Major UK union declares boycott of Israeli goods

[Purveyor]

The British Transport and General Workers Union, one of the UK's largest, voted on Saturday to boycott all products made in Israel.

Ahead of the actual vote, Eric McDonald, secretary of TGWU's Birmingham branch, which proposed the boycott motion, compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

--
In response to the vote, the Histadrut Labor Federation announced that it would cut all existing ties with the union, which represents some 800,000 workers. Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini is expected to move on Monday that his organization cut all ties with groups that back boycotts of Israel or Israeli goods.

In June, Britain's UNISON trade union - comprising 1.4 million members - also decided on sanctions against Israel. UNISON has had a policy of supporting a boycott of Israeli goods for at least the last five years. In 2002, UNISON's Executive Committee called for 'a boycott of Israeli goods and services' and urged the UK Government and European Union to 'instigate economic and trade sanctions against the state of Israel.'

---eoe---

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183901654301&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[malaise]

1. It was the unions in Britain which started the push

to end apartheid in RSA outside of RSA. I'll never forget 1970 for that.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[originalpckelly]

3. ????

:shrug:

What the hell?

[originalpckelly]

4. Really, you need to explain this:

"Upside down morality from a union of genocidal scumbags."

Don't they just drive like vehicles and stuff for a living? How does that make them "genocidal scumbags"?

[Jim Sagle]

8. No explanation is necessary.

Indeed, for anyone who actually needed an explanation, an explanation would not be possible.

[Tesha]

10. It gore's Mr. Sagle's favorite ox. (NT)

[Jim Sagle]

12. Then I guess that makes it OK.

[Tesha]

13. Well, it is fun to see you froth at a technique...

> Then I guess that makes it OK.

Well, it is fun to see you froth at a technique
that you would probably routinely use yourself if
the Palestinians actually had enough of an economy
to export anything.

Tesha

[Jim Sagle]

16. I'd be ecstatic if they had an economy.

The leadership they have now doesn't even WANT an economy. They'd rather kill Jews than make goods and provide services.

[Tesha]

17. What would you say...

> The leadership they have now doesn't even WANT an economy.
> They'd rather kill Jews than make goods and provide services.

That's an interesting claim. I wonder what you and the rest
of the arch-Zionists here on DU would be saying to me if I
made the (essentially similar) claim that:

"The Israeli leadership they have now doesn't even WANT peace
with the Palestinians. They'd rather see all of them starved
than to make peace and allow the trading of goods and provide
services."

What *WOULD* they say? What would they call me?

So why do you say things like this?

Tesha

[Jim Sagle]

18. Because they're true.

NOT because I want to tweak anyone.

[Tesha]

19. I'm not nearly as sure as you that your claim is true.

I'm not nearly as sure as you that your claim is true.

It seems to me that you would require knowledge that is
only available inside the heads/hearts of the Palestinian
leadership to know the truth or falsehood of the claim
that you made.

You *MIGHT* claim that their actions lead you to suspect
that your claim is true and that could certainly be the
truth as you know your own heart, but going farther than
that is dicey.

And I notice you didn't answer my questions about what
you'd be saying if I made the countervailing claim that
I proposed.

Tesha

[LeftishBrit]

5. Idiots....

More on this from Ha'aretz:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/879531.html

Note the key point:

'The decision to call for a boycott, reached at a union conference in Brighton, is declarative and does not include concrete steps to implement the boycott.'

You bet; most British trade unions these days wouldn't know how to take 'concrete steps' if they saw some going down to the union HQ cellar. The union movement in Britain has been trampled on by Thatcher and marginalized by Blair, and the activists waste their time making totally empty gestures about countries 2000 miles away. If they want to boycott countries that have followed oppressive policies, then, sad to say, they'd have to start with boycotting BRITAIN for going into Iraq.

They won't do any real harm to Israel (these people couldn't boycott a whelk stall!) but they may do a lot of harm to their own members and to the UK by harming our country's image abroad and possibly bringing on REAL counter-boycotts.

TGWU is *not* a union of genocidal scumbags, but as with many unions these days, a lot of the activists in supposed 'charge' are incompetent fools, with no grasp of local policy let alone international policy.

[originalpckelly]

7. Why are they idiots?

[LeftishBrit]

14. Several reasons...

(1) They are wasting their time on making empty gestures.

(2) If they really want to help Palestinians, creating and supporting trade links with Palestine would be much more constructive than boycotting Israel.

(3) Why just Israel? Why not the United States - and ourselves - over Iraq; Australia for supporting the Iraq war AND for its treatment of its native people; Poland for its homophobic policies; Russia over Chechnya; China over Tibet; Lebanon, Egypt and other Arab countries that have not treated the Palestinians well; Palestinian leaders who have not treated Palestinians well; Sudan(!); Pakistan over various human rights abuses... I could go on and on. Lots of possible boycotts! Focussing only on Israel suggests ignorance and/or the selection of an easy target.

(4) They make the British as a whole look ignorant and prejudiced and 'boycott-happy'. This may damage our standing in the world, and specifically may encourage counter-boycotts.

[malaise]

9. They'd have to start with boycotting BRITAIN for going into Iraq

I accept this point

[LeftishBrit]

self-delete (dupe)

[LeftishBrit]

6. self-delete (dupe)

[Solo_in_MD]

11. Sort of...

no implementation plan
consumer level only
.
.
.
Sound like the UK unions are yet to recover from being neutered

[LeftishBrit]

15. 'Sound like the UK unions are yet to recover from being neutered'

Too bloody right!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. Along Those Lines

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=68826&d=22&m=8&y05