COSATU, the South African national trade union centre, has hailed the government’s decision to boycott an upcoming OECD tourism conference in Israel.  The conference is set to focus on “Industry and Policy Approaches to Foster Green Growth in Tourism”.

In its statement, COSATU says that Britain will be boycotting the conference, but the British Embassy in Israel issued the following statement:

The U.K. won’t be attending this conference, but it is entirely false to suggest that this is due to a boycott of for political reasons.

The U.K.’s opposition to boycotts against Israel is well known.

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One of the biggest global union groupings in the world  – UNI Global Union – is holding a major World Congress meeting in Nagasaki Japan in November – where the Palestine/Israel conflict is on the agenda for discussion.

A six-day mission to Palestine and Israel has just been completed by senior members of the UNI Global Union; the results of the mission will inform an Action Plan to be presented to the Nagasaki Congress.

UNI Global Union represents 900 trade unions and 20 million largely white collar workers worldwide.

High level ITUC mission now in Palestine and Israel

Also right now the International Trade Union Confederation – led by the recently elected ITUC Secretary-General, Sharan Burrow – has a mission visiting Palestine and Israel.

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IFJ President Jim Boumelha

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the action of  Hamas and their Internal Security department which closed down the office of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza, accusing them of ‘inexcusable intrusion” in the internal affairs of Palestinian journalists.

“The action by the Hamas government is a violation of journalists’ rights and a slap in the face of Palestinians who are courageously fighting for their rights and the independence of journalism in appalling conditions,” said Jim Boumelha, IFJ President, who led an IFJ delegation to Palestine last month.

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Speech by Paul Howes to Zionist Federation of Australia conference in Melbourne, Sunday October 10 2010

Thanks for inviting me to speak to the Zionist Federation of Australia conference.

We are here at both an exciting time: — the new round of peace talks between the Palestinian leadership and the Israeli leadership;

And at a time of a new threat to Israel: —- a spreading international de-legitimisation campaign largely under the banner of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

I am proud to join you here because like you I am a firm supporter of the State of Israel.

I believe that the Jewish people have a right to a homeland.

No ifs.

No buts.

I believe that the best way to deliver on that right to a homeland is the two state solution. (more)

Yesterday the leader of Israel’s trade union federation, the Histadrut, publicly announced that he would call for industrial action as negotiations between public sector unions and the government were deadlocked.

The Histadrut is demanding wage increases for public sector workers of 3.5% per year over the next three years.  The Ministry of Finance is refusing.

Histadrut leader Ofer Eini has called a meeting for Thursday morning where the unions will decide their next steps.  He says that the unions are doing everything they can to avoid a further escalation — which could include public sector strikes.

Two important points to note here for trade unionists around the world:

• First, the Histadrut clearly has something to teach other public sector unions if it’s in the position where it can demand wage increases.  Unions in many countries are finding themselves with little hope of avoiding wage cuts and mass sackings in the public sector.  The ABCs of international trade union solidarity teach us that unions can learn from success, and should share experiences.
• Second, the idiotic argument that the Histadrut is some kind of arm of the state, that it is used by evil Zionists to promote apartheid or whatever and is not a real union, is belied by news stories like this.  Let the pro-Hamas activists of groups like the Palestine Solidarity Campaign say what they want.  The fact remains: Histadrut is a genuine, independent, democratic trade union that does battle every day on behalf of its members.

UPDATE – Wednesday October 6

Trade unions force Palestinian and Jordanian greenies out of cycle ride from Jordan, to Israel and finishing in the West Bank

Palestinian and Jordanian members of Friends of the Earth Middle East have been forced out of a cycling tour, which would have included Israelis, to highlight environmental issues.

Trade unions in Jordan have been critical of the more than 40 Jordanian cyclists who planned to take part because they said it was an “attempt to normalise relations between Jordanian youngsters and the Zionist enemy”.

The Amman office of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) said yesterday it had withdrawn from the “torch run”, because the issue was “politicised” and diverted away from its original goal: Raising awareness of environmental hazards in the Jordan Valley.

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The following is a statement issued by the Israeli journalists unions.  Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists has issued a statement on its mission to the region which you can read in full here.  And journalists in Gaza are also displeased with the IFJ’s mission — read about their concerns here.

The Tel-Aviv Journalists’ Association and the Journalists’ Association in Jerusalem strongly condemn and outrightly reject the inaccurate statement of condemnation issued by the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) regarding “the rejection by the Israeli government of an entry visa” for Younes Mjahed, Senior Vice President of the IFJ and the President of Syndicat National de la Presse Marocaine (SNPM). (more)

To supporters of the campaign to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel, the Histadrut is largely invisible.

If mentioned at all, it is condemned for its alleged support of Israeli government policy.

But a brief glance at what the Histadrut actually does, day by day, would probably shock many in the trade union movement who are unaware of the fact that Israel, alone in the region, has a vibrant, independent and democratic trade union movement.

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On Tuesday, 14 September Trade Union Friends of Israel (TUFI) sponsored a fringe meeting at the annual conference of Britain’s Trades Union Congress. TUFI has sponsored such events each year, but this year’s meeting came at a particularly difficult time.

Not only have several British unions intensified their anti-Israel positions in the last year, going so far as to call for severing relationships with the Histadrut, but TUFI itself was forbidden to have a stall at the annual conference of Britain’s giant public sector union, UNISON.

The TUC, fortunately, remains a place where advocates of peace and a two-state solution can still have a stall and hold a fringe meeting.

Neverthless, the TUC resolution which was passed — yet again a compromise between unions which support the pro-Hamas Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and more moderate ones — is a disaster.

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