Construction Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, mining and energy division, Tony Maher, Ramallah, SUE BOLTON">

Unions and the war in Palestine

 

BY SUE BOLTON

Israel’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 SiD’s decision, Norway’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 Israel’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 Israel’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-workers’ 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 Workers’ 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 Sae’d, but was prevented by the Israeli government.
Sae’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
ACTU’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 ACTU’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 hasn’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 APHEDA’s
partner organisation Ma’an development centre in Ramallah. Two floors of
the Ma’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 Green Left Weekly, May 22, 2002.

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