The Celtic Tiger is dead and buried and Ireland is going through an economic crisis unprecedented in seriousness in the history of the state. The banks are all bankrupt, unemployment and the budget deficit are soaring and emigration is starting to rise again. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions held a special one-day conference to address these issues today.
Archive for the 'boycotts' Category
“It is with disgust and dismay that I find my name listed as a signer of ‘Boycott Apartheid Israel: Open Letter from US Trade Unionists.’ I demand that my name be removed immediately! Prior to seeing the letter on the Palestine Chronicle website, I had never seen such a letter or engaged in discussions about its content. I find it disrespectful that someone would attach my name to a document and circulate such a document without contact with me, or consent from me.” Leading Black trade unionist Clayola Brown discovers the fetid depths to which the boycotters will sink; more on TULIP.
(Via Gene)
In a comment on my earlier post, David Schraub asks for a link to the SAHRC ruling which found Bongani Masuku guilty of hate speech. A copy of the ruling is pasted below.
“The first thing to say is that Israel was not what I expected, at all. ” “There was a discussion about the boycott and it is clear that Palestinians don’t want it – all they want is equal pay and a living. ” Just a flavor of what you’ll read on this remarkable blog - thanks to the redoubtable TULIP and Engage for highlighting it.
News from Britain’s Trades Union Congress (TUC): its annual conference is urging the British government to “a) condemn the Israeli military aggression and the continuing blockade of Gaza; (b) end arms sales to Israel which reached a value of £18.8 million in 2008, up from £7.7 million in 2007; (c) seek EU agreement to impose a ban on the importing of goods produced in the illegal settlements; and (d) support moves to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement which provides preferential trade facilities to Israel.”
Writing in The National Post, Charles Lewis pours scorn upon the group of artists and writers who have called on the Toronto Film Festival to cancel the showing of ten films about Tel Aviv, in order to avoid complicity with “the Israeli propaganda machine.”
Remember this ghastly business which brought shame on the Edinburgh International Film Festival? Well, the equivalent festival in Melbourne, Australia won’t be intimidated by Ken “Antisemitism is Understandable” Loach. Responding to a demand from Loach that the festival refuse Israeli funding, festival director Richard Moore said: “I wouldn’t do it. The festival wouldn’t. It’s like submitting to blackmail.” Well said.
Read the story here.
“The Zionists bareley (sic) showed up,” crowed one pro-boycott activist attending the University and College Union’s annual Congress in the British seaside town of Bournemouth. I won’t comment here - go instead to our friends at Engage who continue to expose the stench of antisemitism in this corner of British academia.
Arieh Kovler of the Fair Play Campaign Group is attending the 2009 UCU Congress. He takes up the story.
BRICUP, the British organisation behind the boycott of Israeli academics, held a fringe meeting at UCU Congress yesterday in Bournemouth.
UPDATE: Vildechaye provides the following clarification at Harry’s Place - third comment down
When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was “Tintin in Tibet”, a rollicking tale of how the tufted one treks through the Himalayas in order to rescue his pal Chang, the sole survivor of a plane crash. Published in 1959, the same year that Chinese forces crushed the Tibetan uprising, the book was not just a breathtaking introduction to the perils of mountaineering. It was instrumental in establishing an emotional bond between western readers and the Tibetan people. Indeed, the Dalai Lama recognized as much when he gave the book an award three years ago.
Leading figures in the Dutch Labor Party - the second-largest party in The Netherlands - want to impose sanctions against Israel if, as Ha’aretz puts it, “the new government in Jerusalem thwarts the peace process with the Palestinians.”
Last Saturday morning, I switched on Fox Soccer Channel for the first of a series of World Cup qualifiers which the station, a veritable lifeline for football lovers in America, was broadcasting. A live feed from Tehran appeared on my screen. On the pitch, Iran was battling Saudi Arabia.
Here’s a letter in the Irish Independent signed by six US labor leaders - including Jack Ahern, President of the AFL-CIO in New York - challenging the campaign by some in the Irish labor movement to boycott Israel.
Continue reading ‘American Labor Leaders Take Stand Against Boycott’
Andy Ram, the Israeli tennis star, will participate in the Barclays Dubai tennis championship next week, after the United Arab Emirates relented on its earlier decision not to grant him an entry visa.
