Israeli Industrial News: Nationwide strike threatened if new taxes not repealed
The Histadrut (Israeli TUC) has threatened to call a nationwide government strike at the end of June if a new workers' fund tax is not repealed. The threat was made in response to a new tax plan reveled by Israel’s Finance Minister, Roni Bar-On, which includes a drop in taxes for both companies and individuals to be paid for by the cancellation of tax exemptions on payments to some government employees’ pension funds.
The chairman of the Histadrut, Ofer Eini, said “there should be no connection between tax and reforms; the employees have an agreement with their employers, and the government has no business mixing in... the funds do not affect the top earning classes, but only normal working people - I'm waiting for Bar-On to say he made a mistake”
Israel/Palestinian: Israel transfers delayed tax moneyPalestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayad said that Israeli officials announced on 9 June that they have transferred millions of dollars in tax revenues that were withheld since the end of May. The money was due to be transferred under a long-standing deal between both sides in which Israel collects tax revenues for the PA. The money is intended to pay around 150,000 Palestinian civil servants who have experienced delays in receiving their salaries this month. An Israeli treasury official blamed the delay on a technical fault while PA officials have said that Israel delayed the transfer deliberately after Fayyad called on the European Union not to upgrade its relations with Israel.
Israeli Industrial News: Labour dispute brewing over contracted police
Ofer Eini, chairman of the Histadrut, has warned Israel’s police force that if it does not give permanent jobs to its hundreds of civilian employees, the union will declare a labour dispute. This would be an unprecedented move, and could disrupt police work. Police officers themselves cannot unionise or strike. An amendment to agency worker law in January 2008 mandates that employers must directly hire any employee who has worked for them through an agency for longer than nine months.
British Trade Union News: UCU pass boycott motion
The University and College Union (UCU) passed a motion on 29 May that would allow for the reintroduction of a boycott of Israeli academia. At its annual congress in Manchester, the motion was passed without debate and by a show of hands.
The motion follows last year's attempts by the union to implement a similar boycott motion, but was withdrawn by the union following undisclosed legal advice. This year's motion was debated despite the fact the Stop the Boycott campaign sort legal advice which clearly states that any boycott of Israeli academia would be in breach of the unions own anti-discrimination policies and British anti-discrimination laws.
The union is due to speak about the issue at its executive council meeting on 13 June 2008.
Israeli affairs: Israeli Gay Pride march goes ahead in Tel Aviv
Thousands of people attended the tenth annual Gay Pride parade, which this year took place in Tel Aviv, rather than Jerusalem, on Friday 6 June. There were brief altercations between participants in the parade and a group of right-wing religious demonstrators, although the police were not required to intervene. An attempt by the ultra-religious Shas party to prevent the parade from going ahead failed with organisers claiming that Shas was, ‘trying to take us back to the Middle Ages’.
Israeli Industrial News: Histadrut, employers draft agreement over employee computer privacy
The Histadrut and employers organisations have formulated an agreement regarding how much privacy employees may have on their workplace computer, and what access should be permitted to their employer.
They have adopted a form of the European model, which gives employees a great deal of privacy, even when the computer and the server belong to the company. The American model, in contrast, tends to consider the management’s right to access an employee's computer as a property right.
MEPP: Confidence building measures continue in the West Bank
Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are engaging in confidence building measures aimed at promoting security and encouraging development in the West Bank. Israeli Arabs are now being allowed to visit the West Bank town of Jenin, with scores entering into the town for the first time on 9 June. Three new PA police stations were opened in Jenin on 3 June in order to coordinate the increased policing role given to the PA in recent weeks. The IDF also agreed to remove 10 roadblocks in southern Hebron in the West Bank in an effort to improve living conditions for Palestinians on 8 June.
MEPP: Bethlehem conference raises $1.5 billion for Palestinian business
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced that delegates at the conference in Bethlehem conference pledged to invest nearly $1.5 billion in Palestinian business projects. Hundreds of participants attended the first ever Palestine Investment Conference (21-23 May), showcasing business opportunities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fayyad said that business proposals discussed at the conference could create up to 35,000 Palestinian jobs.
At the Bethlehem conference, Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander, announced a £3 million boost from the UK to small businesses in the Palestinian Territories and spoke of the importance of greater investment in Palestinian business:
“...aid alone is not enough to help (the Palestinian people) overcome their problems. Economic growth is vital to the search for a lasting economic and political settlement in the Middle East.” (21/05/08)
The conference was a follow up to the Paris international donors’ event in December 2007 where 87 countries and international organisations pledged $7.4 billion over three years to the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan. Israel issued nearly 500 special entry permits for participants, many of them Palestinian expatriates from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Over 100 businessmen from Gaza were also issued travel permits to attend the conference.
Gaza: Thousands of Palestinians march on Rafah crossing
Over 9,000 Palestinians marched to the Rafah crossing after Friday prayers on 6 June to protest against the continued closure of the Gaza Strip. The protestors were eventually repelled by Hamas security forces who were guarding the area. Egypt deployed hundreds of riot police along the border with the Gaza Strip which has been closed since Hamas took it over in July 2007. Egypt has been trying to broker a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza. The deal would include reaching an agreement on monitoring the Rafah crossing amid fears that it will be used to smuggle arms into Gaza. Hamas has repeatedly urged Cairo to open the Rafah crossing unilaterally if the truce talks break down.
The Israeli Security Cabinet are due to meet to discuss the possibility of entering into a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Scepticism of the Egyptian brokered deal is mounting in Israel amid fears that Hamas would only use the lull in violence as a chance to rearm. The cabinet meeting has been delayed twice already.
Quartet Special Envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, again ruled out talks with Hamas unless the group met the Quartet’s conditions of renouncing violence, recognising Israel and agreeing to abide by previous peace agreements. Speaking in front of the International Development Select Committee on 5 June, Blair went on to describe the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “dreadful” before arguing that “we need to get a period of calm, to get a ceasefire in Gaza…and then build our way back out of this to a situation where the people of Gaza can be helped”.
Palestinian affairs: Abbas calls for renewed talks with Hamas without preconditions Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for resuming talks with Hamas on 4 June. Abbas had until then refused to talk to Hamas unless it relinquished control of Gaza. He said that if this round of reconciliation talks with Hamas succeeded, he would call for legislative and presidential elections before his term is due to end in January 2009. The call for renewed talks comes amid new polling evidence released in May. The opinion poll suggests that Fatah and President Abbas currently have more support among the Palestinian public than the rival Hamas movement.
Following the announcement, Hamas and Fatah officials met for two days of talks (7-8 June) in Senegal, hosted by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who is currently head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Abbas is reported to be planning several visits to other Arab countries in a bid to win their support for his latest initiative to resolve the Fatah-Hamas power struggle. Abbas arrived in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on 9 June, who has offered to host talks between the two factions. This follows a trip to Saudi Arabia on Sunday 8 June, where he met with Saudi King Abdullah for talks on resolving Palestinian factionalism and to discuss progress being made in negotiations with Israel.
Syria: Indirect peace talks with Israel set to continue this week in Turkey Indirect talks which began last month between Syria and Israel are expected to continue this week in Turkey according to Turkish officials who are mediating between the two countries. Ahead of the planned talks, Syrian President Assad told Arab newspapers (3 June) that Israel must be prepared to return all Syrian lands occupied in the 1967 war as part of any peace deal. Israel Defence Minister Ehud Barak in contrast, while emphasising Syria’s continued arming of Hezbollah and ongoing relationship with Iran, claimed that the return of the Golan Heights was not at the top of the Damascus government’s priorities.
Parallel to the talks, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced its intention to inspect Syria’s nuclear facilities during a 3 day visit planned for the 22 to 24 of June. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei announced that the agency is also interested in investigating information that Syria may have three other undeclared atomic facilities. Syria has said that it will not permit IAEA inspectors to probe beyond the Al-Kibar site bombed by Israeli jets last September where the US claims a secret nuclear reactor was being built on the remote site. President Assad maintained last week that Syria is not seeking nuclear weapons, but did want access to atomic energy for peaceful purposes through a collective Arab project.