TUFI TUC 2010 Fringe Event: "What can Trade Unions do to Aid Peace?"

TUFI is holding a fringe event during this year’s TUC Congress in London.  The event is titled “What can Trade Unions do for a lasting peace?” and will take place on Monday 12 September 2011 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at the Bloomsbury Tavern (London WC2H 8EG), two minutes walk from Congress House.  Invited guest speakers include:

Paul Usiskin, The Abraham Fund Initiative
Eric Lee, Trade Unions Linking Israel & Palestine (TULIP)
Roger Lyons, Former President TUC and Chair of TUFI
Michael Dugher MP, Member of Parliament for Barnsley East (Chair)
Chris Hudson, a peace activist and Unitarian minister of All Souls Church in Belfast

A buffet lunch and tea and coffee will also be provided.  If you would like to attend, please RSVP by e-mailing info@tufi.org.uk or calling 020 722 4323.

Israelis stage mass protests over rising living costs

At least a quarter of a million Israelis have staged marches over the last few weeks over the rising cost of living.  The largest protests have been in Tel Aviv where police said at least 200,000 people took to streets on 6 August. 

In one of the biggest waves of protests in decades in Israel, demonstrators are demanding government action to reduce the cost of housing and food.  Some protesters have also set up camp in city centres.  

Israel's annual economic growth is relatively healthy, averaging 4.5% since 2004, and in the same period unemployment has fallen from about 11% to 6%.  But there is growing public anger over the unaffordability of housing and childcare, high prices and relatively low salaries.  In response to the mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has appointed a committee to propose solutions to Israel’s socioeconomic problems and has promised to reassess his government's priorities and make housing more affordable.

Landmark deal signed ending five-month doctors’ strike in Israel

An agreement has finally been signed between the Israeli government and hospital doctors, ending a five-month long dispute.  The deal, signed on 24 August, includes a 49 percent average salary increase for hospital doctors, who will now clock in and out, and the addition of 1,000 doctors at public hospitals. 

The agreement, which was a compromise between the demands of the doctors and the Israeli finance ministry, will last for nine years, retroactive to July 2010 when the last deal expired. 

Israeli taxi drivers protest against fuel prices

Nearly 200 taxi drivers protested in the centre of Tel Aviv on 24 August against high petrol prices and working conditions causing mass traffic jams in the city. 

Yehuda Bar-Or, chairman of the taxi drivers’ union, said: “We live on the road and therefore we are protesting on the road. We hope that passengers understand that this protest is for them, so that we don’t have to raise prices... there was a time when petrol was 15% of our expenses, now it is 40%.” 

500 march and burn tires in protest against Pri Hagalil factory layoffs

On 14 August, over 500 people marched from the Pri Hagalil factory in Hatzor HaGlilit towards Highway 90 in protest against the factory management's decision to lay off 58 employees.  The protesters, which included members of the Histadrut (Israeli TUC) and the Young Meretz movement, also burned tires at the entrance to Hatzor HaGlilit.

Israeli bookstore chain facing lawsuit over claims it thwarted workers from organising 

The General Federation of Workers in Israel has said that it plans to sue the Steimatzky bookstore chain for improper and illegal interference in employees' efforts to unionise.

The GFWI (Histadrut Ovdim Leumit) began organising Steimatzky employees several weeks ago, but union officials say that as soon as the process began workers complained of measures by the management to stymie their efforts.

The trade union spokesman for GFWI said: "It's sad that a company of Steimatzky's position, especially at a time when social protest is increasing throughout the country, should try to dissipate an initiative by workers concerned for their job security."

Israeli Prime Minister repeats that he is prepared to travel to Ramallah for peace talks with the Palestinian President

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on 15 August that he is “willing to immediately start direct negotiations with the Palestinian leadership without preconditions,” adding that “I am willing to invite him to my house in Jerusalem and I am willing to go to Ramallah”.  It was reported earlier this month that Netanyahu is prepared to base border negotiations on the 1967 lines with land swaps.

Israel criticised over new settlement construction plans

The EU, US and Middle East Quartet (EU, US, UN and Russia) have criticised the Israeli government for approving 277 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, just a few days after Israel was also criticised for approving the construction of 1,500 homes in East Jerusalem. The Quartet said it was “greatly concerned” and Baroness Ashton said that she “deeply regretted” the announcement, and asserted that settlement activities “threaten the viability of an agreed two state solution”. Israel enacted a 10-month settlement construction freeze in 2009/10 in a failed bid to attract the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Palestinian local elections cancelled over Fatah and Hamas’ continuing failure to enact reconciliation agreement

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on 22 August cancelling the West Bank local elections scheduled for October, saying that they would take place at a later date when the “appropriate circumstances” exist – defined as when Fatah and Hamas end “division and reach reconciliation and national unity”.

The 315 local councils in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been run without any electoral process since July 2010, with repeated postponements due to the ongoing rift between Fatah and Hamas. The nationalist Fatah supports a two-state solution, state building and the development of a single Palestinian security force, whereas Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist and wants to retain its own security and terrorist forces.  Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal in May, but have failed to make any progress towards enacting it. 

Major terror attack in southern Israel kills eight

Eight Israelis were killed on 18 August when four vehicles were targeted by a number of terror cells in the south of the country, near the tourist city of Eilat. Approximately 30 people, including children, were also injured in the attacks, which took place near the border with Egypt, and are believed to have involved militants leaving the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip via Egypt. The attacks involved small arms, mortar fire, anti-tank missiles and at least one suicide bombing.

Another Israeli was killed on 20 August in the southern city of Be’er Sheva by one of the approximately 100 rocket, missile and mortar attacks on southern Israel in the last week – which have also targeted the Israeli cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat. Most of the rockets being fired are medium range, advanced weapons produced in Iran, and smuggled into Gaza.  Israel has responded to these attacks by carrying out targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.

Up to 5,000 Palestinians flee Syrian refugee camp after being shelled by Syrian military; Hamas fails to condemn the attacks

Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee a refugee camp in the Syrian port city of Latakia amid shelling by government troops. A spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works agency (UNRWA) told the BBC on 15 August that more than 5,000 of the 10,000 residents had left the camp to escape the fighting in which at least four people had died.  

EU expands sanctions on Syria and also targets Iranian regime for assisting in the crackdown

The EU expanded its sanctions on the Syrian regime on 24 August and also targeted the elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard for its role in helping Syrian security forces crush the five-month, ongoing pro democracy protests. An EU statement said that Iran’s elite Quds Force has provided “technical assistance, equipment and other support to the Syrian security forces to repress civilian protest movements”.

Union man's wedding brings Ashdod port to total standstill

Ashdod Port ground to a halt on 25 August as hundreds of workers went to attend the wedding of a senior union member at a city banquet hall.  Alon Mualem, from the mechanical equipment workers' union, invited more than 900 people to his wedding, including all those in charge of loading and unloading at the port. 

Alon Hassan, the chairman of the port workers' union, has also held two bat mitzvah parties for his daughters in the past three years, each time stopping the port's activity for several hours.  Hassan said that there is no other way when you work in shifts and said that “we try to minimize the damage”.