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DESCRIPTION:4/17 SF Forum-The Middle East Rebellions, US Imperialism and the Working 
 Class\n\nThe Middle East Rebellions, US Imperialism and the Working 
 Class\n\nPublic Forum & Discussion\nThe Middle East Rebellions, US 
 Imperialism and the Working Class\n\n\nSunday April 17, 2011 3:00 PM\n522 
 Valencia St/16th St\nSan Francisco, CA\n\nDonation Requested\n\nThe US is 
 now engaged in a full scale military intervention and war in Libya and has 
 operations throughout Africa and the Middles East. This forum will look at 
 the role of the US in the Middle East and the growing working class 
 rebellions that are taking place there. It will also look at what 
 relationship the US trade union movement should have with the working class 
 of the region.\n\nInitial Speakers:\nRalph Schoenman, Journalist, Member 
 UAW 1981 on The US, The Middle East And The Working Class\nWhat role is the 
 US and it's allies in the Middle East playing and what are the struggles of 
 the working class\nMehmet Bayram, Writer on Fundamentalism, Turkey and the 
 US\nHow is fundamentalism being supporting by the US government in Turkey 
 and how has this affected the Turkish struggle and working 
 class.\n\nSponsored by International Discussion Group IDG\n&\nLabor Video 
 Project\nFor Information contact (415)282-1908\n\nSFLC RESOLUTION IN 
 SUPPORT OF THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF \nTRADE UNIONS AND THE CIVILIAN 
 POPULATION OF BAHRAIN 
 \nhttp://sflaborcouncil.org/sites/labor/uploads/04-11-11ResSptGenFedCivBahrain.pdf\nRESOLUTION 
 IN SUPPORT OF THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF \nTRADE UNIONS AND THE CIVILIAN 
 POPULATION OF BAHRAIN \n \nWhereas on March 14, 2011 the San Francisco 
 Labor Council adopted a Resolution \nin which it was resolved that the SFLC 
 “declares its full solidarity and support for the \nGeneral Strike action 
 taken by the General Federation of Workers Trade Unions of 
 \nBahrain.”(GFBTU); and \n \nWhereas on that date the San Francisco Labor 
 Council condemned the invasion of \nBahrain by Saudi Arabian and Gulf 
 Cooporation Council (GCC) forces; and \n \nWhereas the GFBTU, representing 
 sixty organizations and seventy trade unions, with \nclose to 100% support 
 from membership, shut down Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA), \nBahrain Petroleum 
 Company (BAPCO), Bahrain Aviation and all major companies in \nprotest 
 against the disappearance of workers, daily torture and killing of workers 
 and \npeaceful demonstrators and the use of chemical weapons, attack 
 helicopters and \nautomatic weapons on civilians in their homes, workplaces 
 and villages throughout \nBahrain; and \n \nWhereas GFBTU leaders ended the 
 strike on March 22, 2011 in response to \ngovernmental assurances that 
 random killing, wounding and disappearance of \nworkers, their families and 
 the general population would cease; and \n \nWhereas as soon as the General 
 Strike was ended, participating workers and their \nfamilies were attacked, 
 detained and banned from employment; and \n \nWhereas GFBTU leaders Karim 
 Radhi and General Secretary Salman Jaffar al \nMahfoodh appealed to trade 
 unions and working people in every country to defend \nthe lives and 
 livelihoods of Bahrain’s workers and to defend the people of Bahrain 
 \nagainst ruthless and murderous repression; and \n \nWhereas the removal 
 and disappearance of workers was extended to Batelco, APM \nterminals and 
 the University of Bahrain exceeding 1,380, 800 and 453 workers in \nthree 
 locations; and \n \nWhereas on April 5, Solidarity Center, on behalf of the 
 AFL-CIO, declared that it “is \ncalling for an immediate end to threats, 
 firing, and arrests of rights activists and \nworkers in Bahrain, where the 
 government has imposed a harsh and brutal crackdown \nupon dissent;” and 
 \n  \nWhereas Solidarity Center denounced further the “shooting and 
 killing of protesters, \nremoving the wounded from hospitals, raiding homes 
 and offices” and “detaining \nhundreds of protesters, activists and 
 opposition leaders;” and \n \nWhereas Solidarity Center appealed further 
 on behalf of “five leaders of the Bahraini \nTeachers’ Federation and 
 of Rulla al Saffar, President of the Bahrain Nursing \nSociety” who were 
 detained and have not been seen; and \n \n \nWhereas Nancy Mills, 
 Solidarity Center Interim Executive Director, declared that “Bahrain is 
 in \nclear violation of its international commitments to respect basic 
 human and labor rights. The \nrepression must end;” and \n \nWhereas the 
 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), representing 175 million 
 workers \nand 305 member organizations in 151 countries was joined by 
 Global Union Federations and \nNational Affiliates across the world in 
 declaring “our total and unwavering support and solidarity \nwith the 
 trade union movement of Bahrain;” and \n \nWhereas the ITUC was joined by 
 the Trades Union Council of Great Britain which called upon \nits 
 membership for donations through the TUC AID Solidarity Appeal for the 
 GFBTU and the \nworking people of Bahrain; and \n \nWhereas the 
 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers 
 \ncondemned the firing from their jobs of all Executive Board members of 
 the GFBTU, denounced \nthe seizure of GFBTU headquarters by security forces 
 and the demand by security forces that \nGeneral Secretary Jaffar Salman al 
 Mahfoodh place himself in security custody; and \n \nWhereas workers at 
 Alba were stopped from entering the building and were detained, doctors and 
 \nnurses at Salmaniya Medical Complex were sacked and the union 
 representing doctors and nurses \nin Bahrain was disbanded by Bahrain’s 
 Health Ministry; and \n \nWhereas Bahrain Telecommunications, Gulf Air, 
 Bahrain Airport Services and APM Terminals \nBahrain fired all striking 
 workers permanently, the Education Ministry disbanded the teachers’ 
 \nunion and arrested its President Mahdi Abu Deeb; and \n \nWhereas Human 
 Rights Watch, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner and Amnesty 
 \nInternational have condemned the disappearance and death of doctors, 
 surgeons and medical \npersonnel and of wounded patients from hospitals and 
 clinics; and \n \nWhereas Irish Times reporter Finian Cunningham has 
 documented “torture, chemical warfare, \nincluding the use of nerve gas 
 and organ theft” wherein “as many as 17 bodies of victims released 
 \nfrom military custody showed signs of deep surgery from the neck to the 
 abdomen” including \n“Abdul Razal al Hujairi and fifteen year old Sayed 
 Ahmed Saeed Shams” revealing “organ theft \nrequiring “international 
 independent inquiry;” and \n \nWhereas this barbarous repression has 
 unfolded less than three-quarters of a mile from the Fifth \nFleet and U.S. 
 command headquarters stationed in Bahrain and, in the words of reporter 
 Finian \nCunningham, “clear evidence of multiple violations under 
 international law” is unfolding “only \nkilometers away from thousands 
 of U.S. military personnel;” and \n \nWhereas on March 14, 2011 the San 
 Francisco Labor Council by Resolution further resolved \n“that Bahrain is 
 the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and of military intelligence in 
 the region \nand condemns the role of the government of the United States 
 in the subjugation and brutalization \nof the people of Bahrain;” and \n 
 \nWhereas the International Labor Organization in Geneva has condemned the 
 collective firing of \nstriking workers in Bahrain and announced it will 
 send a high-level delegation as soon as possible \nto meet the authorities 
 in Manama;” \n  \nTherefore be it Resolved that the San Francisco Labor 
 Council joins the trade union movement \nand working people across the 
 world in pledging its unstinting solidarity with the GFBTU, the \nworking 
 class and the people of Bahrain; and \n \nBe it Further Resolved that the 
 San Francisco Labor Council calls upon the government of the \nUnited 
 States to condemn these acts and demand an immediate end to the criminal 
 invasion of \nBahrain by Saudi Arabia and the GCC troops, and that the U.S. 
 government denounce the use of \nU.S. F 16 attack aircraft, Cobra 
 helicopters, U.S. weaponry, and U.S. supplied chemical and \nnerve gas on 
 civilians and villages throughout Bahrain; and \n \nBe it Finally Resolved 
 that the San Francisco Labor Council joins Human Rights officials and 
 \nactivists from many countries in calling for an international 
 investigation and adjudication of \ncrimes against humanity committed by 
 foreign and domestic forces of repression, finding \nculpable any 
 government that has provided forces of repression in Bahrain with political 
 and \nmilitary support. \n \nadopted by the San Francisco Labor Council on 
 April 11, 2011. \n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/04/14/18677149.php
SUMMARY:SF Forum-The Middle East Rebellions, US Imperialism and the Working Class
LOCATION:522 Valencia St./16th St.\nSan Francisco, CA
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/04/14/18677149.php
DTSTART:20110417T220000Z
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