freepalestine
6th May 2011, 04:18
Palestinian labor conference demands boycott of Israel and the Histadrut
http://pflp.ps/english/files/images/header4.gif (http://pflp.ps/english/?q=node/2618)
The first Palestinian Trade Union Congress to Boycott Israel took place in Ramallah on April 30, 2011, with broad participation from all Palestinian trade union and professional organizations and the National and Islamic Forces. The Congress announced the establishment of a coalition of Palestinian trade unions to support the boycott of Israel, the largest alliance of Palestinian workers' groups, including trade unions and professional association.
Representatives of most Palestinian political parties joined workers' organizations in the conference, which was initiated by the Progressive Labor Action Front and other labor groups.
Mr. Joe Felicio, the International Relations officer of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Brazil (CUT), which represents more than 20 million workers and has endorsed the boycott of Israel, gave a major speech at the congress expressing international labor solidarity with the Palestinian people and their rights, as well as the international movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, whose international labor support is growing daily.
The congress's conclusions included emphasizing the Palestinian national consensus on the inalienable rights of our people under international law, notably the rights of self-determination, return, and liberation from colonialism. It also reaffirmed the unity of the Palestinian trade union movement as a key component of the Palestinian people in the liberation struggle, as well as the importance of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) as a principal form of civil resistance to Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. The conference also called upon Arab and international trade union campaigns to support the international boycott of Israel and all of its institutions complicit in the occupation and other Israeli violations of international law, especially its racist trade union federation, the Histadrut.
The emergence of the Palestinian trade union coalition at this conference is a historic event, as the coalition includes the vast majority of the components of the Palestinian trade union movement and all of the trade unions and workers' organiations. It is also clearly based on the call of Palestinian civil society for BDS in 2005 and the standards adopted by the Palestinian Boycott National Committee for BDS. Labor blocs, trade unions and professional associations participated in the conference and all joined in the coalition's call to boycott Israel until the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
The conference's closing statement greeted all trade unions and labor organizations which have expressed international solidarity with the Palestinian people, particularly those who have adopted the campaign to boycott Israel (BDS), and called upon trade unions and professional associations around the world to join in the global campaign. It saluted the student organizations and port workers' unions who refused to handle Israeli goods, likening their actions to port workers around the world who contributed greatly to the supension of maritime trade with South Africa in protest against the apartheid regime.
The conference received messages of support and solidarity from Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat, General Secretary of the PFLP, from the occupation prisons, in addition to messages from Fateh, the DFLP, Hamas, the Arab Liberation Front and the Arab Palestinian Front. Messages of solidarity with Palestinian labor were read from a variety of international unions, including the International Federation of Arab Trade Unions, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Irish Federation of Trade Unions, as well as unions in Canada, Scotland, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, the United States, Australia and others. The conference called upon all of those unions to continue the boycott campaign until Israel meets its obligation to international law by recognizing and implementing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and fully complies with international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
Members of the Coalition of Trade Unions to Boycott Israel include:
General Union of Palestinian Workers, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, the General Union of Palestinian Women, the Engineers Association, the Medical Association, the Pharmacy Guild, the Argicultural Engineers Association, the Palestinian Bar Association, the Dental Association, the Veterinarians' Union, the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, the General Union of Palestinian Peasants and Co-Op Groups, Union of Palestinian Farmers, Uniuon of Public Employees in Palestine - Civil Sector, Union of UNRWA Employees in Palestine, General Union of Palestinian Writers, General Union of Palestinian Teachers, Central Office for the Workers Movement, Workers Unity block, Progressive Labor Union Front, Workers Struggle Block, Workers Liberation Front, Progressive Workers Block, Workers Solidarity Organization
http://pflp.ps/english/?q=palestinian-labor-conference-demands-boycott-israe
http://pflp.ps/english/files/images/header4.gif (http://pflp.ps/english/?q=node/2618)
The first Palestinian Trade Union Congress to Boycott Israel took place in Ramallah on April 30, 2011, with broad participation from all Palestinian trade union and professional organizations and the National and Islamic Forces. The Congress announced the establishment of a coalition of Palestinian trade unions to support the boycott of Israel, the largest alliance of Palestinian workers' groups, including trade unions and professional association.
Representatives of most Palestinian political parties joined workers' organizations in the conference, which was initiated by the Progressive Labor Action Front and other labor groups.
Mr. Joe Felicio, the International Relations officer of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Brazil (CUT), which represents more than 20 million workers and has endorsed the boycott of Israel, gave a major speech at the congress expressing international labor solidarity with the Palestinian people and their rights, as well as the international movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, whose international labor support is growing daily.
The congress's conclusions included emphasizing the Palestinian national consensus on the inalienable rights of our people under international law, notably the rights of self-determination, return, and liberation from colonialism. It also reaffirmed the unity of the Palestinian trade union movement as a key component of the Palestinian people in the liberation struggle, as well as the importance of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) as a principal form of civil resistance to Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. The conference also called upon Arab and international trade union campaigns to support the international boycott of Israel and all of its institutions complicit in the occupation and other Israeli violations of international law, especially its racist trade union federation, the Histadrut.
The emergence of the Palestinian trade union coalition at this conference is a historic event, as the coalition includes the vast majority of the components of the Palestinian trade union movement and all of the trade unions and workers' organiations. It is also clearly based on the call of Palestinian civil society for BDS in 2005 and the standards adopted by the Palestinian Boycott National Committee for BDS. Labor blocs, trade unions and professional associations participated in the conference and all joined in the coalition's call to boycott Israel until the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
The conference's closing statement greeted all trade unions and labor organizations which have expressed international solidarity with the Palestinian people, particularly those who have adopted the campaign to boycott Israel (BDS), and called upon trade unions and professional associations around the world to join in the global campaign. It saluted the student organizations and port workers' unions who refused to handle Israeli goods, likening their actions to port workers around the world who contributed greatly to the supension of maritime trade with South Africa in protest against the apartheid regime.
The conference received messages of support and solidarity from Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat, General Secretary of the PFLP, from the occupation prisons, in addition to messages from Fateh, the DFLP, Hamas, the Arab Liberation Front and the Arab Palestinian Front. Messages of solidarity with Palestinian labor were read from a variety of international unions, including the International Federation of Arab Trade Unions, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Irish Federation of Trade Unions, as well as unions in Canada, Scotland, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, the United States, Australia and others. The conference called upon all of those unions to continue the boycott campaign until Israel meets its obligation to international law by recognizing and implementing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and fully complies with international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
Members of the Coalition of Trade Unions to Boycott Israel include:
General Union of Palestinian Workers, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, the General Union of Palestinian Women, the Engineers Association, the Medical Association, the Pharmacy Guild, the Argicultural Engineers Association, the Palestinian Bar Association, the Dental Association, the Veterinarians' Union, the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, the General Union of Palestinian Peasants and Co-Op Groups, Union of Palestinian Farmers, Uniuon of Public Employees in Palestine - Civil Sector, Union of UNRWA Employees in Palestine, General Union of Palestinian Writers, General Union of Palestinian Teachers, Central Office for the Workers Movement, Workers Unity block, Progressive Labor Union Front, Workers Struggle Block, Workers Liberation Front, Progressive Workers Block, Workers Solidarity Organization
http://pflp.ps/english/?q=palestinian-labor-conference-demands-boycott-israe