Laily UPN
As the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues to unfold with staggering loss of life, Palestinian cultural workers are issuing a desperate and strategic appeal to their counterparts across the globe. Living under the dual pressures of systematic apartheid, military occupation, and an ongoing genocide, these artists and performers are calling for more than just moral support; they are demanding tangible, structural solidarity from international labor unions to end complicity in Israel’s state-sanctioned violence.
While high-profile artists—such as Macklemore, children’s television star Miss Rachel, and country singer Zach Bryan—have utilized their platforms to voice support for Palestinian rights, the focus of this movement is shifting toward the institutional power of organized labor. The Palestinian Performing Arts Network (PPAN), an umbrella organization representing hundreds of dancers, actors, musicians, and playwrights, has provided a clear, four-point roadmap for U.S. arts unions to translate solidarity into effective action.
1. The Call to Action: A Four-Point Strategy
The PPAN’s proposal is rooted in the history of international labor movements, specifically the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, which demonstrated that organized labor serves as a critical check on government power when diplomatic channels fail.
Rejecting Censorship and Blacklisting
The first pillar of this strategy is the protection of freedom of expression. Many artists report that speaking out against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has resulted in professional repercussions, including the loss of funding, venue cancellations, and blacklisting. Unions are being urged to adopt formal policies that protect members who use their platform for political critique.
A precedent exists: British Actors’ Equity successfully passed a motion within the UK’s Trade Union Congress (TUC), which represents 5 million workers. The motion affirms the right of artists to challenge institutions through political art without fear of retribution. Similarly, in the United States, a coalition of over 700 entertainment industry union members signed an open letter in 2024 calling on SAG-AFTRA to defend members from industry blacklisting and to condemn the targeting of journalists in conflict zones.
Breaking Institutional Complicity
The second pillar involves a refusal to collaborate with institutions—including festivals, foundations, and broadcasters—that are verifiably complicit in the occupation. This goes beyond individual boycotts, focusing instead on the systemic financial ties between the arts sector and corporations involved in the Israeli military apparatus.
In late 2025, over 5,500 film industry professionals signed a pledge to refuse cooperation with institutions complicit in Israel’s actions. Furthermore, Norway’s actors’ union, Norsk Skuespillerforbund (NSF), established official guidelines recommending that members reject work with Israeli cultural institutions that violate the established parameters of the Palestinian cultural boycott.
International Federation Exclusion
The third point calls for the exclusion of Israeli institutions from international labor federations, such as the International Federation of Actors (FIA) and the International Federation of Musicians (FIM). By treating these institutions as normal partners, international bodies effectively grant a veneer of legitimacy to an entity currently accused of systemic violations of human rights.
Lawful Sanctions and State Pressure
Finally, the PPAN calls on unions to lobby their respective governments to enforce sanctions. History has shown that when governments are hesitant to act against allies, organized labor provides the necessary pressure to turn political rhetoric into enforceable policy.
2. A Chronology of Labor Mobilization
The current wave of labor activism is not a spontaneous event; it is the culmination of years of movement-building and an intensification of the BDS (Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment) strategy.
- 2022–2023: Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the Israeli organization B’Tselem, formalize reports documenting Israel’s system of apartheid and illegal occupation, providing legal weight to the arguments long made by Palestinian civil society.
- Late 2023: Following the escalation in Gaza, unionists across the globe participate in coordinated actions, including blocking weapon shipments bound for Israel at international docks.
- 2024: The United Auto Workers (UAW) makes headlines by endorsing divestment from Israel bonds, a move that signals a seismic shift in how major U.S. industrial unions approach foreign policy.
- Early 2025: The death toll in Gaza reaches 80,000, as reported by independent researchers. The scale of destruction is so profound that standard monitoring mechanisms struggle to keep pace.
- September 2025: UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband labels illegal West Bank settlements as “ethnic cleansing,” prompting the UK’s TUC to officially endorse the Palestinian-led BDS movement.
- 2026: A coalition of 12 nations, including France and Canada, moves toward sanctioning trade from Israeli settlements, emboldening labor groups to push for similar measures within their own pension fund portfolios.
3. Supporting Data and the Cost of Complicity
The urgency of this mobilization is driven by the sheer scale of the humanitarian crisis. As of early 2025, the estimated death toll of 80,000 Palestinians is widely considered a conservative figure, as the total collapse of infrastructure in Gaza has made accurate documentation nearly impossible.
Beyond the human cost, there is a clear economic argument for labor intervention. A significant portion of U.S. taxpayer dollars—tens of billions annually—is funneled into military aid for Israel. This occurs while domestic social services, including education, healthcare, and public housing, face consistent budgetary cuts.
Labor organizations are increasingly drawing the link between the erosion of the American working-class standard of living and the prioritization of global militarization. By divesting pension funds from corporations that profit from the occupation, unions are not only taking a moral stand; they are also protecting their members’ retirement savings from the volatility associated with investments in war and human rights abuses.
4. Official Responses and Union Resistance
The push for divestment has met with varying levels of resistance from corporate boards and government officials, yet the grassroots momentum is undeniable. National unions like the United Electrical Workers (UE) have taken the lead, becoming the first national union to endorse the full BDS movement. They have been joined by National Nurses United and the Painters Union, both of which have advocated for an end to unconditional military funding.
On the rank-and-file level, workers are organizing in informal, agile networks:
- Entertainment Labor for Palestine: Focusing on the intersection of media, arts, and political messaging.
- Purple Up for Palestine (SEIU): Organizing service and healthcare workers.
- IATSE Members for Palestine: Mobilizing stagehands and technical workers to ensure that labor is not used to facilitate events that ignore the humanitarian crisis.
These groups provide a blueprint for how workers can hold their own union leadership accountable while simultaneously building international solidarity networks.
5. Implications: The Path Toward Justice
The shift toward organized labor’s involvement in the Palestinian struggle has profound implications for the future of international relations. When a labor union in the UK or the U.S. decides to divest, it disrupts the flow of capital that sustains the machinery of occupation.
As Mona Abhari, North America labor organizer for the BDS movement, notes, the goal is to create a world where tax dollars are used to provide a dignified life for all—funding social services and community needs—rather than enabling war crimes.
The lessons from the anti-apartheid movement are clear: change is rarely granted from above; it is won through the collective, disruptive power of the working class. By integrating the struggle for Palestinian liberation into the core of labor union agendas, workers are not just acting in solidarity; they are asserting that their labor, their pensions, and their political influence will no longer be used as collateral for atrocities.
The movement is currently in a state of rapid evolution. As more unions align their investment policies with ethical procurement and human rights standards, the "complicity" that defines current trade relations is beginning to fracture. Whether this leads to a permanent shift in foreign policy depends on the continued tenacity of these labor networks and their ability to keep the plight of the Palestinian people at the center of the global labor agenda.
Nana Wu
