israel continues its devastating operations in the territory. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to local health officials.
- In a slideshow presented to union members, the NTEU chapter argues that “ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire” and the “increasing need for humanitarian aid and release of hostages” make it necessary to call for an end to the war. The Biden administration is reassessing its strategy toward securing a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza, as both Israel and Hamas take tougher negotiations positions, Axios reports.
- Some critics of Biden’s policies have held out hope that Harris would be tougher on Israel. But Harris recently said she won’t put conditions on providing Israel with weapons if elected president, a topic she’s likely to face again during her debate on Tuesday evening. Biden and Harris “are working day and night to free the hostages and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza who are caught in the middle of this conflict and are living in hellish conditions,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett told What A Day.
Many Democrats don’t believe the Harris campaign will lose the election if she stays the course on Israel policy. But it’s a gamble the campaign is making — even as many voters are hoping for change.
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NEWS NEWS NEWS
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