Defend pro-Palestinian teacher from expulsion by CGT

By Salah Lamrani and Alain Marshal

Salah Lamrani, teacher in France who defends Palestine.

Workers World publishes this appeal to sign the petition described and published below. We are in support of Salah Lamrani’s struggle for his right to defend Palestine. We have removed most of the live links to French-language sources, many of which can be found on Lamrani’s blog in French and English. His case will be decided soon, so it is important to quickly sign the petition, for those who support it. WW published an article by Lamrani in October 2023 at workers.org/2023/10/73899/. The appeal follows:

For initiating a petition denouncing the ambiguity of the positions of the CGT (General Confederation of Labor, one of the largest, oldest and most influential trade unions in France) following October 7 [2023] and demanding genuine support for the Palestinian cause in response to the genocide in Gaza, Salah L., French-Algerian teacher, was expelled from the CGT Educ’action of Puy-de-Dôme (local branch of the CGT trade union, which focused on representing education workers in the Auvergne region of central France, department 63) on April 12, 2024. 

The UNSEN-CGT, the national body to which he appealed, confirmed this expulsion on June 21, 2024. This Appeal to the CGT Confederation, which has gathered over 12,000 signatures on change.org, requests his reinstatement.

Among its first 100 signatories (see the list below) are Dominique NATANSON and Sonia FAYMAN, representatives of the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP); Jean-Pierre PAGE, former member of the CGT’s Confederation Executive Commission and former head of its International Department; and Saïd BOUAMAMA, sociologist, activist of the United Front of Immigrations and Popular Neighborhoods (FUIQP), and author of “L’Affaire Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.”

The text of the Appeal includes hyperlinks to the compiled (and anonymized) case files by Salah, both his own and those of the opposing side. They irrefutably demonstrate the centrality of his positions on Palestine in the eviction process.

We invite you to sign, to have others sign, and to widely circulate this Appeal: this is not just an individual case but a defense of freedom of conscience and freedom of expression, a fight against discrimination, international solidarity and the very values and purpose of a union, which have been trampled by this arbitrary expulsion amidst a general regression of rights and a “witch hunt” against pro-Palestinian voices.

Supporting the martyred people of Gaza and their right to self-determination is not a crime!

Salah L., a literature teacher elected to the Bureau and Executive Committee of the CGT Education of the Puy-de-Dôme department (Auvergne, France), who also blogs under the pseudonym Alain Marshal (an anagram of his name, see blog in English here), was expelled from the Union for denouncing the CGT Confederation’s positions following the events of October 7 [2023] 

An internal letter he initiated, which became an open letter published on his Mediapart blog and on change.org [see English version here], denounced the pro-Israeli bias of several Confederation statements and press releases and recalled the right of a colonized people to armed resistance. To date, it has been signed by hundreds of CGT members, representatives and sympathizers, as well as by seven CGT Union sections and two Palestine solidarity groups.

An abusive exclusion procedure was launched against Salah, without the accusations made against him being the subject of a written document based on clearly established facts and constituting misconduct. His definitive exclusion was pronounced on April 12 by the Departmental Trade Union Council, a body where the rights of defense were not respected, any open debate having been forbidden. 

The National Union of National Education Unions (UNSEN-CGT), to which Salah appealed, confirmed this expulsion following an appeal hearing held on June 21, 2024, which also imposed a series of monologues without discussion. This summary process was designed to conceal the irregularities in the procedure and the real grievances leveled against him, which have constantly changed, and are matters of opinion or minor points that do not withstand scrutiny. The Confederation has not been implicated to date in this decision, which is contrary to the fundamental principles of the CGT that all unions must respect.

While Salah’s views on October 7 were the main reason for his exclusion, as demonstrated by the chronology of events and the solid file he has compiled (available online), he has also been criticized for other “minority” opinions, whether on the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), because he supports the return of the CGT to its fold, on the war in Ukraine (he denounces the alignment of the CGT’s discourse with that of NATO) or on societal matters such as abortion or LGBTQ issues, which he considers to be outside the scope of trade union activism (he was criticized for not taking part in the vote on a motion on this topic). 

His religious convictions and practices have also been stigmatized, in particular his defence of the right of private denominational schools to exist, an opinion which was deemed contrary to the principle of secularism (“laïcité”). Citing “conflicting values,” the Bureau sidelined him, despite his proven track record in defending employees’ rights. And when he refused to resign under threat and coercion, Salah was the victim of slanderous accusations, in particular that he had called a fellow employee a “miscreant” during a Bureau meeting, which made him look like a religious extremist. 

Because he distributed a recording of the meeting internally, via an unlisted YouTube link (made public after his expulsion), demonstrating that this accusation was a slander, the lawyer for the CGT Education 63 sent Salah a formal notice threatening him with a police summons and a penalty of “one year’s imprisonment and a €45,000 fine.”

As well as exonerating him, the recording includes explicit admissions by several key Bureau members, who describe his views on the situation in Palestine as the “most salient point” and the “most serious” grievance justifying his exclusion, particularly because they would cause the union to lose members.

It is unacceptable, at a time when the number of indictments and convictions against defenders of the Palestinian cause for alleged “apology for terrorism” is multiplying (our comrade Jean-Paul Delescaut, General Secretary of the UD CGT Nord, is one of the latest victims), at the instigation of a political power subservient to Washington and its unwavering support for Israel, that a trade unionist and activist should be endangered personally and professionally by his own comrades for having called for genuine support for the Palestinian people in their hour of truth.

It is unacceptable, at a time when the situation is worsening for workers, and when the overall struggles and the construction of a strategy for conquest seem to be at a standstill, to threaten the cohesion of the CGT by opening up such conflicts within it, and by implementing measures as drastic as exclusion following a political trial of another age, which discredits the union and deprives it of goodwill.

It is unacceptable, at a time when society and even the political forces of the left are tearing themselves apart, providing a breeding ground for the extreme right, of which the so-called “republican arc” has adopted the systemic racism and Islamophobia and hate speech, to forget that “The CGT is open to all employees [… ] whatever their social and professional status, nationality, political, philosophical and religious opinions. It strives for a democratic society, free from capitalist exploitation and other forms of exploitation and domination, against discrimination of all kinds, racism, xenophobia and all forms of exclusion. […] Trade union democracy guarantees each employee the right, within the trade union, to freely defend his or her point of view on all matters concerning the life and development of the organization.” (Preamble to the CGT Statutes)

We call on the CGT Confederation to intervene to shed full light on this affair, which should lead to the cancellation of this anti-statutory exclusion measure, the main cause of which is Salah’s refusal to treat Israel and the entire Palestinian Resistance in the same way: Hamas is one of its fundamental components, alongside other Islamic, secular or Marxist groups. 

Salah is being targeted because of his public support for the Palestinian people, victims of fascist genocide with the complicity of Western capitals. All political, ideological and personal differences must be resolved internally in accordance with the rule of law and the CGT’s traditions of dialogue, free debate and open camaraderie, which would be dishonoured by a Confederal confirmation of this arbitrary exclusion.

Sign the petition online: change.org/petition-salah-cgt

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