TUFI Delegations to Israel and Palestine
TUFI regularly organises trade union delegations to Israel and the West Bank, helping trade unionists gain a better understanding of trade unionism in the region as well as the issues affecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The latest TUFI Delegation to Israel and Palestine comprised of senior trade unionists from six different unions from the UK and Ireland.
The unions represented were from Community, USDAW, GMB, POA, FDA as well as a member of the TSSA (in a personal capacity).
Full Delegation Report: 27th March - 1st April 2011
The delegates
John Hannett, General Secretary of USDAW
Jonathan Baume, General Secretary of the FDA
Gerry Doherty, General Secretary TSSA (attending in a personal capacity)
Keith Jordan, President of Community Union
Mark Raymond Freeman, Deputy General Secretary of the POA
Tommy Hall, National CEC Member, GMB
The delegation also included the TUFI Team: Roger Lyons, Doreen Gerson, and Steve Scott.
TUFI delegations to Israel and Palestine aim to provide a comprehensive picture of the politics and society of the region: focusing on trade union issues, Israeli-Palestinian trade union co-operation, the demographically diverse peoples of both Israel and Palestine, Israel’s security dilemmas and Palestinian progress towards statehood.
The visit included high level meetings with Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists, parliamentarians, diplomats and opinion formers from across Israel and the West Bank.
Monday 28th March
Jerusalem
The first day of the delegation began with a busy day of briefings and a tour of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is one of the most historical cities in the world and holds a special place for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
The delegation drove through the ancient City of David up to the top of the Mount of Olives to take in the magnificent views overlooking the Old City and beyond.
The delegation was then taken through the Old City to see the Jewish, Arab, Armenian and Christian quarters, the Western Wall, the Garden of Gethsemane and the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Jonathan Baume, General Secretary of the FDA
Lunch was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in the Ministry itself.
The MFA officials talked about the existential threat to Israel from Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas, and fielded questions from the delegates. They stressed the importance of Israel’s security and emphasised the need to live in the country for a period of time to really get a sense of the threat.
Perhaps one of the most significant points that was raised was the growing phenomenon of the campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel. Whilst not new, it is growing and diversifying and being pushed within the trade union movement by the British Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which is against a two-state solution.
Meeting with MK Isaac Herzog
After lunch, the delegation went to meet Labour MK Isaac Herzog, the former Welfare Minister, at the Knesset – the centre of Israel’s democracy. He spoke about the crisis in the Israeli Labour Party and his thoughts on his leadership campaign, which he had launched the previous day.
He also spent time outlining his desire for the peace talks to continue and the need not to give up, even in the face of the current dominance of right-wing in Israel. He also spoke about the importance of the efforts to improve the lives of Israeli Arabs, which he dedicated a lot of his time as Welfare Minister.
UN Middle East Quartet
Next was a meeting at the American Colony hotel in East Jerusalem with Dr Daniel Arghiros, the Deputy Head of the UN Middle East Quartet working under Tony Blair.
He told the delegates that the Quartet’s main work involves: facilitating movement around the West Bank, opening crossings and checkpoints, obtaining permits for Palestinians working in Israel and helping with security and economic development.
He spoke about some big changes on the ground in the West Bank with the removal of checkpoints, growth of 10% in the West Bank and the building of industrial zones.
He said the rule of law had also greatly improved with the development and training of the Palestinian Authority (PA) police, but added that the situation in the Gaza strip was very different.
In the evening, the delegates ended a busy day with dinner hosted by the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Public Service Employees (UCAPSE), the largest trade union in Israel.
Tuesday 29th March
Jerusalem Municipality Employees’ Committee
The second day began with a meeting with the Jerusalem Municipality Union Committee at the City Hall.
The Committee is made up of shop stewards representing workers from both East and West Jerusalem and the delegation heard how Jews and Arabs work together in Jerusalem, despite their differences.
On the question of the boycott of Israel, the consensus was that it would be the low paid, Arab workers that would suffer first from a boycott and there should be other avenues pursued to develop peace in the region, starting with the peace talks.
Yad Vashem
After the meeting, the delegation travelled to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem.
This is always a significant point in the delegation. The museum, which was established in 1953, has an extensive exhibition and records the full scale of the ‘Shoah’. Over a million visitors go to the museum every year.
Lunch with Government Employees’ Union
The lunch was hosted in the historic Allenby House, the residence of the British General Allenby, by TUFI’s old friend, Ariel Yacobi, and his colleagues.
Bezeq
The delegates were taken on a tour of the communications company, Bezeq (the Israeli equivalent of BT in the UK), and looked at how their operations work. The company used to be owned by the state and is still organised by the Government Employees’ Union.
In the evening, the delegates went on to a dinner with representatives from the Abraham Fund Initiatives. This is an organisation that works to improve the status of the Arab citizens of Israel. www.tufi.org.uk
Wednesday 30th October
Security Barrier
The day started with a visit to the security barrier and a briefing with the Israel Defence Force (IDF) near Qalkilya, a Palestinian town almost completely encircled by the security barrier.
The delegates were given a tour of the barrier and were able to view the lay of the land from a strategic viewing platform. From this position, Israel can be seen at its narrowest and shows how vulnerable the country is to attacks.
The IDF guide who gave the briefing spoke about the massive drop in terrorist attacks from the West Bank on Israel since the erection of the barrier in August 2003. He also explained that over 95 percent of the barrier is a fence, which gives the IDF the flexibility to open new gates as and when they are needed, or quickly remove it completely if the peace process allows.
A lot of questions were fielded from the delegates about access for Palestinian workers and the route of the barrier. These are some of the most controversial aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The guide said the route of the barrier had been changed many times due to the rulings of the Israeli Supreme Court. He said the principle established in Israeli law was that the barrier is only legal as a security measure and only allowed if the disruption caused to Palestinians is proportionate to the security threat to Israel.
The delegates and the IDF reservist who conducted the tour stuck up a good repore. Indeed, two General Secretaries on the delegation invited him to visit the UK!
Barkan Industrial Park
The delegation then went to the Barkan Industrial Park to visit the Achva Halva factory and a textile factory in the West Bank. Although the industrial park is Israeli owned, it predominately employs Palestinians who work alongside their Jewish colleagues. In fact, the manager was a Palestinian in charge of the entire production workforce.
When asked about the calls to boycott the products from this factory, the Palestinians said they would prefer the factory was owned by Palestinians, but they didn’t want the factory to close because they would lose their jobs. He said a boycott would only hurt Palestinian workers. It was interesting to note that the PA had rescinded on the ban to stop Palestinians working in settlements as this would have affected the Palestinian workers in this factory.
The PGFTU
The delegation drove through the West Bank towards the Palestinian city of Ramallah. The bus stopped at the Qallandia checkpoint and the delegates went through on foot to meet a number of Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) representatives on the other side.
The delegates then went on to have a meeting with the General Secretary, Shaher Saed, and his regional secretaries. Mr Sa’ed spoke about his willingness to work and co-operate with the Histadrut and to contribute to the peace process, but he also spoke about the difficulties.
The delegation was then taken on a walking tour of downtown Ramallah and visited Yasser Arafat’s tomb.
The delegation then drove back to Tel Aviv for a dinner hosted by UCAPSE, the Israeli public sector union.
Thursday 31st March
Sderot
The delegation drove for an hour down to Sderot, which is close to the Gaza border. Sderot is the Israeli town most heavily affected by rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza and the delegation was shown the rocket shelters and the reinforced roofs of children’s play areas and public buildings.
Delegates heard first-hand the terror inflicted upon the town over the last eight years from more than eight thousand rocket attacks; three hundred of which have been fired since the end of the conflict in Gaza.
The delegation was also taken to see the town’s ever increasing collection of spent Qassam rockets, long-range Katyusha missiles and mortar shells.
The Secretary of the Municipality, Shalom Halebi, gave an emotional briefing and a tour of Sderot . He pointed out the need for bomb shelters and the new bomb proof schools that were being built.
After the briefing the group moved on to a nearby vantage point from which nearly the whole of the Gaza Strip could be seen.
Ashdod Port
The delegation drove up the coast to visit Israel’s largest port, Ashdod. Delegates met with representatives of the transport union, including the leader Avi Edry, and some of the port managers. After a briefing on the good industrial relations at the port, which was endorsed by the convenor and management, the delegates took a tour of the large container port to witness the enormous logistical operation.
The Histadrut (Israeli TUC)
After a drive and a short break, the delegation visited the headquarters of the Histadrut for a meeting with Chairman, Ofer Eini. Ofer spoke about the Histadrut’s relationship with the Government and his disappointment that the Labour party has now left the coalition.
Mr Eini said that his relationship with the leadership of Palestinian trade unions was very good. He said that foreigners did not realise the negative impact of pressure from outside the region and emphasised the good co-operation that had been sustained despite this.
He argued that unions should act as a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians and not seek to divide them further. He said that boycotts, in his opinion, were contrived to split the relationship between the Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists and put pressure on the wrong people.
British Ambassador
From the Histadrut’s offices, it was a short drive for an afternoon tea engagement with the British Ambassador H.E Matthew Gould. Matthew gave the Government’s position on the key issues in the region, including the Arab Spring, the peace process, academic exchange programmes and the work on helping the Arab citizens of Israel.
The time the Ambassador gave us was even more privileged considering his wife had just gone into the first stages of labour. All the delegates were very grateful for his time and wished him and his wife the very best for the future.
The end of the delegation took in a leaving dinner in the port of Jaffa where we thanked our hosts the Hisadrut and took a final tour of the old town of Jaffa.
TUFI would like to thank Avital Shapira-Shabirow, Director of the Histadrut International Department for co-ordinating the delegation, the PGFTU for hosting the activities in Ramallah and all the unions for their hospitality.
TUFI takes regular delegations to Israel and the Palestinian territories for British trade unionists. If you are interested in attending the next trip or would like any further information, please contact TUFI at:
Email: info@tufi.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7222 4323
Website: www.tufi.org.uk
TUFI kept a blog throughout this year’s delegation. To read posts from the delegates and to see more photos of the delegation, please visit the visit the blog at: http://www.tufi.org.uk/delegation-blog
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