Follow the money: wie verdienen aan het Israelische Gaza-offensief?

Follow the money, aldus de klassieke vraag (zeker voor vakbondsactivisten) die vaak helpt te begrijpen waarom gebeurt wat gebeurt. 

Lees Shir Hever van het bekende Alternative Information Center:  Who's Profiting from Israel's Offensive in Gaza?
Shir Hever: Israel continues to reject Hamas's offer of a ten-year ceasefire because it would undermine Israeli arms sales, which reached $7 billion in 2012 -   July 30, 14

Verder hier

Stand with Palestinian workers in Gaza: a call for trade union solidarity

Stand with Palestinian workers in Gaza: a call for trade union solidarity

Posted on July 30, 2014 by The Palestinian trade union movement and the Congress of South African Trade Unions

The Palestinian trade union movement, with support from with support from the Congress of South African Trade Unions and its affiliates, is unanimously calling on trade unions internationally to take immediate action to stop the Israeli massacre in Gaza and hold Israel to account for its crimes against the Palestinian people.

In the two weeks of the latest Israeli military aggression in the Gaza strip, whole families have been wiped out, and over 600 Palestinians have been killed, almost 80% of them civilians and a third of them children. Over 1.8 million Palestinians are trapped in an occupied and besieged small piece of land that Israel has turned into an open-air prison, subject to daily bombardment by Israeli rockets and heavy artillery. For seven years, Palestinians in Gaza have been under a brutal and illegal siege whose purpose is to destroy the conditions of life and break the spirit of the people. The siege and the recurrent bombing have created a humanitarian catastrophe, with critical shortages of water, food, and medical supplies. Freedom of movement, the right to education and access to health services have been extensively denied by the Israeli occupation.

Israel’s goal in this latest aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is to perpetuate the occupation. This year we mark ten years since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the construction of Israel’s wall and its associated regime in the occupied Palestinian West Bank – of settlements, land confiscation, separate roads, permit systems and movement restrictions – is illegal under international law. Yet in ten years the international community has allowed Israel to continue construction on occupied territory and continue its system of occupation, apartheid and colonialism against the Palestinian people.

While governments prevaricate and allow Israel to act with utter impunity, and most of the mainstream media parrots Israel’s Orwellian propaganda, civil society solidarity is the only force that can help stop the ongoing slaughter of our people and send them a message that they are not alone, exactly as effective international solidarity had done in supporting the struggle for freedom in apartheid South Africa. In the face of this international inaction, we, the Palestinian trade unions, call on trade unions around the world to take urgent measures, and in particular to intensify Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, until it complies with international law.

We ask you to consider the following actions:

1. Stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel,
2. Divest your trade union pension — and other — funds from Israel Bonds as well as from corporations and banks that complicit in Israel’s occupation and human rights violations,
3. Dissociate from Israeli trade unions which are complicit in the occupation
4. Support our call for a military embargo on Israel
5. Share information with your members about the siege and destruction of Gaza and ask your members to boycott Israeli products and to share their knowledge with family, co-workers, and friends.

Today more than ever, solidarity with Palestinians workers and their families in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory is an essential component of progressive, principled trade union politics. Given the complete failure and unwillingness of governments to hold Israel accountable to international law there is widespread recognition that Israel’s occupation must be isolated by the pressure of civil society.

We rely on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to continue a proud tradition of international solidarity and to stand with us as you stood with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

Issued by the following Palestinian trade unions:
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions-Gaza
General Union of Palestinian Workers
Union of Professional Associations
Federation of Independent Trade Unions

With the support of:
Congress of South African Trade Unions

http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/stand-with-palestinian-workers-in-gaza-a-call-for-trade-union-solidarity-12404

Teken Avaaz-oproep aan ABP en 5 bedrijven om investeringen in Israelische bezettingsactiviteiten terug te trekken

Aan de CEO's van ABP, HP, Veolia, Barclays, Caterpillar en G4S:

In de nasleep van het verschrikkelijke geweld dat zich voltrekt in Israël-Palestina zijn wij, burgers uit heel de wereld, ernstig bezorgd over de aanhoudende investeringen van uw bedrijven in ondernemingen en projecten die illegale nederzettingen en de onderdrukkende bezetting van het Palestijnse volk financieren. 17 EU-landen hebben onlangs waarschuwingen uitgegeven aan hun burgers tegen zakendoen of investeren in illegale Israëlische nederzettingen. Met het oog op deze juridische overwegingen, heeft u nu de gelegenheid om investeringen terug te trekken en internationale wetgeving te respecteren. Dit is een kans om aan de goede kant van de geschiedenis te gaan staan.

Hier de te tekenen petitie en meer: AVAAZ-Oproep

Australian Unionists Supporting Palestine: ITUC and COSATU add voices to embargo call

ITUC and COSATU add voices to embargo call

18 July 2014, via The Guardian
 
The President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Secretary-General of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have joined with a host of Nobel peace laureates, intellectuals, artists, musicians, journalists, writers, filmmakers, politicians and celebrities to issue this call:

We call on the UN and governments across the world to take immediate steps to implement a comprehensive and legally binding military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on South Africa during apartheid. …
Palestinians today need effective solidarity, not charity.

View abridged letter as published in The Guardian >>>
A full version of the letter with all signatories can be read here >>>

From auspalestine

Australian Unionists Supporting Palestine: IFJ President details attacks on journalists in Gaza

IFJ President details attacks on journalists in Gaza

22 July 2014, via Equal Times

End the violation of journalists’ rights in Gaza
by Jim Boumelha, President, International Federation of Journalists

Every conflict has its press victims. Journalists that cover wars know the risks they face: they could be mistaken for combatants; they could get caught in fatal crossfire; or they could walk on a landmine.
But the risks to journalists – local and international – in the current bombings and ground invasion of Gaza has never been greater.

As the relentless bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli army reaches its fifteenth day, the IFJ-affiliate Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has listed numerous violations, including the deaths of two media workers – Hamed Shibab and Khaled Hamad.

In addition, five journalists have been injured since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge on 8 July 2014, and one car of a media worker has been bombed, as have five media offices.
The air strikes on al-Jawhara Media Tower located in the centre of Gaza City, injured Mohammed Shibat, a photographer with al-Watanya News Agency.

Over 50 journalists were present in the tower at the time of the strikes and the attack was said to have caused severe damage to the offices of several media outlets, including the PJS Gaza offices located in the same tower.

Such attacks seem to be replicating a similar offensive in December 2008 where five media workers were killed and up to 15 seriously injured.

An international fact-finding mission by the IFJ to Gaza in the aftermath of the attack found that Israeli troops had no rules of engagement and often engaged in indiscriminate firing.

The IFJ mission was in no doubt that the military action against journalists and media installations by Israel violated international law, especially the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and journalists in armed conflict zones.

The IFJ called then on the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to investigate and take actions over the media crisis and the targeting of journalists.

These findings were borne out by substantiated evidence gathered by the mission which suggested that Israel knew or ought to have known that the victims of its attacks were journalists and media installations, which are protected by international law.

Israel had been provided with the coordinates of the media installations which clearly identified their location. Moreover, journalists’ vehicles and offices bore clear “Press” and “TV” markings to identify them to military forces on ground, sea and air.

The protection of civilians, which includes journalists and media workers, is regulated by a large number of international law treaties.

According to the Geneva Convention’s Article 79 Protocol Additional I, if journalists or media personnel become victims of an attack intentionally targeted at them, this constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law.

According to Article 85 Paragraph 5 Protocol Additional I, such a violation of international humanitarian law is regarded as a war crime.

The Rome Statute in Article 8 Paragraph 2 (b) (i) also stipulates responsibility under international criminal law for attacks targeting civilians. Materials and facilities used for practising the journalistic profession are civilian objects according to Article 52 Protocol Additional I, the bombardment of a TV or radio station, even if it is partly used for propaganda, is not reconcilable with international humanitarian law.

According to Article 85 Protocol Additional I, this constitutes a war crime.

The time back in the 1980s when raising a white flag and writing “TV” in masking tape on a vehicle might help keep one safe is long gone.

As the ground invasion by the Israeli army is now under way, the IFJ is concerned that the security situation of journalists in Gaza will worsen without a concerted and unified voice to denounce the violations of journalists’ rights in Gaza and mobilise world opinion for change on the ground.

Article source: Equal Times

Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire - ITUC OnLine / No ceasefire without justice for Gaza - EI

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: ITUC Press [mailto:press@ituc-csi.org]
Verzonden: dinsdag 22 juli 2014 13:21
Aan: ITUC Online
Onderwerp: Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire - ITUC OnLine

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION

ITUC OnLine

053/220714

Gaza: Immediate Ceasefire 

Brussels, 22 July 2014 (ITUC OnLine): With over 500 people in Gaza killed, 80% of them women and children, in a massive escalation of Israel's assault, an immediate ceasefire and return to the 2012 truce agreement is absolutely urgent.  Over 80 000 persons have been forced to flee their homes, with many seeking shelter in UNRWA-run schools which have been overwhelmed with families seeking safety.

Israel has warned of further escalation, while Hamas has so far refused a ceasefire without pre-conditions.  A three-day general strike in the West Bank has begun in protest at Israel's actions.

The ITUC has called for many years for the lifting of the Gaza blockade and the removal of the separation wall as basic steps to end a 60-year conflict. "It is time to recognise legal rights for Palestinians and to implement the Security Council's resolutions in this regard, and enable Palestinians to have their independent sovereign state. There is a need for an immediate and energetic international community intervention to stop the bloodshed and move forward for peace and an agreement that respects the legitimacy of international law," said Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary.

The ITUC represents 176 million workers in 161 countries and territories and has 325 national affiliates.

Follow us on the web: http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 02 04 or +32 476 621 018

========================================================

No ceasefire without justice for Gaza

The Electronic Intifada Gaza Strip 22 July 2014

We will not “return to a living death” of siege and blockade, say Gaza civil society leaders.
(Ashraf Amra / APA images)

 

As academics, public figures and activists witnessing the intended genocide of 1.8 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, we call for a ceasefire with Israel only if conditioned on an end to the blockade and the restoration of basic freedoms that have been denied to the people for more than seven years.
Our foremost concerns are not only the health and safety of the people in our communities, but also the quality of their lives – their ability to live free of fear of imprisonment without due process, to support their families through gainful employment, and to travel to visit their relatives and further their education.
These are fundamental human aspirations that have been severely limited for the Palestinian people for more than 47 years, but that have been particularly deprived from residents of Gaza since 2007. We have been pushed beyond the limits of what a normal person can be expected to endure.

A living death

Charges in the media and by politicians of various stripes that accuse Hamas of ordering Gaza residents to resist evacuation orders, and thus use them as human shields, are untrue. With temporary shelters full and the indiscriminate Israeli shelling, there is literally no place that is safe in Gaza.
Likewise, Hamas represented the sentiment of the vast majority of residents when it rejected the unilateral ceasefire proposed by Egypt and Israel without consulting anyone in Gaza. We share the broadly held public sentiment that it is unacceptable to merely return to the status quo – in which Israel strictly limits travel in and out of the Gaza Strip, controls the supplies that come in (including a ban on most construction materials), and prohibits virtually all exports, thus crippling the economy and triggering one of the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the Arab world.
To do so would mean a return to a living death.
Unfortunately, past experience has shown that the Israeli government repeatedly reneges on promises for further negotiations, as well as on its commitments to reform.
Likewise, the international community has demonstrated no political will to enforce these pledges. Therefore, we call for a ceasefire only when negotiated conditions result in the following:

• Freedom of movement of Palestinians in and out of the Gaza Strip.
• Unlimited import and export of supplies and goods, including by land, sea and air.
• Unrestricted use of the Gaza seaport.
• Monitoring and enforcement of these agreements by a body appointed by the United Nations, with appropriate security measures.

Each of these expectations is taken for granted by most countries, and it is time for the Palestinians of Gaza to be accorded the human rights they deserve.

Signatures:

• Akram Habeeb, Assistant Professor of American Literature, Islamic University of Gaza (IUG)
• Mona El-Farra, Vice President and Health Chair of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society
• Ramy Abdu PhD, Chairman of the Euro-mid Observer
• Abdullah Alsaafin, Palestinian Writer/journalist
• Ali Alnazli, Businessman
• Adel Awadallah, Head of the Scientific Research Council
• Hanine Hassan, Graduate Research Assistant
• Sheren Awad, Journalist
• Yahia Al-Sarraj, Associate Professor of Transportation, IUG
• Tawfik Abu Shomar, Writer and political analyst
• Hasan Owda, Businessman
• Ibrahim AlYazji, Businessman
• Walid Al Husari, Chair, Gaza Chamber of Commerce
• Nael Almasri, Dentist
• Wael El-Mabhouh, Political researcher
• Rami Jundi, Political researcher
• Ashraf Mashharawi, Filmmaker
• Mohammad Alsawaf, Journalist
• Hasan Abdo, Writer and political analyst
• Kamal El Shaer, Political researcher
• Omar Ferwana, Dean of Medicine Faculty, IUG
• Iyad I. Al-Qarra, Journalist, Palestine newspaper
• Musheir El-Farra, Palestinian activist and author
• Khalil Namrouti, Associate Professor in Economics, IUG
• Moein Rajab, Professor in Economics, Al-Azhar University - Gaza
• Basil Nasser, Planning advisor
• Hani Albasoos, Associate Professor in Political Science, IUG
• Arafat Hilles, Assistant Professor, Al-Quds Open University
• Imad Falouji, Head of Adam Center for Dialogue of Civilizations
• Moin Naim, Writer and political analyst
• Yousri Alghoul, Author
• Mohammad Jayyab, Editor of Gaza Journal of Economics
• Mousa Lubbad, Lecturer in Finance, Al-Aqsa University
• Iskandar Nashwan, Assistant Professor in Accounting, Al-Aqsa University
• Shadi AlBarqouni, Graduate Research Assistant
• Adnan Abu Amer, Head of Political Department, Al-Umma University
• Wael Al Sarraj, Assistant Professor in Computer Science, IUG
• Said Namrouti, Lecturer in Human Resource Management, IUG
• Khaled Al-Hallaq, Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering, IUG
• Asad Asad, Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, IUG
• Hazem Alhusari, Lecturer in Finance, Al-Aqsa University
• Shadi AlBarqouni, Graduate Research Assistant
• Deya’a Kahlout, Journalist, Al-Araby newspaper
• Raed Salha, Assistant Professor in Geography, IUG
• Sameeh Alhadad, Businessman
• Tarek M. Eslim, CEO, Altariq Systems and Projects
• Sami Almalfouh PhD, Senior engineer
• Fayed Abushammalah, Journalist
• Fadel Naeim, Chairman of Palestine Physicians Syndicate
• Zeyad Al-Sahhar, Associate Professor in Physics , Al-Aqsa University
• Iyad Abu Hjayer, Director, Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution
• Wael Al-Daya, Associate Professor in Finance, IUG
• Younis Eljarou, Head of the Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip
• Donia ElAmal Ismail, Head of the Creative Women Association
• Zeinab Alghonemi, Head of Women for Legal Consulting Association
• Amjad AlShawa, Palestinian Nongovernmental Organizations Network (PNGO)
• Mohsen Abo Ramadan, Head of Palestinian Nongovernmental Organziations Network (PNGO)
• Abed Alhameed Mortaja, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, IUG
• Talal Abo Shawesh , Head of Afaq Jadeeda Association
• Zohair Barzaq, Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip
• Marwan Alsabh, Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip
• Ghassan Matar, Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip
• Rania Lozon, Writer
• Ashraf Saqer, IT Specialist
• Samir AlMishal, Mishal Cultural Centre
• Jamila Sarhan, Independant Commission for Human Rights
• Jalal Arafat, Union of Agricultrual Work Committees
• Khalil Abu Shammala, Aldameer Association for Human Rights
• Jamila Dalloul, Association Head of Jothor ElZaiton
• Maha Abo Zour, Psychologist
• Psychologist Ferdous Alkatari
• Yousef Awadallah, Health Work Committee
• Yousef Alswaiti, Al-Awda Hospital Director
• Taysir Alsoltan, Head of Health Work Committees
• Taghreed Jomaa, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees
• Imad Ifranji, Journalist, Alquds TV
• Jehal Alaklouk, Activist
• Adel Alborbar, Boycott Committee
• Hatem AbuShaban, Board of Trustees of Al-Azhar University - Gaza
• Saleh Zaqout, Secretary of the Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip
• Mohammed Alsaqqa, Lawyer
• Nihad Alsheikh Khalil, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, IUG
• Mohsen Alafranji, Lecturer at Media Department, IUG
• Nedal Farid, Dean of Business Faculty, Al-Aqsa University
• Salem Helles, Dean of Commerce Faculty, IUG
• Ahmad Ali PhD, Economic Analysis
• Raed M. Zourob PhD, Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health
• Mosheer Amer, Professor of Lingusitics, IUG
• Moheeb Abu Alqumboz, Lecturer
• Fatma Mukhalalati, Supreme Court judge
• Fahmi Alnajjar, Supreme Court judge

From Electronic Intifada 

WAC-MAAN calls out: Stop the third war on Gaza in five years!

By Wac-Maan – July 12, 2014

The Independent Trade Union Centre WAC-MAAN, unionizing Arabs and Jews in Israel, calls on the Israeli government to stop the attack on Gaza. The only livable alternative is a political settlement based on a two-state solution.

WAC MAAN calls on trade unions and peace supporters all over the world to initiate activities and pressure their governments to demand an end to Israel’s war against the Palestinian people.


The military escalation in Gaza, where civilians are being killed and homes destroyed, while rockets from Hamas confound the lives of Israelis, is a direct result of the swaggering anti-peace policy carried out by the Netanyahu-Bennett-Lieberman government. The attempt to obtain a Palestinian surrender by bombing civilian targets is criminal, reckless, and pregnant with disaster. This is the third such round in five years, and it is already clear that when it is done, the two sides will return to precisely the same point as in December 2008-January 2009 and November 2012. The Palestinian side has again endured destruction of buildings and infrastructure, with more than a hundred dead and thousands wounded so far, while millions of Israeli civilians are exposed to rockets.

WAC-MAAN, which unionizes thousands of Arabs and Jews in Israel, calls for an immediate cease fire and the resumption of peace talks, based on an Israeli withdrawal to the lines of 1967 and the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

It was the Netanyahu government that broke the US-sponsored framework of negotiations and started a wave of settlement building. Then it came out against the Fatah-Hamas unity government—a step that amounted to blatant interference in an internal Palestinian issue. The diplomatic stalemate, and the failure to fulfill the promised fourth stage of the Palestinian prisoner release, formed the background to the kidnapping of three Israeli youths. In response, Netanyahu proclaimed an all-out war against Hamas, hence against the Palestinian unity government.

The next step occurred when Netanyahu’s extremist position, along with calls for vengeance on the part of some cabinet ministers, incited rightwing Israeli extremists to kidnap a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, and burn him alive. When the government sought to sidestep any responsibility for this horror, the Palestinian street exploded. Protesters took to the streets in Jerusalem and the Arab cities of Israel.

The present escalation, which includes Israel’s bombardments of Gaza and the launching by Hamas and others of primitive rockets against civilian targets in Israel, has sparked initiatives from the international community for a cease fire and a return to negotiations. Yet Netanyahu insolently repeats that he has no intention of initiating a cease fire, rather he’ll go on raising the ante until the Palestinians produce a white flag. To this end the Israeli army has introduced a new tactic: bombing the homes of Hamas activists. By any account that is a war crime, and it has caused more than 100 casualties in the first four days of fighting. Most of the victims are civilians, many of them children.

Amid the attacks, we must not forget the events that led to the war. After the kidnapping of its youths, the Israeli government launched an all-out offensive against Hamas in the West Bank, broke its agreements by re-arresting more than fifty Hamas members who had been freed in the Shalit deal of 2011, and did all it could to foil the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation. Netanyahu, in short, dragged Hamas into a showdown. Given these provocations, Israel’s government bears the ultimate responsibility for every drop of blood that has been and will be shed in the present war.

WAC-MAAN joins many others, both here and abroad, in calling on both sides to reach a cease fire. The only livable alternative is a political arrangement, the principles of which are embedded in the long-existing UN resolutions and concurred in by the entire international community.
Those paying the price of the present war are the workers on both sides. We call on trade unions and peace supporters all over the world to initiate activities and pressure their governments to demand an end to Israel’s war against the Palestinian people.

No to a war aimed at perpetuating the Occupation! Yes to peace talks on the basis of the two-state solution!

For more information on WAC-MAAN see:
Our web site in English, Arabic & Hebrew:
www.wac-maan.org.il
E-mail: assafa@maan.org.il \ roni@hanitzoz.org.il
Phone +972-50-4330034

From WAC-MAAN

Joint EPSU / PSI Statement: Israel/Palestine: An immediate long-lasting ceasefire and return to negotiations

Israel/Palestine: An immediate long-lasting ceasefire and return to negotiations

July 16, 2014

Photo: Gigi Ibrahim

Joint EPSU / PSI Statement

EPSU and PSI echo the call of the UN Security Council as the number of killed civilians grows

EPSU and PSI call on the Israeli government and Palestinian parties in Gaza to immediately cease fire and prevent further escalation of the conflict which has already killed 1 Israeli and 200 Palestinians (at 16th July) including women and children and lead to numerous people being injured, homes being demolished and many fleeing to escape the violence.

The rocket attacks of Hamas and bombs of the Israeli army threaten people, homes and workplaces. We echo the call of the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon for a ceasefire as demanded by the UN Security Council last Saturday (12 July).

EPSU and PSI are particularly concerned about reports from the Gaza area telling of hospitals and emergency services being stretched out, unable to cope with the high number of casualties. The fighting takes a high toll on health workers and other first responders, who risk their lives to save people.

The European Union, UN Security Council and international community must step up their efforts to ensure a ceasefire. We ask them to ensure that negotiations are held between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority to reach a lasting comprehensive peace agreement based on the two-state solution. We reiterate PSI’s call for:
a democratic, inclusive and non-sectarian approach that can provide a lasting peace to the conflict, and this is conditional on the dismantling of all oppressive instruments, including legislative, military, political, social, economic and political barriers.

At the very least this must involve:

• Recognising the fundamental rights of the Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality;
• Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties;
• An immediate end to Israel’s illegal settlements, and blockade on Gaza.

Jan Willem Goudriaan             Rosa Pavanelli
EPSU General Secretary         PSI General Secretary

From PSI

9 juli 2014: Oproep 10 jaar na uitspraak Internationaal Gerechtshof te Den Haag over 'de Muur'

10 Years after the Court ruling against the Wall: Legal experts call for international action

On 10th Anniversary of Historic ruling against Israel’s Wall, Israel bombs Gaza: at the UN, 86 top legal experts urge UN and third-state action, protests continue in Palestine, worldwide events to stop Israeli impunity.

 

Zie voorts Stop the Wall over bepleite acties. Goed te weten dat AbvaKabo FNV op dat vlak van acties al actief is evenals ondermeer de PSI (Public Services International).

Mekorot en andere grote bedrijven berecht in Geneve, 27-6-2014

Mekorot and other corporate giants go on on trial for human rights abuses in Geneva

Eight transnational corporations (TNC), including the Israeli national wate rcompany Mekoort, have gone on trial on Monday in Geneva for the human rights violations they have committed around the world.
The cases have been heard in a special session of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) organised by the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power & Stop Impunity at the Maison des Associations between 9 am and 6 pm. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) and the Stop the Wall Campaign have supported a Week of Mobilization in Geneva, which included the People’s Permanent Tribunal and was organized by dozens of international networks.

More www.stopthewall.org

Trouw 8-7-2014: De illegale muur van Israël zegt veel over ons, Dries van Agt

opinie DRIES VAN AGT   

De scheidingsmuur op de Westelijke Jordaanoever is al tien jaar illegaal. Maar wat is dat waard als we daar niks tegen doen, vraagt Dries van Agt, oud-premier, zich af.

Morgen is het tien jaar geleden dat het Internationaal Gerechtshof in Den Haag zich uitsprak over de rechtmatigheid van Israëls scheidingsmuur op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. In zijn uitspraak concludeerde 's werelds hoogste rechter dat de bouw van de muur op bezet Palestijns gebied een ernstige en meervoudige schending is van het internationaal recht.

Lees verder in Trouw

Unite, grootste Britse vakbond, versterkt steun voor Palestijnse rechten en de BDS-campagne

Britain’s largest union, Unite, votes to support Palestinian rights and strengthen BDS campaigning

July 4, 2014

On 1 July, Unite the Union passed policy noting that ‘the Israeli government continues to govern as an apartheid state and is guilty of the crime of apartheid. The oppression faced by ordinary Palestinians at the hands of their colonial oppressors and the way in which their plight is used as a political bargaining chip cannot be allowed to continue’. It welcomed the reports Unite delegations to Palestine, organised by PSC, which are helping to strengthen Unite’s solidarity with Palestinian workers and civil society.  The policy calls for the Executive Committee to campaign for a free and independent Palestine, and to ‘develop a Unite campaigning and leverage strategy around BDS within the next 12 months.’

Unite is Britain’s largest union with 1.42 million workers.

A motion calling for ‘engaging with the Israeli Histadrut’ was overwhelmingly defeated, and a motion of support with Palestinians in Yarmouk refugee camp passed with an overwhelming majority.

Mohammed Taj, the President of TUC, and a member of Unite the Union, said: ‘I am very proud that my union once more took a strong position to support the Palestinian people at our policy conference. Unite the Union and the rest of the trade union movement needs to stand up in solidarity with Palestinian workers and their families living under the Israeli siege and occupation.’

Charlotte Upton, from Unite the Union North East, who spoke for the motion, said: ‘I am really proud of UNITE the Union’s commitment to work with Palestine Solidarity Campaign to continuing to further support the BDS movement and campaign against the illegal Israeli occupation and apartheid.’

Jim Kelly, from Unite the Union London and Eastern Region, said: ‘The first thing UNITE needs to do, following the resolutions just passed, is to respond and condemn Netanyahu’s cynical exploitation of the deaths of the 3 teenagers to push his agenda of ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank. The trade union movement must raise its voice in opposition to these murderous military attacks on the Palestinians and the campaign of collective punishment.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign Chair Hugh Lanning said: ‘PSC welcomes Unite’s strong support for Palestinian rights, freedom and justice. We are seeing a tremendous surge in solidarity, which is desperately needed given the horrific situation facing Palestinians. The day after the vote at the TUC, 17-year old Mohammad Abu Khdair was abducted, and his body was found burned in Jerusalem. His murder wasn’t an isolated case. Mohammed was the latest victim of the ongoing and brutal violence of Israel’s occupation. Unite has a strong track record of principled support for international law and justice, and opposition to racism and apartheid. Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be working with Unite, and other trade unions, to build solidarity and support, and to campaign for a Free Palestine’.

Motion passed at Unite conference 2014

F. Global Solidarity & Peace  (ii) Israel and Palestine

Conference notes that the Israeli government continues to govern as an apartheid state and is guilty of the crime of apartheid. The oppression faced by ordinary Palestinians at the hands of their colonial oppressors and the way in which their plight is used as a political bargaining chip cannot be allowed to continue as it has done for so many decades. Israel continues to build colonies (settlements) ignoring international law and all world opinion. The Israeli state carries out crimes of persecution against the Palestinian people on a daily basis without any fear of being held to account or punished.

The Israel military continues to arrest, detain and torture Palestinian children (aged 12 to 17 years) in contravention of international law and human rights treaties yet the world’s power brokers choose to ignore International law and basic human rights when it comes to the Palestinians, choosing instead to support of the colonisers Israel.  Conference believes this is part of a deliberate policy to criminalise and intimidate the general Palestinian population.

Conference notes the continuing state sponsored policy of ethnic cleansing and apartheid, inside the West Bank, in Jerusalem and in Israel and the systematic undermining of any viable Palestinian state by increased expansion of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land, despite widespread international condemnation.

Conference welcomes the reports from the two Unite delegations to Palestine in 2013, organised by PSC, which are helping to strengthen Unite’s solidarity with Palestinian workers and civil society. Conference notes the work done so far by Unite and its members in supporting the cause of Palestine liberation both at a regional, national and international level. The time has now come to stop the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and for Unite to take a lead in taking bolder steps like those that were taken against the South African apartheid regime.

Conference restates its commitment to existing policy on Palestine and the active involvement of the Union in ending the Israeli occupation.

Conference believes:

Israel is continually and systematically acting in defiance of international law, with its on-going illegal occupation of Palestinian territories

The siege on Gaza, which imprisons 1.6 million Palestinians in horrific conditions, must be lifted. The Palestinian people trapped in Gaza must be able to travel and interact freely with neighbouring states.

Conference instructs the Executive Council to:

Raise awareness, build support, campaign and lobby for a free and independent Palestine;

Highlight the suffering, and support the Palestinian population in Gaza living under siege; Palestinians living in the West Bank who are seeing their land illegally seized by Israeli settlements and are forced to navigate checkpoints to go to work, school and hospital; and in Israel, where they are treated as second class citizens and subject to racist laws;

Work with other NGOs and all other supportive bodies in the UK and around the world and develop a Unite campaigning and leverage strategy around BDS within the next 12 months. Notably against complicit companies involved in the occupation, the apartheid wall and the illegal  settlements (such as Veolia, G4S and Sainsbury’s) through workforce pressure, contracts and pension funds; and encourage members to call on supermarkets and retailers to stop using companies which export goods from illegal settlements;

Continue to support and offer practical help to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and encourage all branches to affiliate to PSC. Encourage branches and regions to send representatives on delegations to Palestine, to further strengthen the solidarity with Palestinian workers;

Organise and facilitate with other union bodies and campaigning groups, a national speaking tour to include lawyers and child prisoners/families in the next 12 months;

Raise the issue and table motions for support of the BDS campaign in the European and Global Federations;

Organise and facilitate national or regional delegations to be sent to Palestine at least twice a year;

Establish the issue as a standing item on the agenda of the EC and all other constitutional committee;

Deliver a full report to the 2016 policy conference on the activities of the union.
- See more at: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/britains-largest-union-unite-votes-strengthen-work-boycott-divestment-sanctions/#sthash.jfrqPitU.dpuf