Scottish unions, Nobel laureate condemn Israel

"The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), representing every Scottish trade union, voted overwhelmingly to commit to boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel", the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said on April 22.

Including federations in Ireland and South Africa, the STUC is the third national union federation to sign on to the international BDS campaign against Israel.

"The vote followed a visit to Israel/Palestine by an STUC delegation in March which heard from a wide range of trade union and other bodies and returned with a unanimous recommendation that the parent body adopt boycotts, divestment and sanctions", the statement said.

STUC General Secretary Grahame Smith said the federation supported the BDS campaign because of "Israel's attacks on the human rights of Palestinian people and its breaches of international laws".
Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing", an April 22 AFP report said. Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel prize for efforts towards a peaceful solution to the violence in Ireland's north, condemned Israel plans to demolish 88 homes owned by Arabs in occupied East Jerusalem.
Speaking in a protest tent erected by residents facing demolition, Maguire said: "I believe the Israeli government policies are against international law, against human rights, against the dignity of the Palestinian people."

From GLW issue 792