APJP

June 7, 2010

“Gaza today has become the test of our universal morality and our common humanity. During the South African anti-apartheid struggle, the world was inspired by the brave and principled actions of dockworkers unions who refused to handle South African cargo, contributing significantly to the ultimate fall of apartheid. Today, we call on you, dockworkers unions of the world, to do the same against Israel’s occupation and apartheid. This is the most effective form of solidarity to end injustice and uphold universal human rights.”–Palestinian Trade Union Movement Calls on International Dockworkers Unions to Block Loading/Offloading Israeli Ships Until Israel Complies Fully with International Law and Ends its Illegal Siege of Gaza, June 7, 2010[1]

As trade unionists in the United States, we join with labor bodies around the world to condemn Israel’s May 31 armed assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

To date, these include the South African Congress of Trade Unions; National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa), Irish Congress Of Trade Unions; Maritime Union of Australia; New Zealand Council of Trade Unions; International Dockworkers Council; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (Turkey); GSEE (Greek TUC); ADEDY (Greek public sector union federation); Trades Union International of Workers in the Building, Wood, Building Materials and Allied Industries; International Federation of Journalists; World Federation of Trade Unions; International Trade Union Confederation; International Transport Workers’ Federation; Public Services International; Unite (U.K.); Canadian Union of Postal Workers; Canadian Union of Public Employees; Education International; and US Labor Against the War.

Notwithstanding Israeli propaganda — abetted by the corporate media — the Flotilla Massacre was a premeditated act of state terrorism.

Taking place in international waters under cover of darkness, it targeted 750 unarmed volunteers from 40 countries seeking to relieve the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s illegal and immoral collective punishment against the 1.5 million people in Gaza. This criminal assault killed and wounded scores of aid workers, while abducting, jailing and deporting hundreds of survivors.

This crime against humanity only symbolizes a regime rooted in more than six decades of piracy, ethnic cleansing, racism, and apartheid against Palestinians and other indigenous people of the region.

Most immediately, it is a direct extension of the 2008/2009 Gaza massacre that killed 1400 people, most of them civilians, which has been condemned by the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, including those that are Israeli.

That Israel’s crimes nonetheless continue unabated is due entirely to support from its international sponsors. In the past ten years alone, the US government — with overwhelming bipartisan support — has given Israel $17 billion in military aid; over the next decade, it will give another $30 billion.

Thus, this attack, like Israel’s entire war on Palestine, was carried out with US-supplied naval vessels, Apache helicopters and other weapons. Once again, through its not-so-silent complicity, the Obama administration is letting Israel get away with murder.

Workers in this country pay a staggering human and financial price for US-Israeli war and occupation from Palestine to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Iran.

Yet, top US labor officials — often without the knowledge or consent of union members — collaborate with the Histadrut, the segregated Zionist labor federation that defends every attack on Palestinian rights,[2] including the Flotilla Massacre. These same leaders invest billions from our union pension and retirement funds in State of Israel Bonds.

US labor officials’ policies directly violate the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against apartheid Israel, initiated in 2005 by Palestinian civil society — including its entire labor movement.

Inspired by the international boycott that helped topple apartheid South Africa, the campaign demands Palestinian self-determination, including an end to Israeli military occupation, the right of refugees to return, and equal rights for all throughout historic Palestine.

BDS has been endorsed by labor bodies around the world, including the trade union congresses of South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and the UK, and labor bodies in Australia, France, Canada, Norway, Catalunya, and Italy.

Just one day before the Gaza Flotilla Massacre, the University and College Union (UK) voted to “sever all relations with Histadrut, and to urge other trade unions and bodies to do likewise.”[3]

South African workers play a leading role in the BDS movement because they remember that Israel was apartheid South Africa’s closest ally, and they agree with the observation of numerous South African freedom fighters that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “worse than apartheid.”[4]

In February 2009, South African and Australian dockworkers refused to handle Israeli goods and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (COSATU) “call[ed] on other workers and unions to . . . do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine is free.”[5]

In response to the Gaza Flotilla Massacre, the Swedish Port Workers Union has announced it will blockade Israeli ships and cargo from June 15-24. The South African dockers (SAWATU) have “salute[d] the Swedish dock workers for their blockade of all Israeli ships” and “call[ed] for an escalation of the boycott of Israeli goods and call upon our fellow trade unionists not to handle them.”[6]

Now, the entire Palestinian trade union movement, “calls on dockworkers’ unions worldwide to block Israeli maritime trade in response to Israel’s massacre of humanitarian relief workers and activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla, until Israel complies with international law and ends its illegal blockade of Gaza.”[7]

Israel deliberately carried out the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Massacre in order to silence opposition to its strangulation of Gaza. But just as the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and the 1976 Soweto Massacre spelled the ultimate doom of South African apartheid, Israel’s attack has already had the opposite effect.

New waves of volunteers are coming forward to break the siege, which is already beginning to crack. The BDS movement is exploding. Already, it is clear that the Flotilla martyrs did not die in vain.

Just as labor solidarity played a critical role in toppling South African apartheid, it now has the potential to cripple Israeli apartheid. Therefore, we urge trade unionists in the US to call on our unions, the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to condemn the Gaza Flotilla Massacre and support the international labor BDS campaign to:

1. End US military and economic aid for, and ties with, Israel.

2. Divest from State of Israel Bonds.

3. Refuse to handle Israeli goods and cargo.

4. Break ties with all Israeli state institutions, including the Histadrut.

Notes

[1] http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/712

[2] http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/4557

[3] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1249

[4] http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/03/israel-and-apartheid-is-it-a-fair-comparison/

[5] http://links.org.au/node/888

[6] http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?include=docs/pr/2010/pr0604d.html&ID=3434&cat=COSATU%20Today

[7] http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/712

 To endorse this statement, click here. To donate to Labor for Palestine, click here.

—————– 

29 May 2010

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is under threat from the Israeli navy and other Israeli forces, including Israeli civilian yachts, all determind to terrorise the Human Rights Defenders, in order to keep under barbaric siege 1.5 million Palestinian in Gaza .

 The Free Gaza flotilla is on its way to Gaza. Unlike previous Free Gaza boats, this flotilla includes large vessels, will be carrying substantial amounts of reconstruction supplies, medical and school supplies, and 800 passengers from 50 countries. It cannot afford to fail. This is an opportunity to denounce the inhumanity of Israel's three year long siege and running. Israel said it will stop the boats from reaching Gaza, they have done it before and they can do it again:
http://bit.ly/9JCCyS

All EU states are committed, via their embassies, to supporting Human Rights Defenders of any nationality. When alerted that HRDs are under threat, individual member countries or the EU as a whole, should make an official protest to the government concerned. The British Foreign Office in London and the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, should be reminded of their responsibilities under the EU guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.
 
All EU states are committed, via their embassies, to supporting Human Rights Defenders of any nationality. When alerted that HRDs are under threat, individual member countries or the EU as a whole, should make an official protest to the government concerned. The British Foreign Office in London and the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, should be reminded of their responsibilities under the EU guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.

Please write to the new Secretary of State- FCO, William Hague: private.office@fco.gov.uk .
William Hague might need to be made aware of the Israeli navy kidnapping previous Human Rights defenders from international water. 

Jeremy Browne is the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibilities including Human rights - see at: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/who-we-are/our-ministers/jeremy-browne
 
FCO email addresses: private.office@fco.gov.uk, fcoresponsecentre@fco.gov.uk,  MSU.PublicIn@fco.gov.uk  msu.correspondence@fco.gov.uk  
Sophie Honey, Head of Near East Group, Sophie.Honey@fco.gov.uk  
Sonia Farrey, Head Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Territories, Sonia.Farrey@fco.gov.uk 
AINAGCorrespondence@fco.gov.uk  - the duty of the Consular Team at the Foreign Office is to ensure the safety of Britons abroad FCO: +44 20 7008 2716
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv: +972 3 725 1222 UK’s UN Ambassador uk@un.int

- Additional Steps We Can Take Right Now -

Send letters demanding that the Israeli government allow free passage to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla - Every time someone sends a letter from this web form, it will email AND fax 150 Israeli Embassies and Consulates worldwide: 
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6207/t/6210/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3142

Sign the petition:
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6207/t/6210/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=775
See further details at [especially as Free Gaza website www.freegaza.org has already been attacked]:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120912394598161&ref=mf <http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120912394598161&amp;ref=mf>
 
Please support the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and urgently forward item.

This is for people living in the UK. Please adapt it to your own leaders, senators, of your own country.

Please take action! Model letter below:
 

• Contact the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, to tell him that the British government must insist that these military orders are cancelled: msu.correspondence@fco.gov.uk
• Phone, fax or email the Israeli embassy to register your opposition: Tel 020 7957 9500; Fax 020 7957 9555; info@london.mfa.gov.il
  

To Foreign Minister David Milliband MP                cc                   MP

Dear David Milliband

Two new Israeli military orders are due to come into effect on Tuesday, which will make any resident of the occupied West Bank who does not have an Israeli-issued permit - and that includes people who were born in Palestine -  liable for deportation or jail.

I appreciate that the demands of the election campaign may currently be a priority; however, elections are won on the real actions that governments have taken, rather than on campaigning rhetoric. I would therefore ask you to make your protest to the Israeli government about the new laws, which are illegal under international law, with the same forcefulness with which you dealt with the forged passports issue.

A statement by ten Israeli human rights groups points out that Palestinians, and any foreigners living in the West Bank, could be labelled infiltrators and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit – with no definition on what Israel considers a valid permit. "The orders … are worded so broadly such as theoretically allowing the military to empty the West Bank of almost all its Palestinian inhabitants."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/11/israeli-groups-attack

A Haaretz editorial today says that tens of thousands could be deported, and ‘the order's vague language will allow army officers to exploit it arbitrarily to carry out mass expulsions’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162382.html.

The Netanyahu government has the bit between its teeth and is running away unimpeded on a mad gallop of anti-Palestinian actions that are also an insolent slap in the face to the international community, especially the US and UK governments. The British government must insist that these military orders are cancelled.

We urge your urgent intervention both directly to the Israeli government and to the US administration, which at this time of continuing Israeli intransigence , will be likely to have a strong influence.

Yours sincerely

 
Israeli groups fight orders allowing army to jail West Bank residents
Israeli human rights campaigners claim Palestinians or foreigners could be labelled infiltrators

Israeli human rights groups say that Palestinians and any foreigners living in the West Bank could be deemed 'infiltrators' and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit under the new orders. Photograph: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP/Getty Images


Israel <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel> 's leading human rights <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/human-rights>  groups are trying to stop two new Israeli military orders which will make any resident of the occupied West Bank who does not have an Israeli-issued permit liable for deportation or jail.
The new Order Regarding Prevention of Infiltration and Order Regarding Security Provisions, which comes into force on Tuesday have "severe ramifications," the rights groups say. Palestinians, and any foreigners living in the West Bank, could be labelled infiltrators and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit. It does not define what Israel considers a valid permit.
"The orders … are worded so broadly such as theoretically allowing the military to empty the West Bank of almost all its Palestinian inhabitants," said the 10 rights groups, which include Ha-Moked, B'Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Rabbis for Human Rights. Until now the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank have not been required to hold a permit just to be present in their homes, the groups say.
"The military will be able to prosecute and deport any Palestinian defined as an infiltrator in stark contradiction to the Geneva conventions," they said. The law broadens the definition of an "infiltrator" and could allow Israel to transfer some Palestinians from the West Bank to Gaza, or to deport foreign passport holders married to West Bank Palestinians, or to deport Israelis or foreigners living in the West Bank. The groups said tens of thousands of Palestinians were in those categories.
Israel effectively controls the Palestinian population register and since 2000, apart from once in 2007, the Israeli authorities have frozen applications for renewal of visitor permits for foreign nationals, or applications to grant permanent status in the occupied territories. As a result, many Palestinians live in the West Bank without formal status and are now vulnerable under the new orders. The human rights groups wrote to the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, today asking him to delay or revoke the orders, which they said were "unlawful and allow extreme and arbitrary injury to a vast number of people".
The Israeli military said the purpose of the orders was "the extradition of those residing illegally in Judea and Samaria," an Israeli term for the West Bank. The orders had been "corrected" in order to "assure judicial oversight of the extradition process," it said.
However, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the orders would make it easy for Israel to imprison or expel Palestinians from the West Bank. "These military orders belong in an apartheid state," he said. "They are an assault on ordinary Palestinians and an affront to the most fundamental principles of human rights. Israel's endgame is not peace. It is the colonisation of the West Bank."
 



URGENT ACTION: Protest against Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Monday 22nd March, 5pm, London   Chatham House (10 St James's Square, London SW1Y 4LE).

Come along and protest against the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from East Jerusalem!

Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine,  Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al Aqsa; Friends of Lebanon, Friends of Sabeel UK, , Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, Britain Palestine Twinning Network.
PSC Weekly update March 19th 2010 

Jerusalem situational update:

The situation for Palestinians is worsening every day. For five days and in the context of the opening of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish quarter, the Old City has been turned into a city under siege. Israeli authorities have maintained a heavy military and police presence.

Since Friday, a closure was imposed on the West Bank, banning the entry of West Bank permit holders into occupied East Jerusalem. Men under 50 years of age have also been prohibited from entering Al Aqsa Mosque compound. Demonstrations were reported throughout the city, while clashes were especially concentrated in the Old City, Eisawiya, Shu'fat Camp, Wadi Al Joz, Qalandiya checkpoint.

The confrontations in Jerusalem are the result of a number of recent factors including plans for 1,600 new homes in Occupied East Jerusalem whilst denying Palestinians permission to do the same - and making the possibility of East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state less real.

For up-to date information and analysis about the situation, visit Maan News and Palestine Monitor.

NEWS: Quartet blasts Israel over East Jerusalem settlements

          Tensions run high in al-Quds, protests expected

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URGENT ACTION: Protest against Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Monday 22nd March, 5pm, London

Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem behind the announcement of 1,600 new settlement units in East Jerusalem, will be visiting London early next week.  A total of 50,000 housing units have planned in the coming years - doubling the settler population - and reducing the Palestinian population to a third. Israel's plans to restore Hurva synagogue a few hundred meters from Al-Aqsa mosque has led to clashes over the last few days - men under 50 have been refused entry into Al-Aqsa since Friday. Israel has deployed some 3,000 security forces across the city.

He will be speaking at Chatham House Organised by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Friends of Al Aqsa; Friends of Lebanon, Friends of Sabeel UK, Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, Britain Palestine Twinning Network.

You can let Chatham House know what you think about their recent briefing ‘Jerusalem: the Cost of Failure' and the event by ringing 020 7957 5700 or emailing: contact@chathamhouse.org.uk.

EAPPI video: the housing crisis in East Jerusalem



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Emergency meeting on Jerusalem - next Tuesday in Parliament



PSC are supporting Friends of Al-Aqsa's emergency meeting on the situation in Jerusalem, next Tuesday 23rd March 19.45-21.00 in the House of Commons.

Speakers include: Karen Abu Zayd Former commissioner UNRWA; Tony Benn; Sir Gerald Kaufman MP; Martin Linton MP; Phyllis Starkey MP and others.

To register for the event email your name and contact details to arif@aqsa.org.uk.

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Campaign News ---News Archive --- Petition --- Resources --- What You Can Do --- Contact --- IPSC Homepage

This is a call to all people in Ireland to support the human rights of the Palestinian people by calling on CRH to divest from Israel.

Thank you for visiting the IPSC's CRH: Stop Your Involvement in the Apartheid Wall campaign website - we hope you will take action on this vitally important issue. The first actions you can take are to familiarise yourself with the campaign, and then sign the online petition by clicking here. For other ways to get involved in a more hands-on manner, please see the 'What You Can Do' section of the campaign site. For in depth information about the campaign, please read on...

Join the CRH Campaign Maling List - Click Here a Please take the time to sign the IPSC's online petition calling for CRH to divest from the Israeli Mashav Group, and thereby ending their complicity in the construction of the Apartheid Wall and illegal colonial settlements and mining operations in the occuiped West Bank. Click here to sign the petition Campaign News a Mashav cancels Hanson Israel acquisition [Adi Ben-Israel, Globes Israel - 28.12.09] IDB Holding Corp. Ltd has cancelled its acquisition of cement company Hanson Israel Ltd. The acquisition was to have been made through IDB unit Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. subsidiary Mashav Initiative and Development Ltd., which owns 75% of Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd... Read more Tainted Cement: CRH’s Business Dealings with Israeli Company That Exploits Resources on Occupied Lands [Shir Herver, Alternative News - 25.11.09] On 14 November, hundreds gathered in Dublin, Ireland for a demonstration against the CRH Irish construction company. The demonstration was organized by the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)... Read more Irish construction giant digs deeper in occupation [Adri Nieuwhof, Electronic Intifada - 18.08.09] A recent acquisition by the Israeli subsidiary of brick and mortar giant Irish CRH has placed the European conglomerate under increased pressure from Palestine solidarity activists. Irish CRH, formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holding, owns 25 percent of the Mashav Group, an Israeli construction firm... Read more Read more CRH: Building for the future? [Claudia Saba, Socialist Worker - 12.10.09] The company’s products are being used in the construction of the light rail project in Jerusalem - an apartheid public transport system which connects Israeli settlement neighbourhoods with the city centre while cutting off Palestinian neighbourhoods from each other... Read more News Archive a

About the CRH Divestment Campaign

The aim of this campaign is to convince CRH to cease its involvement with the illegal occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people by divesting from the Mashav Group, an Israeli construction company.

Background to CRH and the illegal apartheid wall

2001 CRH Europe Materials Division acquired a 25% shareholding in the Israeli group Mashav Initiating and Development Ltd. Mashav is the holding company for Nesher Cement which is the sole Israeli cement company. It is reported that Nesher produces approximately 85% of all cement sold in Israel.

2002 The apartheid separation wall commenced construction.

2004 Under questioning from Amnesty International, CRH accepted that “in all probability” Nesher cement is being used in the construction of the wall. The ICJ begin its investigation.

2004 The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the wall is illegal as they consider it to be an attempt by Israel to annexe Palestinian territory contrary to International Law and that it constitutes an interference with the right of Palestinians to self determination.

Following the ruling the UN General assembly voted overwhelmingly in support of the advisory opinion by 150:6. Israel continues to ignore the ruling and world opinion as does CRH plc.

2010 CRH continue to profit from the rapid expansion of the colonial settlements (pop currently 450,000) which are illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Resolutions 446, 452 and 465. The UN Global Compact states that ‘businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights within their sphere of influence’.

The wall is currently 450km long. Its planned route will be 711km, twice the length of the 1967 line. It is predominantly (82%) built in 1967 occupied Palestinian territory. So far it has annexed 10% of Palestinian territory.