Construction Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, mining and energy division, Tony Maher, Ramallah, SUE BOLTON">
Unions and the war in Palestine
ÌýBY SUE BOLTON
IsraelÂ’s
brutal attack on Palestine — including slaughtering civilians, bombing
the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) Nablus office,
attacks on journalists and ambulance workers and prevention of emergency
relief teams from entering Jenin — has led unions around the world to protest.
One of the first trade unions to condemn Israel’s attacks was the International Federation of Journalists, which, on April 3, launched a global solidarity appeal for Palestinian media staff under siege in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The statement, prompted by seven incidents in which journalists had been hurt in three days, called for an “end to targeting of journalists by Israel in its military intervention in the West Bank”.
“The Palestinian journalists are most exposed in the current crisis”, the statement continued. “They do not have the support of large media organisations and they are being systematically victimised by the Israeli authorities.”
Six days later, the IFJ released another statement condemning the Israeli military for attacking Palestinian media offices, destroying equipment in the process. “The aim seems to be to wipe out the infrastructure of all Palestinian media”, said IFJ secretary Aidan White. “Even the media that have established a voice independent of the Palestinian Authority are being wrecked.”
In mid-April, Norwegian ambulance drivers demonstrated in front of the Israeli embassy in Oslo — protesting Israel’s attacks on Palestinian medical personnel.
Boycott campaigns
The first union federation in Europe to call for a boycott of Israeli goods, especially goods from the Occupied Territories was the Danish General Workers Union (SiD). In a statement released in early April, the SiD argued boycotts should be applied if “no instant progress is made in terms of reaching a solution through negotiations.”Despite pressure from Dov Shoam, the chief executive officer of the Israeli company Radix Technologies, SiD has refused to back away from its boycott campaign. In a statement released on May 8, Sid explained the aim of the campaign was to “create pressure that would bring about a cessation of Israeli activities in the territories, a stop to settlement and serve to start the peace process “. SiD has published a list of Israeli goods and companies, as well as a list of importers of those goods.
On April 17, following SiDÂ’s decision, NorwayÂ’s largest labour organisation, the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (LO) called for a boycott of all Israeli products. This is despite the LO being a long-time supporter of Israel, and having ties with IsraelÂ’s Labour Party.
The LO is calling for all Israeli products in Norwegian stores to be clearly marked, and for union members to boycott receptions hosted by IsraelÂ’s embassy in Oslo. It urged members to show solidarity with Palestinian workers by protesting on May Day.
Since the boycott call was issued, a major Norwegian retail chain decided to clearly label Israeli imports, and the ports authorities at Oslo refused to unload Israeli fresh produce from a ship, forcing it to be shipped on to Britain.
On May 15 transport and metal-workersÂ’ unions in Norway supported LO's boycott call. The truck drivers' union also said that truck-drivers would refuse to transport Israeli fruit and vegetables if importers continue to bring in Israeli goods.
On May 12 an LO delegation was held for several hours at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Israeli officials told the delegation that they belonged to an organisation hostile to Israel, and threatened to send them back to Europe on the next available flight. Diplomats from Norway's embassy in Israel negotiated their release.
The May 16 edition of Ha'aretz reported that the LO delegation had initially been invited to Israel by the General Federation of Labour in Israel (Histadrut).
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has held protests calling for the Israeli ambassador in South Africa to be recalled and calling for a boycott of all Israeli goods. COSATU is also asking its members to refuse to handle goods from Israel.
International federations
After Israel used F-16 fighter aircraft and Apache helicopters to destroy nearly 40% of the PGFTU headquarters, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy Mine and General WorkersÂ’ Unions (ICEM) and the International Transport Workers wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemning the attack.On April 15, ICFTU general secretary Guy Ryder tried to visit PGFTU general secretary Shaher SaeÂ’d, but was prevented by the Israeli government. SaeÂ’d had been confined to his house for the previous 2 weeks by the 24-hour curfew in Nablus City. Instead, Ryder visited leaders of Histadrut and the PGFTU in Gaza and Jerusalem. Both the PGFTU and Histadrut are affiliated to the ICFTU.
After a more successful Nablus trip on April 27, during which he met with Sae’d as well as local PGFTU leaders, Ryder told the media that “there is a clear dividing line between obtaining security and rendering impossible the already difficult lives of ordinary Palestinians”.
He called for the Israeli army to “withdraw troops without delay” as a prerequisite to ending the suffering, and said the conditions for Palestinian workers are “intolerable”.
These statements are in line with a 2000 ICFTU resolution which called “for full implementation of all existing [UN] agreements [on Palestine] and the withdrawal of foreign occupation”.
However, while condemning the atrocities being carried out by the Israeli military, the ICFTU, Britain’s Trade Union Council, the US AFL-CIO and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) all attempt to “even handedly” condemn Palestinian “violence”, failing to point out that the oppression of the Palestinian people is the cause of the conflict.
The AFL-CIO position is the most craven. Issued on April 5, the AFL-CIO statement “applauds the president for sending secretary of state Colin Powell to the Middle East” and notes that “this country [the US] has a vital interest in peace in the region”. Further, it states: “If the peace process is to succeed, the withdrawal of Israeli forces must be accompanied by a cessation of the acts of terror [by the Palestinians].”
Australian unions
The ACTU international committee met on April 18 to debate a resolution on Palestine. The resolution which was finally adopted noted that a number of ACTU affiliates wanted industrial action to be taken, but directs unions away from industrial action and towards supporting a fund appeal by the ACTUÂ’s aid organisation APHEDA for repairing the destruction caused by Israel.The meeting decided to seek a meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to convey the ACTUÂ’s views. This meeting took place in late April.
The resolution also calls on the Australian government to support “intervention in the region by the United Nations to separate the two sides” and “additional aid to the region to assist in the rebuilding of the infrastructure, caring for the injured” The ACTU is also to seek a meeting with foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer to “to convey the view of affiliates and the call from member countries of the European Union for sanctions to be considered to stop the killing and destruction which is taking place”.
However, the ACTU statement also says: “Terrorism, involving attacks on innocent civilians and the use of highly destructive modern weapons against refugee camps must both stop. The ACTU calls on both the Israelis and the Palestinians to commit themselves to an immediate withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from Palestinian territory; and to do everything possible to prevent further suicide bombers.”
The NSW Labor Council resolution, passed on April 4, contains similar statements.
In Canberra there has been a tradition of the union movement setting up 24-hour pickets and implementing a service ban on the embassies of countries committing human rights violations. In the 1980s, a 24-hour picket of the South African embassy was maintained for months. After the massacre of protesters in the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, East Timor, in 1991, unions and solidarity activists instituted a 24-hour picket of the Indonesian embassy. No mail was delivered and no garbage was collected.
Many ACT unionists have called for the same sort of action to be taken against the Israeli embassy, but unions are divided on the issue, including the Transport Workers Union, whose members would be asked to implement the ban. The ACT Trades and Labour Council has decided to organise a 72-hour vigil outside the Israeli consulate.
Some unions have taken a stronger stand. Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Paddy Crumlin and Construction Forestry, Mining and Energy Union mining and energy division general president Tony Maher issued a joint statement on April 10 calling on the federal government to impose sanctions against Israel until it withdraws from the Occupied Territories. However, their position hasnÂ’t been widely publicised in the union movement.
In response to the destruction of a health project it supported, APHEDA issued a statement calling for war-crimes investigations to be conducted in the Palestinian territories. The health project concerned is the Al Amal Hospital run by the Palestinian Patients and Friends Society. A midwife was killed and three others are still missing from this hospital.
This incident follows the earlier destruction of the offices of APHEDAÂ’s partner organisation MaÂ’an development centre in Ramallah. Two floors of the MaÂ’an centre were destroyed when the Israeli military raided and set fire it. The damage was worsened because the water was cut off and the fire brigade was not allowed access to fight the fire.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, May 22, 2002.
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