Dear all
Also attached, Queensland Council of Unions motion on Palestine Israel and BDS. Feel free to forward to your networks.
Regards
David Forde, Labor 4A Just Palestine
****************
Queensland Council of Unions 17 November 2010
Palestine / Israel Conflict and Boycott Divestment and Sanctions BDS Campaign
Motion
The QCU calls upon the ACTU and the ALP to show genuine support for a two – state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict based on each other’s right to exist and live in peace within secure borders in accordance with UN resolutions and international law.
To achieve this ultimate goal, Council supports immediate steps such as;
• the implementation and upholding of International Law to ensure the human rights of all people are assured
• the upholding of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 and all other relevant resolutions that call for an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem
• a two state solution based on the internationally recognised 1967 borders
• an end to the illegal blockade on Gaza that greatly impacts on the health and lives of 1.5 million people, half of whom are children and twenty percent under the age of five
• an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes on their own land
• an end to the construction of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land
• the dismantling of the illegal separation wall constructed in the Palestinian West Bank & East Jerusalem where it is built on Palestinian land
• an end to the permit regime and movement restrictions placed on approximately four million Palestinians that greatly impacts on the Palestinian economy and severely restricts Palestinian access to reasonable levels of employment
• an end to the oppressive workplace practices and work imposed on Palestinian workers in the illegal industrial zones
• a just resolution to the Palestinian refugee issue based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 calling for the right of return for refugees or just compensation
The Queensland Council of Unions Executive condemns violence in all its forms, condemns racism including anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination against individuals based on their race or religion.
2. Further, until such time as human rights, International Law and United Nations Security Council and General Assembly Resolutions are adhered to in order to bring about a just and viable two state solution as above we resolve to support
• non–violent resistance through the international Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Campaign against Israel to bring about an end to the illegal occupation
• a consumer boycott of Israeli goods
• a consumer boycott of all companies who assist or profit from the occupation
• a review of our union investments and divestment from Israeli companies
• research/investigations into union superannuation funds to identify investments held with Israeli companies and companies supporting the occupation with a view to pursue divestment of those companies (based on ethical grounds)
Carried
***************************
Weekly update for week beginning 15/11/10
This week’s articles
· UN Protection of Civilians Weekly Report 10 November – 16 November
· The National – Obama’s ‘bribe’ is last hope for peace
· Haaretz – U.S. official: Israel must refrain from East Jerusalem construction during freeze
· Haaretz – Netanyahu exploited his U.S. trip to embarrass Obama
· Ma’an – Arab League likely to reject partial 90-day freeze
· BBC – Israeli politics: A lurch to the right?
· Daily Star – Hamas’ pragmatism is worth searching out
· New York Times – I Believe I Can Fly
· Haaretz – The Palestinians are in the driving seat, their time is now
· The National – The US cannot continue to enable Israel
· Independent – The Holocaust survivor whose life is in danger again
· Los Angeles Times – Former Israeli soldier seeks to shine a light on Hebron
· APHEDA’s Lisa Arnold in Gaza
· APHEDA Middle East Study Tour – Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan. 27 March – 11 April 2011
· All the latest from the Palestinian News agency Ma’an
UN Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 10 November – 16 November
The weekly report was not available at time of sending this, but may be now if you click on: Protection of Civilians Weekly Report
The National – Obama’s ‘bribe’ is last hope for peace
Watching the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians drag on year after year without conclusion, it is easy to overlook the enormous changes that have taken place on the ground since the Oslo Accords 17 years ago. Each of those changes has undermined the Palestinians’ primary goal of achieving viable statehood – whether it is the near-trebling of the number of Jewish settlers on Palestinian land, or Israel’s increasing stranglehold on East Jerusalem, or the wall that has effectively annexed large slices of the West Bank to Israel. To read the article click on: http://www.thenational.ae/the-national-conversation/analysis/obamas-bribe-is-las…
Haaretz – U.S. official: Israel must refrain from East Jerusalem construction during freeze
The US will demand that Israel refrain from construction in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as part of a 90-day settlement freeze Secretary Hillary Clinton has requested in exchange for a package of incentives, a US official told Haaretz on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scrambling to gather cabinet support for the settlement freeze. The ultra-Orthodox party Shas currently holds the balance of votes on the matter. To read the article click on: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-official-israel-must-refrain-f…
Haaretz – Netanyahu exploited his U.S. trip to embarrass Obama
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the United States this week damaged Israel diplomatically, undermined the country’s relations with the US administration and showed Netanyahu up again as a rejectionist who does nothing but look for excuses and delays to avoid making decisions. Netanyahu took advantage of the stage he was given to embarrass the Obama administration. To read the article click on: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-exploited-his-u-s-trip-to…
Ma’an – Arab League likely to reject partial 90-day freeze
A possible 90-day temporary freeze on construction at Israeli West Bank settlements, proposed by the US, may not be enough to prompt Palestinian and Arab support for renewing Middle East peace talks, an Arab League official said Monday. In Israel meanwhile, ministers jockeyed to take positions for and against the proposal, which reportedly has not yet been finalized and will not be bought before Israeli decision-making bodies until it is. To read the article click on: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=333866
BBC – Israeli politics: A lurch to the right?
Joshua Sobol is one of Israel’s most venerated and prolific playwrights. At 71, he is still very much involved in theatre and politics. He recently took part in a boycott of a new theatre in Ariel – a long-established Jewish settlement built on occupied Palestinian land. Several leading Israeli actors and playwrights are joining the boycott. They say, it represents much of what is wrong with their country; the settlements, the treatment of Palestinians and growing intolerance. To read the article click on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11758143
Daily Star – Hamas’ pragmatism is worth searching out
Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’ political wing, told Newsweek on October 14 that “there is a position and program that all Palestinians share. To accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital. With the right of return. And this state would have real sovereignty on the land and on the borders. And with no settlements.” Meshaal noted that Hamas would accept any agreement with which a majority of Palestinians agreed, adding that “the American administration should hear from us directly.” To read the article click on: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=1215…
New York Times – I Believe I Can Fly
Reading the headlines these days, I can’t help but repeat this truism: If you jump off the top of an 80-story building, for 79 floors you can think you’re flying. It’s the sudden stop at the end that tells you you’re not. It’s striking to me how many leaders and nations are behaving today as though they think they can fly — and ignoring that sudden stop at the end that’s sure to come. To read the article click on: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/opinion/14friedman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Haaretz – The Palestinians are in the driving seat, their time is now
“Turkey? Yes,” “Russia? Yes,” “United Kingdom? Yes,” “United States? Abstain,” “Israel? No.” This is how a vote at the United Nations on the recognition of an independent Palestine may sound. And really, why should the Palestinians not demand international recognition of their state? In such a move it could shake the peace process and extricate it from the strangle hold in which Palestine and Israel are caught. To read the article click on: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-palestinians-are-in-the-driving…
The National – The US cannot continue to enable Israel
An enabler is not the same thing as a friend. In its relationship with Israel, the United States has rarely understood the difference. This American naivety has been exploited by Benjamin Netanyahu more frequently than perhaps any Israeli prime minister. To read the article click on: http://www.thenational.ae/the-national-conversation/editorial/the-us-cannot-cont…
Independent – The Holocaust survivor whose life is in danger again
First they threatened to burn his house down. Then they pinned leaflets to his front door, denouncing him as a Jewish traitor. But Eli Tzavieli, an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, is defiant. His only “crime” is to rent out his rooms to three Arab students attending the college in Safed, a religious city in northern Israel that was until recently more famous for Jewish mysticism and Madonna. A campaign waged by the town’s radical head rabbi, culminating in a ruling barring residents from renting rooms to Israeli Arabs, means that Safed is fast emerging as a byword for racism. To read the article click on: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-holocaust-survivor-whose…
Los Angeles Times – Former Israeli soldier seeks to shine a light on Hebron
Prepare to be pelted with eggs, the tour guide warns. Or maybe it will be rocks, bricks or spit wads. The projectiles, guide Yehuda Shaul says, are courtesy of angry Jewish settlers opposed to his group, Breaking the Silence, which brings outsiders to the hotly disputed West Bank city of Hebron every week as part of an effort to expose what it considers military misconduct toward Palestinians. To read the article click on: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hebron-tour-20101116,0,30458…
APHEDA’s Lisa Arnold in Gaza
“I’ve discovered that soap and salt water do not necessarily mix. For one thing, it’s rather difficult to work up a lather, but I’m not sure if that’s due to the salt or the likely other contaminants in the salty water coming from my hotel shower in Gaza City”. To read the blog click on: http://apheda.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/a-day-in-gaza/
APHEDA Middle East Study Tour – Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan. 27 March – 11 April 2011
The tour will visit Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem). For more information on the trip, click on:
http://apheda.org.au/studytours/1286517875_31522.html
Palestinian News agency Ma’an
For all the latest from Ma’an click on:http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx
Queensland Council of Unions Motion Nov 2010.pdf