No Neutrals There US Labor, Zionism, and the Struggle for Palestine

With an approach that reveals the depth of American trade union awareness towards Palestine, the American researcher, Jeff Shorkey, begins his book “No Neutrality There: The American Trade Union Movement, Zionism and the Palestine Conflict” (Haymarket Publishing, 2025), reviewing how trade union structures, which are supposed to represent workers, have turned into tools to support a political project. A colonialism far removed from the interests of the working class. The book provides an accurate critical reading of the relations of the American union movement with the Zionist entity, focusing on the role played by the leaders of the American Federation of Labor and Industries (AFL-CIO) in promoting Zionism at the expense of solidarity with Palestinian workers. Shorkey explains that the top union leaderships gave priority to the interests of Zionism for more than a century, starting with the American Federation of Labor, then after its merger with the Conference of Industrial Organizations in 1955, explaining how this support was part of imperialist strategies at the global level. Shorki emphasizes the distinction between Zionism as a political movement and Judaism as a religion, pointing out that many Jews oppose Zionism, while the union leadership dominated the investment of union structures to promote an entire colonial project in Palestine. The book also highlights the role of the “Histadrut” (General Union of Labor in the Land of Israel), which was founded in 1920 in the land of Palestine, and which worked as a network to organize Jewish workers and exclude Palestinians from the labor market and social services, to support a purely Jewish economy. The Histadrut also included the paramilitary guard, known as the “Haganah,” within its organizational structure. The researcher points out that supporting American unions was not just an economic issue, as much as it constituted an integrated political project to strengthen Zionist settlement and hide its influence on Palestinian workers. The book traces the history of Eastern European Jewish responses to anti-Semitism, showing how the Jewish working class embraced international labor solidarity while other groups opted for settler nationalism. This discrepancy established what is known as “labor Zionism,” which attracted American union leaders and invested in union networks to legitimize the colonial project. Shorkey documents the American Federation of Labor and Industries' support for Israel after the Nakba 1948](https://www.alaraby.co.uk/entertainment_media/%D9%86%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%A9-1948-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%91%D9%84%D8%A7%D 8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9 -%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9 “The Nakba of 1948: Transformations in Palestinian Architecture”), despite the killing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, explaining how this support continued to suppress actual initiatives of solidarity with Palestinian workers, while activist groups, such as the “Middle East Labor Committee” and “Action for Palestine” attempted to correct this bias. The book presents the ongoing efforts of these groups, but their influence has remained limited within broad union structures. Through this analysis, “There Is No Neutrality” provides an accurate and detailed account of the struggle of Palestinian workers against the occupation, and exposes the duality of values ​​in American unions, which supported foreign interests and ignored the rights of Palestinian workers, providing a scientific and practical source for researchers and activists alike. Source