Delegation Report: 2 - 7 December 2007
The delegates
Ronnie Draper, BFAWU National President
Duncan Connors, Post-Graduate Committee General Secretary
Noel Mullen, BFAWU National Executive
John Hillon, BFAWU National Executives
Ian Malcolm, South Tyneside Council Deputy Leader, UNITE member
The delegation also included Roger Lyons, Doreen Gerson and Steve Scott from TUFI
Monday 3 December 2007, Jerusalem
For the first day the Delegation was centred in Jerusalem. The Delegates first visited Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust Memorial Centre, where they were shown the background to the Nazi genocide and what the centre does to preserve and catalogue the testimony and memory of all those who perished and survived the Holocaust.
Next the Delegation took the tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. This included the Via Delorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Jewish Quarter, Arab Market, the Jewish Quarter, and the Western Wall. At the Western Wall the Delegates were able to write a prayer and leave it in the wall.
Next stop was a hosted lunch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Deputy Director (Europe) Rafael Barak and Amiran Magid. The majority of the conversation was about the current political situation and the recent restart in peace talks. Rafael said at the start of the discussion that even with the divided Palestinian leadership and a sceptical Israeli population he felt the majority wanted to give it a chance.
He was also encouraged by the involvement of the wider Arab world, which could eventually lead to Israel’s formal recognition in the region. There were still the “core” issues where perhaps compromise would have to be taken, most prominently: the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees. His view was that Abu Mazen, the Palestinian President, would have a lot to sell to his people, but they have a lot to gain.
There was also talk about further a field in the region and the radicals of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. The threats of terror and actions of proliferation by these bodies has affected Israeli society and has made many Israelis feel insecure.
Later in the evening the Delegation were kindly hosted by the local government employees union in Jerusalem.
Tuesday 4 December, The Dead Sea and Jerusalem Municipality
It was an early morning start for the Delegation for the drive down to the Dead Sea. After a scenic and historic journey passing the fortress of Massda the Delegation were allowed a few hours to enjoy the waters of the Dead Sea at one of the Spas. This was a chance for everyone to engage with each other and discuss issues of common interest.
This was a great opportunity to see first hand the situation in the region. It has really spurned me on to work to bring students from all backgrounds together to campaign for education for all
Duncan Connors, General Secretary, Post Graduates Committee
Later we met with the Jerusalem Municipality Employees Committee and UCAPSE, the local government union. Members from both main communities in Jerusalem were represented and they spoke frankly about how they work together to protect their members’ interest regardless of background and the difficulties the Intifada had brought in dividing them. The Delegation was able to see how trade unions bring people together despite their differences to work for better pay, conditions and understanding of each other.
The Delegation next had the long trip back to Tel Aviv and an evening reception with the British Ambassador HE Tom Phillips. The Ambassador spoke eloquently about the current round of peace talks and was more positive in his tone and content about the future, despite all the obstacles in the way, than when TUFI last met him in February 2007.
His was keen to discuss the issue of the boycott of Israel emanating from the British Trade Union Movement and emphasised the extent of unease this had caused within Israel. The story was national with commentators evoking memories of the attitude of Europe in the 1930s and the boycotts of everything Jewish. He asked TUFI to work to combat the boycott and ease the tensions that had been created in the summer.
Wednesday 5 December, The Palestinian Territories
Again a very early start to the day, as the Delegation had to drive to Jerusalem to meet Isaac Herzog, Knesset member, Welfare Minister and one of the rising politicians in Israel.
He first spoke about his role as welfare minister and how his department is setting up a joint council on social services with his Palestinian counterpart. This is all part of institution and bridge building to work concurrently with the peace process.
Mr Herzog spoke about the failure of past talks and attempted deals but said that this time there has been some acknowledgement of each others mistakes and pain. On the issue of settlements he said that construction has ceased and the vision would be one of land swap; the details of which most people are pretty much aware of but will not fully commit to yet, whilst there would be a special arrangement made for Jerusalem.
He praised the work of TUFI and encouraged more delegations for trade unionists to find out the facts for themselves. He also noted that Hamas had been in the process of destroying trade unions.
Next stop was the visit to the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) in Ramallah. This took us through the Qalandiya checkpoint into the West Bank where we were met by PGFTU Officials.
We met with Shaher Sa’ed and other PGFTU Officials. Shaher said that the conditions, although not perfect, had improved and the renewed round of peace talks were opportunities for change. He also said that Abu Mazen had expressed his views for peace and speaks for all Arabs and that it could also be an historic time for Israel as the Arab world could recognise Israel.
He said that he wanted Tony Blair, in his role as the Quartet’s envoy, to include the trade unions and visit Palestinian Communities to see the conditions they endure: unemployment at 38% and 62% living on the poverty line. He also spoke about the effects of the security measures on the Palestinian people.
However, Shaher was keen to speak about the PGFTU’s “bread and butter” issues with recent reforms to its own structures where they have created a five year plan to improve their delivery with quotas for women leaders and youth members.
Recently they had worked with the Histadrut to help the 30,000 workers in Israeli settlements to get them Israeli employment rights and set up a hotline for the workers to contact if they have problems.
The evening was rounded up with a dinner with UCAPSE and Histadrut Officers in Tel Aviv.
Thursday 6 December, The Histadrut
The day started with a visit to the Na’amat Peace Nursery in Jaffa. This is a multi-community project where pre-school children from all backgrounds are given their nursery education and learn each others cultures and religions in the hope to give them a better understanding in later life.
From the nursery we travelled to the headquarters of the Histadrut where we had a session with Ofer Eini, Chairman of the Histadrut. Ofer said that he wanted closer co-operation with British Trade Unions and to defeat the boycotters who only wanted to divide the movement.
He also said that the monies owed to the PGFTU from their historic agreement was nearly settled. He said that some disagreement about the start date of the agreement still needed to be resolved, but he emphasised that he wanted this finished as soon as possible.
Security Barrier
The next stage of the mission took the Delegation to the security barrier near Qalkilya. We were given a briefing about the barrier’s technology and path by the security services. Unfortunately because of security concerns on the day we were not able to go close to inspect the barrier but the Delegates got an idea of its role and impact.
Workplace Visit
The Delegation then split. The majority visited the Osem food plant and were given a tour of the facilities. Two others met up with post-graduates at Tel-Aviv University who represented the students to discuss initiatives of student joint co-operation between the UK and Israeli University students.
The final evening consisted of a farewell dinner in a rainy Jaffa at one of the famous fish restaurants. The Delegation was addressed by representatives from OneVoice, a cross community peace organisation. They spoke about the problems of the cancellation of the recent peace concerts in Jericho due to threats, but still had hope as they had collected over half a million signatures from those who wanted peace in civil society, both in Israel and the Palestinian areas.
TUFI would like to thank Avital Shapira-Shabirow, Director of the Histadrut International Department for co-ordinating our delegation in Israel, the PGFTU for hosting our activities in Ramallah and the British Embassy in Israel for their hospitality.
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