Hermanos y Hermanas,

On Thursday, September 27th the janitorial contractor at 90-7th St. (the new Federal Building) was notified the effective, Monday, October 1st they would no longer be holding that contract and that they would need to inform their staff of the lay-offs. The janitors were notified of the lay-offs on Friday, September 28th. Exemplar, the new contractor, did not offer any of the janitors employment or give any explanation as to why. The Government Services Agencies which is in charge of offering contracts to vendors gave no explanation as to why the sudden change was made or even went to say thank you to the janitors.

The Arab Labour Force in Israel

Every fifth citizen of Israel is Palestinian Arab, and these 1.2 million people are largely excluded from the benefits of citizenship and the national economy. Systematic discrimination by state and general public permeates every sphere of public and private life, including employment and social security.

Israels Poverty Report 2005, published by the National Insurance Institute on August 30, 2006, revealed worrying socio-economic trends for the population as a whole, and for Arab citizens in particular. Sawt el-Amel summarised the information provided by the poverty report as follows (Israels Poverty Report Not Representative for Arab Population, Sept. 5, 2006):[1]

Increase of overall poverty rate: almost 100,000 Israelis (overall population: 7 million) slipped below the poverty line in 2005, more than half of them children;

September 6, 2007 CounterPunch.org
Nuclear Hypocrisy in the Middle East

Bush, Iran and Israel's Hidden Hand
By KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON
Former CIA Analysts

The internet is loaded these days with reports of the inevitability of a U.S., or a U.S.-Israeli, attack on Iran. Some writers allege that the attack is imminent. Others, including the writers of this article, argue only that the attack will happen sometime before January 2009, when the Bush administration leaves office. Many of these stories have by now been picked up by the mainstream media. In fact, it is probably safe to say that today a majority of the traditionally cautious and so-called respectable foreign policy experts in the U.S. think it is at least possible that Bush will attack Iran before he leaves office.

The Annual Naji Daifullah Award

SOMARTS ~ 934 BRANNAN ST. ~ SAN FRANCISCO
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2007 6:00-9:00PM

The Arab American Union Members Council (AAUMC) will be present the annual Nagi Daifullah Award during the 'PALESTINE/MEXICO: Unspoken Borders' event that is part of the larger 'Prophecy/Healing Time: Artists and Communities Respond to Global Crisis' show. This evening will features music, dance, spoken word, a slide show, food and more. We hope to see everyone there and really hope for a strong labor presence to honor the memory of Nagi Daifullah and carry on his legacy.
Arab American labor leader Nagi Daifullah and Cesar Chavez

"Non-Violence is our Strength..." Cesar Chavez

Israel has recently released a few hundred people from its prisons. Over 650,000 Palestinian men have been locked up in Israeli prisons at some point in their lives (Gideon Levy in Haaretz) - over 40% of the male population in the occupied/colonized territories. Israel stripped the native Palestinians of most of their land leaving 5 million people as refugees or displaced. Israel impoverishes the remaining Palestinians and squeezes them into large concentration camps behind high separation walls including the true leaders of all rank and file working people. Israel persecutes Palestinian leaders, labor and political activists to undermine the Palestinian people's political activities.