London 'disagrees' with vote to boycott Israeli goods
LONDON: Britain's Foreign Office expressed disappointment and disagreement Wednesday with a National Union of Journalists (NUJ) vote to call for a boycott on Israeli goods. The NUJ voted Friday to push for British sanctions on Israeli goods in response to Israel's "aggression" in the Palestinian Territories and its summer 2006 war on Lebanon.
"I was disappointed to hear that on April 13, 2007, the NUJ voted to boycott goods from Israel," said Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells.
"The government believes that, as a friend of both Israel and the Palestinians, we can best exert influence by encouraging both sides to take the steps needed for progress toward peace through close engagement.
"The NUJ is, of course, an independent organization. The government values freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and would not seek to interfere in the NUJ's internal discussions," he added. "But we disagree with their decision to boycott Israeli goods."
At the NUJ's centenary conference, the vote, which carried 66 to 54, read: "This annual delegate meeting calls for a boycott of Israeli goods similar to those boycotts in the struggles against apartheid South Africa led by trade unions and the Trades Union Congress to demand sanctions be imposed on Israel by the British government and the United Nations."
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear told AFP that the motion - opposed by the leadership - did not mean the union itself had to boycott Israeli goods.
It was part of wider motions which were overwhelmingly carried, setting out opposition to Israel's "aggression" in the Palestinian territories, the "savage, pre-planned attack on Lebanon" and the "slaughter of civilians in Gaza."
Dear said of the boycott vote: "It's a symbolic motion in many respects, setting out people's concerns ... We've made it very clear we have links with the National Federation of Israel Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and will continue to work with both of them to try to advance freedom of expression within the region."
Responding to Howells' comments, he added: "I would hope that what we're all trying to do is move toward exerting pressure on those who appear to be against peace in the region on all sides."
The NUJ represents journalists in or from Britain and Ireland and has approximately 35,000 members. - AFP
By Agence France Presse (AFP)