http://www.stopthewall.org/
STATEMENT IN OCCASION OF
THE WORKERS’ BOYCOTT CALL
Today, 11th of February 2007, we, the Palestinian labour federations,
vocational and professional trade unions, and the grassroots Palestinian
Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, have convened a press conference to
announce a call for solidarity with our workers and the Palestinian
people endorsed by the General Union of Palestinian Workers, Palestinian
General Federation of Trade Unions, the Coalition of Independent
Democratic Trade Unions and other professional unions.
This call addresses the Arab and International Trade Unions and, in
particular, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the
Arab League, the Arab Labour Organization, the International Labour
Organization, the International Trade Union Confederation, the
Organization of African Trade Union Unity, the Palestinian people and
the international community.
We call upon all the above to:
• Boycott and divest from Israel
• Work towards sanctions upon Israel
Until Israel stops its crimes against our people and implements
international law safeguarding human rights for all.
This call from the Palestinian workers movement is part of our struggle
against the Occupation and for Freedom, Self-determination, the Right of
Return, Social Justice and a Palestinian independent state with its
capital as Jerusalem and to end the racism against our people inside the
Green Line.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Occupation of the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip, and next year will mark 60 years from the Nakba. In
the meanwhile, the Palestinian people still yearn for their right to
live free in their homeland, and 6.8 million refugees scattered all over
the world strive for their right (as enshrined in international law,
including UN resolutions) to return to their homes, villages and cities.
It is imperative to recognize that since its inception, the Histadrut
has supported the Occupation and enacted racist policies against our
workers, denying them their rights. It has kept silent in front of
Israel’s crimes against our people throughout the decades of occupation.
We are thus asking the international trade unions to boycott the
Histadrut to pressure it to guarantee rights for our workers and to
pressure the government to end the occupation and to recognize the full
rights of the Palestinian people.
Since July 2002, the Occupation is creating a new reality on the ground
via construction of the Apartheid Wall. It turns the West Bank into
ghettos, escalates the confiscation and isolation of our lands and water
and increases racist policies against our people, eventually destroying
the dream of a Palestinian state. On top of this, the Occupation
continues with the policies of “targeted assassinations”, home
demolitions, expulsion of non-Jews from Jerusalem and destruction of
homes and historical monuments there, attacks on holy sites, and
destroying our industries and entire economy then exploiting our
workers, starving our people in order to force the Occupation’s projects
upon us so that we will eventually surrender.
Today, we initiate as the Palestinian Labour Movement a Workers’ Call
for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to build upon the United
Palestinian Call for BDS against Israel to the International Community.
This call has been signed by more than 170 Palestinian organizations and
political parties from the West Bank, Gaza and the Diaspora.
We thank and express our gratitude to the movements, unions and
organizations all over the world that in the last two years have taken
up the call for boycott and launched campaigns in their countries. They
challenged the Zionist lobby and have shown steadfastness in the face of
attacks instigated against them.
We thus ask the international trade unions to grant their support to
these initiatives in their countries, to organize their own boycott
campaigns and to coordinate international efforts to effectively
implement boycotts, divestment and sanctions in order to:
1. Stop the crimes committed against our rights, above all occupation
and the expulsion of our people;
2. Tear down the wall of silence built up by the international community
in order to finally shun the crimes of the Occupation;
3. Keep the conscience of the world alive and nurture respect for
international human rights law while promoting its implementation;
4. Reach a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian cause.
Greetings to the Liberation Struggle of our Workers.
Greetings to those around the World Standing in Solidarity
and Struggling for the Palestinian Cause.
Eternal Glory to Martyrs for Freedom Everywhere.
Signatories
General Union of Palestinian workers: Haidar Ibrahim (General Secretary)
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions: Amneh Rimawi / for:
Shaher Sa’ad (Steering committee)
Coalition of Independent Democratic Trade Unions: Muhammad al Arouri
(Coordinator)
General Union of Palestine Labor Vocational Associations: Hassan Sharake
(General Secretary)
Palestinian Farmers Union: Adel Abu Ne’meh (General Secretary)
