U.S. Industrial Union Becomes 'First' National Labor Group to Support BDS

[Israeli]

The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America votes in favor of boycotting Israel, supporting Iran deal.

Haaretz Aug 30, 2015 6:19 AM

One of the largest industrial unions in the U.S. voted to endorse the goals of the worldwide boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) movement against Israel, citing "its long history of violating the human rights of the Palestinians," thus purportedly becoming the first nationwide union to do so.

The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers' national convention met in Baltimore last week and voted on a string of foreign and as well as domestic policy issues, including the call to boycott Israel and support the nuclear deal with Iran.

According to a statement on the UE's website, the union voted in favor of the "Justice and Peace for the Peoples of Palestine and Israel", and cited Israel’s sordid human rights record: "starting with the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians in 1947-48 that turned most of Palestine into the State of Israel."

The move's goal, the union said, was "to pressure Israel to end its apartheid over the Palestinians just as similar tactics helped to end South African apartheid in the 1980s." The union further called for the U.S. aid to Israel to be cut off and expressed support for "the right to return".
The union also voted on a number of other foreign policy issues, including the demand to end U.S. military intervention in the Middle East and other regions.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.673550

[Little Tich]

1. Do you know if the call for BDS is for all of Israel or just the occupation and the settlements?

I tried to check the link to their website (http://www.ueunion.org/ue-news/2015/convention-wraps-up-with-resolutions-on-peace-safety-civil-liberties-and-worker-rights), but it didn't enlighten me on the issue. I'm not to happy about the settlements, and I don't buy settler produce, but I have no problem with Israel.

Anyways, it's good to see that this issue is gaining mainstream interest.

[Israeli]

2. I have no idea ....

.....only what I read on Haaretz .

Perhaps one of the Americans can enlighten us .

I belong to Gush Shalom Little Tich......we were the first to boycott settlement products way back in the 1990's .

I agree with you wholeheartedly .

see : .......

'The boycott of the settlements and their products is not simply an issue of the foreign relations of the State of Israel and its deteriorating standing in the international community. This is also and especially an internal Israeli issue, touching directly on the future of Israel and on the debate which is cutting Israeli society down the middle for the past forty seven years " says former Knesset Member Uri Avnery." A major part of the Israeli public is completely opposed to the settlement project, regarding it as a moral stain and a political disaster which perpetuates the oppression of the Palestinians and blocks Israeli citizens from achieving peace with their neighbors. It is the full right of those who oppose the settlements to express their strong objection by any democratic means, including and especially a boycott campaign.

https://www.facebook.com/GushShalom/posts/709853255717681

[oberliner]

5. Do you support the BDS movement?

Just curious.

[Israeli]

8. I support the boycott .....

.....of produce from the settlements oberliner .....I thought that was perfectly clear from my response to Little Tich above.

There are many of us who do so .

Here is a list if you are interested in joining us :
http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/boycott-list-products-settlements

Here read this to :

Boycott = anti-Semitism? Some Israelis Avoid Settlement Products Too

There are no official figures, but probably thousands of Israeli consumers check the labels before they buy.

Long before Scarlett Johansson came under international fire for promoting the West Bank SodaStream factory, these Israelis were getting their seltzer elsewhere.

And long before world Jewish leaders pronounced the international boycott movement anti-Semitism in its latest manifestation , these Israelis steered clear of products sold by Jewish-owned businesses located beyond the country’s internationally recognized borders.

It’s hard to know their exact numbers, but they are boycotters too, many for as long as they can remember: These Israelis do not, as a matter of principle, buy goods or produce from Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

Vardit Shalfy, a theater director from Tel Aviv, not only checks every label carefully when she does her own supermarket shopping, but she also makes a point of alerting other customers who might not be aware that what they’re throwing into their carts was made in contested territory. “I’m absolutely shameless about it,” she acknowledges, “and very often, I get people to return products to the shelves. They simply didn’t know until I told them that what they were about to buy was made in the settlements and that by buying it they are supporting the occupation. Once, a woman almost smacked me, but more often than not, people listen.”

If she’s invited to an event where food is being served, says Shalfy, she has no qualms about calling over the chef to ascertain where exactly the ingredients in each dish came from. At the home of an acquaintance, she recounts, she once noticed her daughter innocently take a bite out of a cookie made by a factory in the East Jerusalem industrial park of Atarot. “I pulled it out of her mouth and reminded her that we don’t eat such things,” she says.

Netta Hazan, a facilitator for interfaith groups who lives in Jerusalem, admits she doesn’t take things that far. “I’m not going to lie and say that I check every label, and it’s not that I never drank something made with SodaStream, but if I know something’s made in a Jewish settlement, I won’t buy it,” she says. “On the other hand, I do make a point of buying things in Bethlehem in order to support the Palestinian economy.”

In 2006, Gush Shalom, the peace activist group headed by Uri Avnery, published a list of several hundred products made in areas beyond the Green Line. The list, comprised of many food products, also includes businesses operating in the Golan Heights. Among the best-known names on the list, aside from SodaStream, are the Ahava skin-care products manufacturer and the Golan Wineries.

In July 2011 the Knesset passed the so-called “anti-boycott law,” which penalizes persons or organizations who call for a boycott of Israel or the settlements. A group of human rights and minority rights organizations, including Gush Shalom, petitioned the High Court of Justice saying it was unconstitutional, and a first hearing in the case was held last week.
After the law was passed, Gush Shalom, concerned that it might be sued for heavy damages under the law, removed the list from its website. But that same list is being hosted today on the website of the Israeli social-democratic movement.

Adam Keller, the spokesman of Gush Shalom, estimates that “tens of thousands” of Israelis who oppose the occupation boycott products from the settlements. “I’m basing that on the number of people who downloaded the list from our site when it was still up and the number who’ve signed up to receive our pamphlets,” he says. Two prominent cases of Israeli companies that moved their factories “back home,” as he puts it, in response to pressure from the boycotters are the Barkan wine producer and the Bagel Bagel pretzel maker.

Although Gush Shalom wholeheartedly supports the boycott of products made in the settlements, Keller notes, it does not support the BDS movement and its call to boycott Israel as a whole. The organization’s boycott initiative, he says, was prompted by a desire to make the public aware that being a peace activist is not only about attending demonstrations. “You can also help promote peace through your consumer decisions.”

After the anti-boycott law was passed, Israeli left-wing organizations that support a boycott of settlement products were certain they’d be sued left and right, says Keller. But it never happened. “To date, there has not even been one lawsuit filed,” he notes.
Longtime peace activist Naftali Raz, who heads the social-democratic movement Massad, believes the other side feared testing the constitutionality of the law. “My speculation is that they went to lawyers who told them they would be idiots to bring this to court,” he says.

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.575929

[oberliner]

9. That's not what I asked

Last edited Sun Aug 30, 2015, 10:55 AM - Edit history (1)

I know that you support boycotting products from the settlements - that's why I didn't ask about that.

I asked if you supported the worldwide BDS movement.

This organization:

http://bdsmovement.net

"Boycotts target products and companies (Israeli and international) that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights, as well as Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions. Anyone can boycott Israeli goods, simply by making sure that they don’t buy produce made in Israel or by Israeli companies. Campaigners and groups call on consumers not to buy Israeli goods and on businesses not to buy or sell them.

Israeli cultural and academic institutions directly contribute to maintaining, defending or whitewashing the oppression of Palestinians, as Israel deliberately tries to boost its image internationally through academic and cultural collaborations. As part of the boycott, academics, artists and consumers are campaigning against such collaboration and ‘rebranding’. A growing number of artists have refused to exhibit or play in Israel.

Divestment means targeting corporations complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights and ensuring that the likes of university investment portfolios and pension funds are not used to finance such companies. These efforts raise awareness about the reality of Israel’s policies and encourage companies to use their economic influence to pressure Israel to end its systematic denial of Palestinian rights.

Sanctions are an essential part of demonstrating disapproval for a country’s actions. Israel’s membership of various diplomatic and economic forums provides both an unmerited veneer of respectability and material support for its crimes. By calling for sanctions against Israel, campaigners educate society about violations of international law and seek to end the complicity of other nations in these violations."

Would you call yourself a supporter of that organization and/or those actions?

[Israeli]

11. something wrong with your reading capabilities ????

I already answered you ....read it again ....I even bolded it for you

[oberliner]

14. Wow - that was kind of rude

I always try to be courteous and respectful - I would encourage you to do the same.

So you do not support the worldwide BDS movement?

Can you just explicitly say yes or no for those of us with poor reading comprehension skills?

[King_David]

19. Was extremely rude

There's an attitude

[Israeli]

20. We are well known for our " attitude " KD .....

Gush Shalom (Translated from Hebrew, the name means "The Peace Bloc&quot is the hard core of the Israeli peace movement.

Often described as "resolute", "militant", "radical" or "consistent", it is known for its unwavering stand in times of crisis, such as the al-Aksa intifada.

For years now, Gush Shalom has played a leading role in determining the moral and political agenda of the peace forces in Israel, as well as in breaking the so-called "national consensus" based on misinformation....

Gush Shalom is an extra-parliamentary organization, independent of any party or other political grouping. Some of its activists do belong to political parties, but the Gush is not aligned to any particular party.

Aims:

The primary aim of Gush Shalom is to influence Israeli public opinion and lead it towards peace and conciliation with the Palestinian people, based on the following principles:
Putting an end to the occupation,
Accepting the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent and sovereign State of Palestine in all the territories occupied by Israel in 1967,.........

Continued @ http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/about/general_info/

[King_David]

24. Thanks for the explanation

Appreciated as usual.

[leftynyc]

30. So you DON'T SUPPORT

the bds movement as it goes much further than what you claim to support. That's all you had to say rather than be extremely rude to a poster that goes out of his/her way to always be polite. And for the record, I do not support bds - they've proven to be nothing but antisemites who are also anti gay.

[leftynyc]

25. Deleted - posted in wrong place

[oberliner]

28. Did you mean this as a response to me?

If so, I am confused.

[leftynyc]

29. Oy - no, I didn't

I got an hours sleep last night. It was to the person being repulsively rude.

[oberliner]

4. Are you kidding?

Do you not understand what the worldwide BDS movement is?

http://www.bdsmovement.net

Incidentally, why not read the actual resolution if you want to be enlightened about what it says?

It's disgusting that anyone could support this garbage.

[Little Tich]

6. Have you read the resolution or are you just imagining you read it?

Neither the OP nor the link it provided gives any clue to the extent of the BDS, nor does it shed any light on whether the BDS movement is involved. If you actually know something more than me about this, pray tell...

[oberliner]

7. Yes, I have

But my question to you is how you can speak about the BDS movement if you don't acknowledge what it is?

The worldwide BDS movement is a specific movement with specific tactics and specific goals. I've provided you with the link to their website on more than one occasion.

The resolution refers to this particular movement and this particular organization.

To wit (excerpted from the resolution):

"In July 2005 Palestinian trade unions and hundreds of Palestinian civil society organizations called for a worldwide campaign of boycotts to pressure Israel to end its apartheid over the Palestinians. This has developed into a global movement called Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanctions. BDS was modeled after the 1980s international solidarity campaign that put economic pressure on South Africa’s government which helped end apartheid.

The summer 2014 Israeli attack on Gaza increased worldwide support for BDS. UE Local 150 endorsed BDS. The largest union in Britain, UNITE, endorsed BDS in July 2014. UAW Local 2865, which represents 13,000 graduate employees of the University of California, also endorsed BDS last year. COSATU, the Congress of South African Trade Unions that helped defeat apartheid in that country, is a strong backer of BDS. Many progressive Jewish organizations and individuals, in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere actively support BDS as a way to bring about peace and justice for the people of Israel and Palestine."

Here's how the resolution characterizes the conflict:

"The source of the conflict goes back to the origins of the State of Israel. The population was overwhelmingly Palestinian Arab (Muslim and Christian) before 1947-48, when well-armed Zionist militias seized most of the territory of Palestine and expelled 750,000 people from their cities, villages and farms. They executed much of the Palestinian leadership and declared the founding of the State of Israel. As a result millions of Palestinians are refugees both in the occupied territories and in other countries. Israel prohibits their return to their homes."

That's a really non-baised, reasonable and nuanced description of what happened.

They really ought to be ashamed of themselves, but I guess people prefer a black and white world and being able to cling to their mythology (many pro-Israel folks, of course, do the same thing).

But regardless of whether or not you agree with this resolution, at least acknowledge that the worldwide BDS movement actually is a real organization with specific goals instead of feigning ignorance or pretending that it can be whatever you want it to be.

[Little Tich]

12. Link, please... n/t

[oberliner]

13. Not really crazy about giving this website (USACBI) more traffic, but here ya go

But only because you are so friendly and respectful when we disagree.

http://www.usacbi.org/2015/08/ue-becomes-first-national-u-s-union-to-endorse-bds/

[Little Tich]

17. They sure seem to be endorsing the BDS movement...

UE Becomes First National U.S. Union to Endorse BDS
Source: US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Under heading: JUSTICE AND PEACE FOR THE PEOPLES OF PALESTINE AND ISRAEL – UE Convention Resolution
(snip)

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 74th UE CONVENTION:
1. Calls on Congress and the Administration to end all U.S. military aid to Israel; and to pressure Israel to end the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the siege of Gaza and negotiate a peace agreement on the basis of equality, democracy, and human rights for the Palestinian and Israeli people, including Palestinian self determination and the right of return for refugees.

2. Endorses the BDS movement and urges the union at all levels to become engaged in BDS and the movement for peace, justice and equality between the Palestinians and Israelis.

(end snip)

Read more: http://www.usacbi.org/2015/08/ue-becomes-first-national-u-s-union-to-endorse-bds/

I'm not sure what #2 means, but it seems as if an extreme stance is taken, or at least supported. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for them to try to defend their position in the future.

And yes, I disagree with their position.

[oberliner]

18. Heres my take on the subject

Personally, I don't believe in boycotts. The reason being, if you really looked into the products you were buying and how they were made, you could probably find reasons why you shouldn't buy almost any product (most clothing, for example).

I do understand people who say they will not buy products made by Israel in the OT, because they want to make a statement in opposition to the occupation. What I don't understand is the BDS movement and how anyone could possibly think it's a good idea to, for example, disrupt a student dance troupe from Israel performing at a festival, and so forth.

I find the BDS movement to be absolutely odious.

I think there are good and reasonable people who are very strongly opposed to the actions of the Israeli government especially with respect to the OTs who end up becoming aligned with the BDS movement because of the aggressive and disingenuous tactics of some of the more fervent supporters and leaders of said movement.

Edit to Add: This is part of why I go out of my way to try to call BS on those maps that are posted all the time, for example. Just as others go out of their way to try to call BS on some of the propaganda put out by some ostensibly pro-Israel groups.

[Israeli]

10. Read this Little Tich..........

I think it was the point you were trying to make on another thread recently .

http://972mag.com/israels-war-on-bds-misses-the-point/107343/

They get all caught up in certain aspects of boycotts but forget that the central problem facing Israel is the occupation.......end the occupation and the boycotts will end .

[Little Tich]

15. Yup, the article is spot on.

It's pretty disingenious to classify a desire to avoid dealing with the settlements or aiding the occupation as BDS of all things Israel (or Jewish). Unfortunately, some political inclinations thrive on conjuring up the idea that Israel stands alone, while it's the settlements that should stand alone.

[Israeli]

21. The settlements have never stood alone Little Tich.....

....and they never will .

No Israeli Gov will make a move against the settlers , they are too powerful now .
The chance was lost when they assassinated Rabin .

Only international pressure can bring about change .
When the average Israeli realises that the price of the occupation is too high ....then they will vote against them and not before .

[Little Tich]

22. BDS could be gone tomorrow if only Israel wants it.

After all, if the settlements were removed tomorrow and the occupation with them, there's no reason for BDS, and it would just go away by itself. I think that some in this forum oppose BDS as a service to the settlements, and not because they're pro-Israel. I know that's quite a smear, and maybe it's not true, but that's definitely a feeling I get.

[Israeli]

31. That was my point in ....

post # 10 ......

" They get all caught up in certain aspects of boycotts but forget that the central problem facing Israel is the occupation.......end the occupation and the boycotts will end . "

Its not just the settlements tho Little Tich......some kind of agreement can be reached ...land swaps , compensation to settlers etc etc ....the biggest hurdle to peace is Jerusalem .
Always has been .

[shira]

23. The average Israeli will not vote to end the occupation when Hamas...

...is on the other side of the green line waiting to shoot mortars & rockets across the street into Israeli homes and schools.

So long as you ignore the security issue, and YES it's very real, the goal of ending the occupation via boycotts will remain elusive.

You're spinning your wheels & either you can't see that or do not want to see it.

[shira]

16. Difference between the peace camp and the boycott camp....

One promotes peace & an end of conflict - which would include the end of occupation......while the other promotes the end of occupation (if it results in war, who cares).

Do we agree on that?

[oberliner]

3. At the same time they want the US to lift sanctions on Venezuela

We encourage UE members to contact the White House at whitehouse.gov/contact, where you can leave a written message or phone the number provided to leave a comment. You can send the president a message along these lines: “I urge you to remove the sanctions against Venezuela, which is no threat to the United States, but a democratic country whose people have the right to determine their own future.”

http://www.ueunion.org/political-action/2015/venezuela’s-democracy-is-not-a-threat-ue-officers-statement-on-us-sanctions

[leftynyc]

26. In other words

they're pathetically useless and toothless. Understood.

[azurnoir]

27. good for them