Britain’s largest trade union, Unite, has condemned Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and stepped up to join the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The first motion, ‘Israel and Palestine’ condemned the Israeli regime for committing ‘apartheid crimes’ against the Palestinian people and it also condemned Israeli violations of international law such as settlement construction, crimes of persecution against the Palestinian people, and the Israeli militarys detention and torture of Palestinian children. Unite also highlighted Israeli racist laws affecting Palestinian citizens of Israel, such as Palestinians living in Jerusalem and Bedouins from the Negev. The union requested its members, estimated to be over 1.5 million to take bolder steps, such as those that were taken against the South African apartheid regime, in years past, as part of the fight against the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. The union also announced that it would work with others to develop a campaigning and leverage strategy around BDS within the next 12 months, notably against companies complicitly involved with the occupation, the apartheid wall and the illegal settlements, like Veolia, G4S and Sainsburys.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 02:22:09 +0000