To: GPCA delegation to the GPUS, GPUS Green National Commitee and GPUS International Committee
From: County Council, Green Party of Los Angeles County
Subject: Resolution 190

Dear Fellow Greens,

We want acknowledge the work of Green Party activists on national level who have been involved in issues around the Middle East, and which led to the recent passage of Resolution 190 by the Green National Committee (GNC).

We understand that the authors of the Resolution followed GPUS process, and that their work had support of many members of the GPUS International Committee, as well as receiving enough votes to pass on the GNC.

At the same time, we have received many negative responses to the Resolution from Greens here in Los Angeles County, and have even lost several party members as a result of it. Although some of us who are active in Green locals and on the County level support the resolution, there are many of us who do not.

While most of us share dissatisfaction with some of what the Israeli government does, there are many of us who do not agree with the specific strategic choice to advocate divestment. In addition, others of us feel that either the issue is far more complex than is captured in the Resolution and/or that this was simply not the time for such a statement to be made – both externally given the fluid situation in the Middle East and internally, given the delicate state of the GPUS and the divisive nature of this resolution.

What we want to remind all involved in passing GNC resolutions, is that the further away from the national platform that a resolution may be, the more necessary it is for extra work to be done to be sure that GNC work reaches into the party’s grassroots.

Almost no active Green in Los Angeles County was even aware that such an issue was being debated. While we understand that information about the resolution was available on the internet, and that our own state party’s delegates have a responsibility to communicate with the rest of us, that clearly did not work in this case, to involve enough of us whose opinions needed to be heard.

We ask that in the future, when policy choices come before the GNC that do not flow directly from the GPUS Platform – and in this case, divestment is a strategic choice that in no way necessarily flows from the platform – that far more due diligence be undertaken, to ensure that enough voices are heard. Only in this way can we better promote GNC decisions that truly reflect the party’s membership, rather than divide it, especially in a party that values seeking consensus.

With respect for each other and hope for our common mission,

The County Council of the Green Party of Los Angeles County