April 2009 Update
TUFI’s monthly update looks at important trade union issues in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Middle East Peace Process, regional developments, domestic Israeli and Palestinian affairs and primary issues affecting British trade union policy on Israel
International Trade Union News: TULIP, a new global movement is born
Trade union leaders from three continents have announced the launch of a new global movement “to challenge the apologists for Hamas and Hizbollah in the labour movement” and to fight for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. The movement is called TULIP - Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine.
The leaders are Paul Howes, National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (USA), and Michael J. Leahy, OBE, General Secretary of Community (UK). They have issued a founding statement and invite those who agree with it to join TULIP online. A formal launch is expected next month.
British Trade Union News: STUC criticised for undermining Histadrut-PGFTU relationship
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has been criticised for endorsing a divisive boycott of Israeli goods and calling for a “review” of its relationship with the Histadrut (Israeli TUC) at its annual congress in Perth. Commenting on the STUC’s decision, Roger Lyons, chair of Trade Union Friends of Israel (TUFI), said:
“It’s a sad day when fellow trade unionists take such a one-sided, totally unproductive approach to the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Instead of calling for disruptive boycotts, we believe that the British trade union movement should be aiding their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts in lending practical solidarity and support for positive co-operation. All this boycott will do is divide the two communities further.” (22 April 2009)
At a conference fringe event in Perth the Histadrut’s director of international affairs, Avital Shapira-Shabirow, criticised the trade unionists that were pushing for the boycott. She said it was not for people outside the region “to force a boycott call upon the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) to suit their own agenda when it only acts to divide the Histadrut and the PGFTU at a time when cooperation between the two federations is so positive”. The Histadrut representative also referenced a landmark agreement between the Histadrut and the PGFTU, signed in August 2008, which expressed the wish to base future relations on negotiation, dialogue and joint initiatives to advance “fraternity and co-existence”. She said it was odd that Scottish trade unionists wanted to undermine the relationship between trade unions on the ground at a time when real progress was being made.
Israeli Industrial News: Israeli police officers say “‘ello, ‘ello, ‘ello” to unionisation
Israeli police officers are hoping to unionise after a hearty campaign headed by their spouses. The campaign group met with the chairman of the Histadrut, Ofer Eini, last month who subsequently prepared a legal opinion that says that “the current law harms the basic rights [of the police] in an inappropriate way and goes against [Israel’s] legal system and the values of a free and democratic country.”
Palestinian Industrial News: Civil service union leader denounces Hamas political appointments
The leader of the Palestinian union of civil servants, Bassam Zakarna, accused the Hamas leadership in Gaza of sacking rivals and hiring party members for high-level government jobs in the Education Ministry. Zakarna said his union would support those who were fired and called on Hamas to reverse their decisions.
Israeli Affairs: Israeli gay couple receive maternity leave
Israel's National Insurance Institute has authorised its first maternity leave for a same-sex couple. The institute approved a two-month leave from work for a gay man, Yonatan Gher, following the birth of his biological son to a surrogate mother. His partner has begun official adoption procedures.
Israeli Affairs: Labor agrees to enter Likud-led coalition government; Histadrut works with “half a socialist” Netanyahu
The Israeli Labor party voted on 24 March to join Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led government, which was sworn in on 31 March. Labor party chairman, Ehud Barak, who will remain defence minister, told party members on 24 March that he “will be a counterweight to make sure there won’t be a right-wing extremist government.”
The coalition agreement also won the support of Israel’s trade unions with Ofer Eini, chairman of the Histadrut, calling the deal “unprecedented.” The deal focuses on previous Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements, social welfare and gives Eini a veto over government salary changes and the right to take part in a “roundtable” forum that will set the framework for discussions between the government, the Histadrut and large businesses. After reaching the agreement, Eini said it was crucial that the Histadrut joined forces with the government during the difficult economic period and that Netanyahu had “already become half a socialist” and hoped that “in his next term he'll become a full socialist."
Israeli Affairs: Another 130,000 Israelis will lose jobs in 2009
The director of the Israel Employment service has predicted that 130,000 more Israelis will lose their jobs by the end of the year. Yossi Farhi told the Knesset Finance Committee on 22 April that 100,000 people had already lost their jobs and 300,000 (4.3% of the population) would be looking for work by the end of 2009.
Israeli Affairs: Netanyahu launches economic rescue plan
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz launched their economic rescue plan on 24 April to halt unemployment and restore growth in Israel’s faltering economy. At a press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said: "We are in a great crisis. The economy can be likened to a plane in free fall, and we need to stop the fall while also implementing measures to boost the economy upward... The principles of the plan we are presenting include measures that are intended to put a break on the repercussions of the global crisis on the local economy, to preserve jobs and jump-start the economy.”
The plan consists of five steps: increasing available credit, preventing unemployment, structural reforms, lowering taxes and massive state investments in physical infrastructure. To halt the wave of layoffs and encourage employment, the Netanyahu said the government would expand job-training programs and set up a fund to help factories on the brink of collapse. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange climbed 2.5% immediately after the announcement.
MEPP: President Obama invites Middle East leaders to Washington; Israeli cabinet still formulating peace process policies
US President Barack Obama has invited Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to Washington in May. The White House said on 22 April that separate discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would focus on moving the peace process forward.
There have been disagreements over Israel’s future policy toward the peace process between the three centres of power in Israel’s new cabinet - defence minister Ehud Barak (Labour chairman), prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), and foreign minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beiteinu chairman). However, on 28 April Barak said the three were “not so far apart in terms of what the final settlement will look like” and that Netanyahu would propose a plan to the US “in line with the principle of two-states for two nations”.
Palestinian Affairs: Fatah-Hamas unity talks re-start in Cairo
Hamas and Fatah began a fourth round of reconciliation talks in Cairo on Monday (27 April) with the aim of creating an interim administration ahead of Palestinian presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2010. Past attempts at reconciliation have failed as Hamas, unlike Fatah, refuses to accept the Quartet principles of recognising Israel, renouncing violence and accepting previous peace agreements with Israel. Hamas wants to create a non-factional technocratic administration wants the talks to result in a full internationally recognised government, capable of making peace agreements.
MEPP: Israel marks 30 years of peace with Egypt
Israel marked the 30th anniversary of its 1979 peace agreement with Egypt on 25 March in a ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. Many former Israeli and Egyptian politicians attended the ceremony, including Israel’s President at the time, Yitzhak Navon and Egypt’s Ambassador to Israel Yasser Reda. Egypt did not officially mark the anniversary, but Netanyahu has been invited to meet President Mubarak in Egypt.
MEPP: Poll shows that a majority of both Israelis and Palestinians want a two-state solution
A poll conducted by Mina Tsemach of the Dahaf Institute and Colin Irwin of the University of Liverpool, commissioned by joint Israeli and Palestinian pro-peace organisation Oncevoice, has shown that 78 percent of Israelis and 74 percent of Palestinians would accept a two-state solution. The survey published on 22 April, carried out from mid-January to mid-February, also found that 77 percent of Israelis and 71 percent of Palestinians feel negotiations are ‘essential’ or ‘desirable.’ However, the poll also found very large differences with, for example, a majority of both peoples wanting Jerusalem as their capital and neither wanting it declared an international city. Another poll released on 22 April, conducted by Jerusalem-based Keevoon Research, showed that 62 percent of Israeli Jews support sending NATO troops to the West Bank in a peacekeeping capacity.
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