U.K. union bars Israeli expert from conference on conflict resolution

[shira]

LONDON - A master-class on conflict resolution that was set to be given by an Israeli lecturer in Manchester next week was canceled by the British National Health Service, after trade union members who were to take part in the class objected to participating in a workshop with an Israeli expert.

Moty Cristal, an Israeli expert on negotiating skills and crisis-management, was to have taught a class entitled The Role of Negotiation in Dealing with Conflict, as part of a workshop on conflict resolution for health-trust managers and union officials. The workshop is being organized by Manchester Mental Trust, part of the NHS.

Cristal responded to the cancelation by writing to Manchester Mental Trust chief executive Jackie Daniel, "In terms of your future bargaining position with UNISON, I believe that the last minute cancelation is perceived more of an appeasement toward UNISON, rather than a leadership call. Values-wise, unlike you, I am confident that the only way to resolve conflicts, let alone the Israeli-Palestinian one, is through effective communication and constructive dialogue, rather than violence or boycotts."

The Israeli Embassy in London said in response that "the cancelation of a private expert simply due to his citizenship or ethnic identity is a racist policy in every way. What is even more shameful is the fact this was supposed to be an NHS-sponsored workshop dealing, ironically, with negotiating and conflict resolution. It seems that those who canceled it are in urgent need of such training.

more...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-k-union-bars-israeli-expert-from-conference-on-conflict-resolution-1.427188

[shira]

1. Dubai withholds Israeli cardiologists visas

Over a dozen Israeli cardiologists who had been invited to a Dubai conference of the World Heart Federation – attended by 12,000 heart specialists last week – were denied a visa by authorities at the last minute.

Only a couple of Israelis – one from the Rabin Medical Center and the other from Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center – who had been invited to lecture at the conference were allowed to attend and did so.
........

There was no discrimination between Jewish and Arab Israelis, said Prof. Chaim Lotan, head of cardiology at Hadassah University Medical Center, who had been involved in negotiations with the federation but did not attend because the Israel Heart Society had its own conference here during the same week.
........

“Those who actually did attend did not have an easy time,” Lotan said. “They weren’t allowed to leave the hotel, and their visas were held during their visit. Apparently, the government of Dubai did not want Israelis there.”

http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=267461

Why not? If the Brits can do it...

[shira]

2. Where does... the Labour Party stand on Co-op decision to boycott Palestinian farmers’ produce?

excerpt:

The Co-op has fallen over itself to announce that, no, they’re not actually boycotting Israel, you understand. Just any Israeli companies that deal with produce from not just the West Bank, but any from over the Green Line. So that will include all the wines from the Golan Heights, and matzos and other religious goods baked or made in the Old City of Jerusalem but also all the produce that’s exported from Gaza. And of course all the produce which Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights produce.

You see, Palestinian Arab farmers are completely dependent on the high-tech logistics and technologies of the Israel-wide exporters like Agrexco, Mehadrin and all those other companies the Co-op’s decided to boycott for the fast processing, refrigeration, air transport, EU certification and marketing. Without those companies exporting their produce to the UK, guess what? Those Palestinians will lose money hand over fist, if they’re not driven completely out of business, by the loss of their currently very efficient Israeli exporters. There aren’t any other local non-Israeli companies they can turn to. Try Jordan or Egypt? Not a chance.

Here’s the viewpoint of a Gazan woman producer whose business and family was hit by the closing of the route to Europe via Agrexco after the Israelis shut the Keren Shalom checkpoint after an outburst of Hamas terrorist action.

Um Hajjar Al-Ghalayini, 46 years old, owns half an acre of sandy Gaza land that produces two tons of strawberries every season. Since her husband died two years ago, the crop is the sole means of support for her nine children, mother-in-law and widowed sister, so every one of the bright red berries counts.

Last year, she had no choice but to sell her produce to the local market. That filled the Gaza markets with fruits and vegetables to the benefit of consumers, but for growers like Um Hajjar it was a disaster. Her earnings dropped by more than half and the family had a tough year economically. This week, as Israel took another step in easing its economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, Um Hajjar delivered her strawberries to the Kerem Shalom checkpoint on the Israel-Gaza border, their first leg of a journey to the more profitable markets in Europe.

“Now I can say that things are getting back to normal, if not on the right track,” she told The Media Line.

http://hurryupharry.org/2012/04/30/where-do-livingstone-the-labour-party-stand-on-co-op-decision-to-boycott-palestinian-farmers-produce/

I guess the bigots behind BDS don't mind hurting Palestinians as well as Jews.

[shira]

3. BDS movement throws pro-Palestinian (Jew) Daniel Barenboim under the bus...

Excerpt:

Qatar’s announcement that it would host Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim at the Doha Festival for Music and Dialogue in coordination with Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra did not come as a surprise.

The orchestra is proud to have both Israeli and Arab musicians and publicly aims to build bridges of normalization between them. But it does not recognize Palestinian rights or reject Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid.

It was the fourth time that Qatar had invited Barenboim in spite of his being a Zionist. Although he rejects the 1967 occupation, he also rejects the return of refugees to the homes they were thrown out of during the nakba {in 1948}.

Barenboim attempts to cleverly clean up Israel’s image by accepting some Palestinian rights, but at the same time he repudiates the most significant of Palestinian rights.

How could an Arab country that proclaims its support for Palestinians welcome Zionist Israeli artists as brothers, while the Arab world is in the midst of popular Arab revolutions that some Arab countries claim to support, albeit with peculiar selectivity?

http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1864

[shira]

4. Barenboim couldn't be more pro-Palestinian but he sucks according to BDS....

The Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has been granted Palestinian citizenship for his work in promoting cultural exchange between young people in Israel and the Arab world.

The Argentine-born musician is believed to be the first person in the world to possess both Israeli and Palestinian passports after receiving his new documentation at the end of a piano recital in Ramallah in the West Bank at the weekend.

"Under the most difficult circumstances he has shown solidarity with the Palestinian people," Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian MP and presidential candidate, said at the recital held to raise money for medical aid for children in the Gaza Strip.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/15/musicnews.classicalmusic

[aranthus]

5. Barenboim is not pro-Palestinian.

"Pro" or "anti" have to be defined with reference to how that particular side defines "winning". If you're a Dodgers fan, it means that you want them to win baseball games. If you are "pro-Palestinian," then that means that you support the core goals of the Palestinian movement. Barenboim doesn't support the first and foremeost goal of the Palestinians (RoR). He can't be considered pro-Palestinian.

[holdencaufield]

6. I am Pro-Mila Kunis

In that I fully support her marrying me and having my children.

However, I am also a rational human that recognizes certain realities in life and can conclude that is NEVER going to happen.

So, does that make me Anti-Mila Kunis?

[aranthus]

7. Sorry, but being pro-Mila Kunis does not include you supporting her marrying you,

unless she wanted that too. Let's try a better example. Suppose her principle goal in life was to conquer the Ukraine. That's extremely unlikely to happen, but it doesn't make her insane. Now also suppose that the Ukraine is plenty proud of one of their favorite daughters, but really doesn't want her as a conqueror. Do you support her or not? In that situaltion, you are either pro-Mila or pro-Ukraine. The fact that you want to marry her is irrelevant. pro and anti in a conflict situation are always relevant to what the two sides want, not that you have good feelings for them or wish them well.

Good choice in Mila, by the way.

[BudT]

8. Maybe I just don't know who's on first - -

- - as Bud Abbot used to say. But, since you (I think) are arguing with someone who has an Israeli Star for his Avatar, I'm guessing you disagree with Israel's position in the conflict, no? (On edit: I really don't understand your analogy in #7 and so I'm making some guesses here. I apologize if I guessed wrong.)

In your comment you said, "pro and anti in a conflict situation are always relevant to what the two sides want . . ".

I agree. What is it, that you believe the Palestinians and Israelis "want" in this conflict that gives you insight as to which side is on the morally "right" side, and which the "wrong"? I don't mean what they or their leaders say publicly, I mean what consistent behavior do they exhibit that allows you to choose the side you choose - if you'd care to expound on that?

[Ken Burch]

10. I'd suggest being pro-prenup as well. Just a thought.

You know how it gets with those celebrities...especially the really attractive ones.

[Ken Burch]

11. There was no reason for you to put the word "Jew" in that headline

They weren't objecting to Barenboim's Jewishness and you know it. You insult the REAL victims of antisemitism when you drag bogus insinuations of it into EVERY situation.

This is just about their disagreement with Barenboim on RoR. Supporting RoR is not automatically antisemitic.

Can you please stop turning every post into flamebait?

[Ken Burch]

9. Well, Israel isn't particularly ABOUT resolving conflict

The current government there is focused on keeping the conflict going until it's built settlements covering the whole West Bank.

There's no bigotry. And this person had nothing unique to offer.