Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Jose Tavares confirmed that Jakarta never terminated the deal and that it’s “very much intact”. Tavares also stated that Indonesia is simply waiting for the situation to become “more accommodating” to return to its implementation, probably referring to the SMO and Moscow’s efforts to push back against NATO’s crawling aggression.

If chosen as Israel’s public diplomacy envoy, Golan will represent Israel while visiting Jewish communities, campuses, and public events in Europe. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Following her 5th place finish in the Eurovision Song Contest over the weekend, impressive given the controversy over her participation, 20-year-old singer Eden Golan may be appointed by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz as a public diplomacy ambassador to Europe, Ynet reported Sunday.

Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have reported that Golan’s name has appeared on the list of candidates Katz has been compiling for the public envoy position.

If selected, Golan will be Israel’s public diplomacy envoy in Europe, where she will represent Israel while visiting Jewish communities, campuses, and public events.

On Saturday, Eden Golan, representing Israel, finished 5th in Eurovision despite earning the second-highest number of audience votes.

The Eurovision season was marked with controversy, including threats to boycott, frequent booing, and protests over Israel’s participation amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Eden Golan’s “Hurricane” received the second highest audience televote score, 323, slightly less than Croatia’s 337.

However, the strong showing with audience votes starkly contrasted with the meager number of votes from Eurovision judges, who put Israel in 12th place.

Maya Alkulumbre presented Israel’s jury votes, which included 12 for Luxembourg, 10 for Germany, and 8 for Ukraine. She was told to remove her yellow hostage pin before stepping onstage.

She was booed when she walked onto the stage, and there were also boos heard whenever juries awarded points to Israel.

The booing during Eden Golan’s performance was muted for the broadcast by anti-booing technology.

Israel received 52 points from 11 countries.

Ireland’s Bambie Thug, who expressed vocal anti-Israel views, was told to remove anti-Israel messages written on their face in Irish Gaelic.

Bambie Thug also said Israel should have been disqualified over their alleged treatment by an Israeli Kan news reporter.

Despite the opposition, Eden Golan expressed her appreciation for placing fifth and being given the opportunity to represent Israel in Eurovision.

She said she was “so proud” of Israel’s finishing fifth, “From the very first moment, we had one goal, which was to make Israel’s strong voice heard in the world, and I know that we accomplished that goal in a big way.”

She added, “I don’t forget for one moment our hostages, and I dedicate my participation in the contest to them!”

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Even as union density has declined, unions have spent little on organizing while amassing vast war chests. But the UAW and Workers United are showing that spending big on strikes and organizing pays off.

A “UAW on Strike” sign held on a picket line outside the main entrance at the General Motors Ypsilanti Processing Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on September 22, 2023. (Emily Elconin / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a moment of opportunity for workers and the labor movement, a key strategic question is whether union leaders are prepared to put at risk the more than $32 billion in assets they currently have sitting idle in union treasuries. Will organized labor decide to invest in large-scale organizing campaigns and militant strikes, or continue to invest its resources in Wall Street?

Unions like the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) affiliate Workers United are demonstrating one path forward, dramatically increasing spending to support bold campaigns. For the labor movement to make the most of the current period of high favorability for unions and rising militancy, other unions will need to follow their lead.

Union Membership Is Down, but $32 Billion Is Parked With Wall Street

Union density and membership have steadily declined for decades, but paradoxically, labor’s financial assets have increased exponentially. I call this “finance unionism,” a practice whereby union leaders focus on accumulating Wall Street financial assets rather than investing those resources in mass organizing and strike activity.

As the chart below shows, union membership has declined by 2 percent in absolute terms since 2010, but according to financial filings with the Department of Labor (DOL), organized labor’s net assets (assets minus liabilities) have increased from $14.4 billion to $32.7 billion in 2022 — a 127 percent increase (complete 2023 data is not available). Unions have been able to do this because they collectively run large budget surpluses each year, spending less on strikes and organizing than they receive in rising member revenues and investment income.Increasing spending on organizing and strikes is not a panacea to reverse labor’s decline, but reducing spending amid an unprecedented worker upsurge is a disastrous strategic choice. According to my analysis of union filings with the DOL, the top ten union headquarters — representing approximately 70 percent of all union members — are spending nearly half a billion less in 2023 than in 2010 when adjusted for inflation.

The breakdown of total union spending also gives a good idea of labor’s defensive strategic posture. Since 2010, unions have spent less than $1 billion on strike benefits for workers, compared to $31 billion in benefits for staff and officers and $9 billion on political activity (e.g., lobbying and campaign donations).

Unfortunately, recent data on unions’ spending on organizing versus collective bargaining is unavailable, because in 2022 the Biden administration rescinded a DOL regulation requiring disclosure. But what little data exists suggests that unions are spending a shamefully low amount on organizing.

The UAW and Workers United: Beyond Finance Unionism

Both the UAW and Workers United are good examples of an alternative model to the widespread practice of finance unionism.

After Shawn Fain was elected UAW president in early 2023 in the first direct election of officers by the membership (as well as a newly elected International Executive Board), the union increased spending by $181 million in 2023, a 70 percent uptick. According to financial filings with the DOL, the spending increase was primarily driven by a $152 million expenditure on strike benefits for members in the historic stand-up strike at the Big Three automakers (and other strikes), as well as increases in direct spending on organizing and collective bargaining. Rather than a budget surplus, UAW ran a significant deficit in 2023, using its ample war chest to finance new spending.The UAW spent $438 million in 2023, more than any other large national union in the United States. The $152 million the UAW spent on strike benefits in 2023 was more than the entire labor movement spent on strikes in 2022 ($116 million). Yet that historic strike expenditure only represented 13 percent of the UAW’s $1.1 billion strike fund and treasury.

Building on the momentum of the stand-up strike, in early 2024, the UAW promptly announced $40 million in new organizing funds to support nonunion autoworkers and battery workers organizing across the country, particularly in the South. Two months later, the UAW won a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election to represent over forty-three hundred autoworkers at Volkswagen, the first successful unionization vote at an auto factory in the South. This week, another fifty-two thousand autoworkers will have the opportunity to vote for union representation at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama.

While the UAW used its treasury to fund a high visibility and successful strike at the Big Three automakers and organizing in the nonunion auto sector in the South, Workers United pursued a different strategy. Initiating the first organizing win at Starbucks in Buffalo in 2021, the campaign quickly spread semi-autonomously throughout the country. Embracing a decentralized worker-to-worker organizing model rather than a staff-heavy top-down approach, Workers United nevertheless devoted substantial financial resources to support the campaign’s legal, research, and communication needs.

Workers United’s headquarters rapidly increased spending to support the Starbucks campaign, as the chart below illustrates. Spending rose from the prepandemic level of $3.8 million in 2019 to $11.5 million in 2023, a 207 percent increase.  

According to DOL financial filings, Workers United’s legal expenses for organizing increased from $5,000 in 2019 to $2.4 million in 2023. Staffing rose from seven employees in 2019 to sixty-three in 2023, primarily due to hiring more organizers.

In the aggregate, from 2020 to 2023, Workers United devoted $10.8 million in new spending to organize 10,500 workers at 425 Starbucks stores (assuming all new spending was for the campaign). This spending was undoubtedly buttressed by the regional bodies of Workers United, its parent union SEIU, and the Strategic Organizing Center (a coalition effort of SEIU, the Communications Workers of America, and the United Farm Workers of America).

The union is also in a strong financial position to fund the expansion of Starbucks organizing. The Workers United treasury has $178 million in net assets, primarily stock from the sale of the union-owned Amalgamated Bank to Wall Street investors in 2018.

Unions Are Winning Elections at an Unprecedented Scale

Workers United and the UAW used the revamped election procedures of the NLRB for their respective organizing campaigns. That’s because the Biden administration’s NLRB has addressed some, but not all, of the critical flaws of existing labor law.

For example, under the new rules, it is much more difficult for employers to delay elections for union representation endlessly. In addition, the NLRB has stepped up enforcement penalties and remedies for employers who violate the law.

Although labor law is still deeply flawed — particularly in the ability it gives employers to deny newly organized workers a first contract (see: Amazon Labor Union) — the NLRB reforms have corresponded to an uptick in organizing wins. As the chart below shows, in fiscal year 2023, unions won 76 percent of union elections, the highest win rate since 1965.

In 2023, approximately ninety-two thousand workers were involved in NLRB representation elections initiated by unions (and 2024 data show a similar organizing pace). While the uptick in organizing is encouraging, it is far from the scale necessary to meaningfully increase worker power and union density. In fact, workers in NLRB elections only represented 0.08 percent of the private nonunion workforce in 2023. Historically, during most of the 2000–2010 period, unions organized at a far higher rate than in 2023.

Labor has more than enough financial resources to organize at ten times the current rate. Still, too many unions lack the political will, leadership, and a coherent strategy to do so, despite the most fertile organizing environment in decades.

For far too long, many unions have operated under the assumption that it is impossible to organize under existing labor law. But when labor is winning 76 percent of NLRB elections for union recognition, these excuses ring hollow. The UAW and Workers United are showing that it is possible to organize on a large scale, and they are willing to devote the resources to do so. The question for the rest of the labor movement is: If not now, when?

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As has already become commonplace, Ukraine targets Russian civilians instead of fighting symmetrically on the battlefield.

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Globalists Plot Worldwide Genocide Via WHO Pandemic Treaty

By Richard C. Cook, May 12, 2024

With all the trouble in today’s world, including the completely pointless American-instigated war in Ukraine, Israel’s loathsome genocidal onslaught against the Palestinians in Gaza, …

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A violent outbreak at a large May Day gathering in Stockton, Alabama, resulted in three fatalities and at least 15 injuries, according to local authorities. The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office reported that the incident, which occurred late Saturday, was likely the result of a gunfight that erupted amidst the crowd of approximately 1,000 attendees.

Eyewitness accounts suggest that the event was initially peaceful, but an argument escalated into a shooting incident. An unidentified individual reportedly fired multiple rounds into the crowd, causing panic and chaos. Authorities believe there may have been additional shooters involved and are actively pursuing leads.

Among the 18 people shot, three tragically lost their lives due to their injuries. The majority of the victims were described as “younger people” by Captain Andre Reid in a statement to WALA-TV. The Sheriff’s office is urging the public to assist in their ongoing investigation, emphasizing the need for community cooperation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Despite the severity of the incident, no arrests have been made as of yet. The Sheriff’s office reiterated the importance of witness cooperation in their efforts to apprehend and successfully prosecute those responsible for the violence.

The small town of Stockton, where the shooting took place, is home to around 400 residents and is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Mobile, Alabama. This tragic event has undoubtedly shaken the tight-knit community, leaving many to mourn the loss of life and grapple with the aftermath of such a violent incident.

Out of 1,606 deaths since last Remembrance Day, 1,550 military personnel and civilians have fallen in battle and been murdered in Israel since October 7. 

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars and Victims of Terrorism officially began Sunday night at 8 p.m., the first one since the Israel-Hamas war known as Swords of Iron began on October 7, 2023.

The somber memorial ceremony took place at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.

In an unusual move, the entire front area near the ancient prayer site had been completely blocked off since early afternoon, with only the very back of the plaza open to visitors.

President Isaac Herzog spoke about the gratitude of the nation for ultimate sacrifice that 716 men and women of the IDF, police, security services and civil defense teams have made since the war began.

Over 300 of them died on the day Hamas forces invaded Gazan envelope communities and army bases in a surprise attack that included burning and raping victims to death.

In addition, a total of 834 civilians have been murdered since last Remembrance Day, all but a dozen of them in the Hamas mega-attack and as a result of rocket and anti-tank fire from both Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the Iranian proxy has shown support this way for their terror colleagues in Gaza over the last seven months.

Saying “Our losses are too many,” when speaking of those murdered, Herzog adjusted one of the most famous prayers of the Yom Kippur liturgy, Unetaneh Tokef.

“Who by fire and who by suffocation, who by the sword and who by a beast,” he said. “Who at the doorstep of their home, and who in armored personnel carriers, who in the warmth of their bed and who in the streets, who at a guard-post and who in the battlefield, who at a bus stop and who at a police station. Who in a car and who in an armored vehicle, who on the kibbutz pathways, who in the pastures and who at a party, who in the shopping mall and who by missiles and rockets, who in tunnels, and who in hiding.”

The president noted that this year, the siren that marks the beginning of Remembrance Day really began “at 6:29 on the morning of the terrible national disaster on October 7…and it has continued alongside us ever since.”

He also turned to “the entire world” to say that Israel “never wanted nor chose this terrible war. Not this one nor its predecessors…. But so long as our enemies seek to destroy us, we will not lay down our swords.”

For his part, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi acknowledged his responsibility for the army’s colossal failure to respond appropriately to all the warning signals they had had, and prevent the war.

“As the commander of the Israel Defense Forces in the war, I bear responsibility for the fact that the IDF failed in its mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel on October 7th,” he said in part. “I feel this weight on my shoulders every day.”

“I did not know all the fallen, but I will never forget them,” he added.

Turning to the bereaved families, he said, “I stand humbly in the face of your bravery to stand up to the pain, to find strength every day in the shadow of the heavy loss, and to bring new meaning into the void that has opened up.”

While the ceremony was drawing to a close, journalist Amit Segal posted online a message that one of the commanders of the armored 9th Battalion of the 401st Brigade gave to his troops who are currently fighting in Rafah.

“Each one of tonight could have been in a different place,” he said over the radio, “a more personal one. With the wife, the children, with the friend who fell in previous wars and specifically in this one. And yet we all chose differently. We chose to be here in Rafah on Remembrance Day.

“We don’t really need a day to remember our brothers who fell. We carry them with us every moment. And specifically because of this, we are here – to tell them and the whole nation of Israel, ‘Your death was not in vain.’”

“We will not stop, we will not run away, we will not curl up nor hide like our brothers were forced to do on October 7th,” he continued. “We will bow our head but straighten our backs…. And while in Israel they will hear the noise of the siren, we will sound a completely different noise – of strength, of devotion to the mission, of friendship, of a generation that doesn’t rejoice to go to battle but truly does not fear it. Until we return security [to the country], until victory.”

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