Ah yes, they’re only Jews after all. Who cares if they’re murdered.

If Histadrut wants to be treated as a trade union like any other, it needs to stop acting as a cheerleader for the Israeli government’s violations of international law and human rights

John Sweeney, President, American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America, William Lucy, President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and 41 other American senior trade union leaders

Trade unionists and their organisations seeking [a two-state solution] should be assisting those working to bring the two sides together in direct talks and then negotiations. In this regard we call for increased engagement of trade unions with their counterparts on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Avital Shapira-Shabirow, the Director of International Relations in the International Department of the Histadrut, explains the Histadrut’s position.

“Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Since then there has not been a single settlement in Gaza. In response Hamas made ordinary Israelis face the horrific daily fear of being hit by missiles and mortar attacks; this fact can’t just be brushed aside. When Hamas sent over waves of missiles it was part of a plan to demolish the State of Israel. Hamas is a terrorist organisation that does not recognise the existence of the State of Israel.

Furthermore, the Hamas is a dictatorial teror organisation which conducted a military coup in 2007, which constantly tramples human rights, workers rights and represses al trade union activity in the Gaza Strip.

The Histadrut believed that Israel had the right to protect its innocent workers and inhabitants after facing years of violence and terror from Gaza directed at Green Line Israel.

I would ask British trade unionists how they would react after 10 years of facing repeated rocket and mortar attacks on London or Glasgow? I would ask them whether it is legitimate for a state to protect the rights of its citizens. I would ask the British unions to be even-handed and understand the suffering of the Israeli workers. Please understand that the Histadrut only supports the right of Israel to protect itself, as well as calling publicly for the urgent easing of the humanitarian situation of the Gazans.”

That’s not really a reply Alan, but, yes, I accept that Histadrut _independently_ supported the flotilla raid, it _independently_ supported the bombing of Gaza.

Doesn’t that make it more culpable for its positions, not less?

Even the ‘anti-Zionist’ writer Uri Davis argues that ‘the contradiction characterising the Histadrut since its establishment in 1920, the conflict between its interests as the second largest employer in Israel and its trade union interests was now greatly reduced … the Histadrut of today is much “leaner” and closer to a trade union in the social-democratic European sense of the term than its earlier form.’

The whole global trade union movement needs to provide strong support for the PGFTU and to the Histadrut which are both independent trade union organisations which do not speak for their governments. We need to show that practical union cooperation is the right way forward.
– David Cockcroft, International Transport Federation General Secretary, December 2009