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

by Jeff Schuhrke

The definitive history of the US labor movement’s complicity in Zionist settler colonialism, and a call for today’s labor militants to organize in solidarity with Palestinians.



In trying to organize their unions to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, US trade unionists are often met with arguments that the labor movement should keep quiet and remain neutral because “Palestine has nothing to do with unions” and “weighing in” only distracts from winning better working conditions. Such arguments, however, often serve as cover for top union officials who have historically been far more sympathetic to Israel and Zionism than to the cause of Palestinian liberation and self-determination.



No Neutrals There makes a timely and critical intervention by recounting the little-known history of the US labor movement’s century-long involvement in the ongoing struggle for Palestine. Scholar Jeff Schuhrke convincingly demonstrates that unions in the United States have never been silent or neutral on the question of Palestine. In fact, they have played a key role—often overlooked by historians—in the initial Zionist colonization of Palestine, in the eventual foundation of the Israeli state in 1948, in supporting US foreign policy commitments to bolster Israel’s global standing and military capabilities, and in ongoing efforts to suppress the Palestinian liberation movement.



In his compelling telling of this history, Schuhrke conclusively shows that US unions helped build and maintain the state of Israel, and also shines a light on important exceptions to this instances of US labor solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle that point the way forward for today’s labor movement.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Labor

320 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2025

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schuhrke shines light on the dark, inextricably connected past that American unions have with Zionism, the ethnocultural nationalist movement to colonize Palestine and create a settler-colonial Jewish homeland. He also does an excellent job at explaining how capitalism, settler colonialism, and Zionism go hand in hand. He begins by giving a brief overview of the labor movement’s support of Israel throughout the last century before giving a history lesson on the creation of Israel and the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel during the 1948 Palestine war. The book then delves into the relationship between Israel and the U.S. — explaining how U.S. labor was involved — before getting into the complex aftermath of the Six-Day War, the messiness of the Vietnam War, and tension between U.S. labor and Israel due to Israel’s use of scabs during the International Association of Machinists strike at the Israeli state-owned airline El Al in 1984. The book then describes the Intifada, a Palestinian uprising involving both nonviolent and violent methods of resistance, which began in 1987. In his final chapter, Schuhrke highlights a change in the U.S. labor movement after the Intifada. He credits the rising diversity of union membership for this shift.

The book is incredibly timely and impressively detailed. Schuhrke proves his worth as a historian by telling a meaningful story about U.S. labor with a lesson to be learned. The book is compelling and the author does not pull any punches. Schuhrke’s determined writing style refuses to shy away from highlighting the complicity of U.S. unions. He convinces the reader that the labor movement has an obligation to stand up for Palestinians. Schuhrke eloquently writes, “If, with labor’s help, freedom can be achieved in a place and for a people long plagued by imperial machinations, colonial domination, racial and religious oppression, ecological degradation, and worker exploitation, then there can be hope for the world. It is no wonder that Palestine solidarity activists in the United States and around the globe have adopted the slogan ‘Palestine will free us all.’”

This is an abridged version of a review I wrote for the UE NEWS: https://www.ueunion.org/ue-news-featu...

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A critical contribution to the history of the US labor movement that couldn't be more timely. As in his previous book Blue Collar Empire, Schuhrke cuts through the fog of ideology around many labor histories refusal to engage with the question of imperialism. What he reveals here is almost astonishing to reckon with: that arguably the single strongest backer the colonial Zionist project of Israel has ever had in the US is the labor movement. A brilliantly researched deep dive into over a century of US labor's relationship with Israel that is full of shocking tales of the lengths US labor leaders have been willing to go to in order to support the colonial project in Occupied Palestine.

An absolute must read!

[Whitman Cler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book of the year, hands down. Incredibly well-documented. Jeff Schuhrke is becoming one of my favorite authors.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant and important