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"Sanctions alone cannot eradicate apartheid; that task is ultimately leftto the people of SouthAfrica themselves. But economic pressure andpolitical isolation of the South African government can hasten the day whenjustice and freedom reign in that troubled land." --Richard L.Trumka, June 23, 1987

"We call on other workers and unions to. . . do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to andfrom Israel untilPalestine is free."--Congress of South African Trade Unions, February 3, 2009

"We urge all international trade unionsto heed the call of Palestinian civil society, including the trade unionmovement, by endorsing BDS. We further urge all trade unions and trade unionfederations to sever their links with the Histadrut, a Zionist organizationthat has always played a key role in perpetuating Israel's occupation,colonization and system of racial discrimination, and that has justified andapplauded Israel's war crimes in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009."--Palestinian Trade Union Movement Unanimously Confirms Support for BDS,November 25, 2009

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Dear Brother Trumka:

As labor and anti-apartheid activists, we strongly disagree with your October27 speech denouncing the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)against Israel .

The BDS campaign was initiated in 2005 by Palestinian civil society --including its entire labor movement. Inspired by the international boycott thathelped topple apartheid South Africa ,it demands Palestinian self-determination, including an end to Israeli militaryoccupation, the right of refugees to return to the land from which they havebeen ethnically cleansed since the Nakba of 1947-1948, and equal rights for allthroughout historic Palestine .

Support for BDS has grown rapidly, especially since December 27, 2008, whenIsrael broke a truce with thedemocratically-elected Palestinian government and attackedGaza . In the resulting massacre,Israel killed more than 1400 Palestinians,hundreds of them children; maimed and wounded thousands more; and utterlydevastated Gaza 's infrastructure, including theGaza headquarters of thePalestine General Federation of Trade Unions.