Full Delegation Report: 17 - 21 October 2010
The delegates
Jonathan Mann MBE, Deputy General Secretary, Community UnionBernard Taylor, Executive Council Member, GMB
Dennis Hart, Executive Officer, USDAW
Mike Dixon, Executive Officer, USDAW
John-Paul Blandthorn, Organiser, Australian Workers’ Union
Michael Borowick, Assistant Secretary, The Australian Workers’ Union
Mark Morey, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Unions NSW
Tara Moriaty, Secretary, Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union
Peter Malinauskas, Secretary, South Australian Branch, SDAEA
Steve Price, Secretary, Western Australia Branch, The AWU
Daniel Walton, National Campaigns & Organising Officer, AWU
The delegation was led by TUFI Chair, Roger Lyons, and the TUFI team.
TUFI delegations to Israel and Palestine aim to provide a comprehensive picture of the politics and society of the region: focusing on trade union issues, Israeli-Palestinian trade union co-operation, the demographically diverse peoples of both Israel and Palestine, Israel’s security dilemmas and Palestinian progress towards statehood.
The visit included high level meetings with Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists, parliamentarians, diplomats and opinion formers from across Israel and the West Bank.
The delegation coincided with the Israeli prime minister working with the US to ensure that the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority continued.
The main sticking point was the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the expansion of which have stalled the peace talks.
The possible outcome of these talks and the effects on the peace process were the subject of many discussions during the delegation.
Monday 18th October
Jerusalem
The first day of the delegation began with a busy day of briefings and a tour of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is one of the most historic cities in the world and holds a special place for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
The tour started at the top of the Mount of Olives to take in the magnificent views overlooking the Old City and beyond. The delegation was then taken through the Old City to see the Jewish, Arab, Armenian and Christian quarters, the Western Wall, the Garden of Gethsemane and the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Lunch was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) at the Olive and Fish restaurant.
The MFA officials talked about the existential threat to Israel from Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas, and fielded questions from the delegates. A significant point that was raised was the phenomenon of the campaign to delegitimise Israel. Whilst not new, it is growing and diversifying and being pushed within trade unions by the British Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
Meeting with Welfare Minister, Isaac Herzog
After lunch the delegation went to meet the Labour Party Cabinet Minister for Welfare Isaac Herzog MK at the Knesset - the centre of Israel’s democracy.
Minister Herzog spoke about Labour’s bad results at the last General Election, but was keen to emphasise that his party still wielded great influence within the governing coalition and he set out why he wants to lead the party. He also spent time outlining his desire for the peace talks to continue and the reasons for not giving up.
Mr Herzog then gave the delegation a tour of the Knesset building and took everyone into the main debating chamber while it was in session to see Israeli democracy in action. The Speaker halted the session to introduce and welcome the delegation.
UN Middle East Quartet
Next was a meeting at the American Colony hotel in East Jerusalem with Dr Daniel Arghiros, the Deputy Head of the UN Middle East Quartet working under Tony Blair.
He told the delegates that the Quartet’s main work involves: facilitating movement around the West Bank, opening crossings and checkpoints, obtaining permits for Palestinians working in Israel and helping with security and economic development.
He spoke about some big changes on the ground in the West Bank with the removal of checkpoints and growth in the Palestinian economy.
He said the rule of law had also greatly improved with the development and training of the Palestinian Authority police.
In the evening the delegates ended a busy day with dinner hosted by the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Public Service Employees (UCAPSE), the largest trade union in Israel.
Tuesday 19th October
Jerusalem Municipality Employees’ Committee
The second day began with a meeting with the Jerusalem Municipality Union Committee at the City Hall.
The Committee is made up of shop stewards representing workers from both East and West Jerusalem and the delegation heard how Jews and Arabs work together in Jerusalem, despite their differences.
On the question of the boycott of Israel, the consensus was that it would be the low paid, Arab workers that would suffer first from a boycott and there should be other avenues pursued to develop peace in the region, starting with the talks.
The delegation helped me understand the struggles and the aims and aspirations of both sides.
Dennis Hart, USDAW
Yad Vashem
After the meeting, the delegation was driven to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem. This is a significant point in the delegation, where the full scale of the ‘Shoah’ has been recorded with an extensive exhibition. The museum was established in 1953 and recently rebuilt and now hosts over a million visitors a year. Many of the delegates commented on how moved they were by the visit.
Magen David Adom (Israeli Red Cross)
Next we visited Magen David Adom (the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross). The delegation was given a full briefing including the work they do to recruit people from Israel’s Arab communities.
Magen David Adom works with the Palestinian Red Crescent and shares resources even in difficult times. The briefing also went into the specifics of treating victims of suicide bombings during the intifada, illustrated with some very traumatic images.
The evening was finished off with a dinner hosted by the Israeli Government Employees’ Union.
Wednesday 20th October
The Histadrut (Israeli TUC)
The day started with a visit to the headquarters of the Histadrut for a meeting with Chairman Ofer Eini.
Mr Eini spoke about the Histadrut’s relationship with the coalition government. He personally helped to broker the Labour Party’s involvement in the coalition and he argued that they should remain there while there is a peace process and he “would strain every sinew” to ensure this happens.
Mr Eini said that his relationship with the leadership of Palestinian trade unions was very good and expressed his desire for a comprehensive agreement that would be a model for a greater peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. He said he hoped that Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists would, together, provide a continuation and contribution to the peace process with the help of the international trade union community.
He argued that unions should act as a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians and not seek to divide them further. He said that boycotts, in his opinion, were contrived to split the relationship between the Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists and put pressure on the wrong people.
Barkan Industrial Park
The delegation then went to the Barkan industrial park to visit the Achva Halva factory and a textile factory in the West Bank. Although the industrial park is Israeli owned, it predominately employs Palestinian workers who work beside their Jewish co-workers.
When asked about the calls to boycott the products from the factory, the Palestinian factory manager, who was in charge of the entire production workforce, said he would prefer the factory to be Palestinian owned but a boycott would not help the Palestinian workers.
The PGFTU
The delegation drove through the West Bank toward the Palestinian city of Nablus. Since 1995, the day-to-day administration of Nablus has been the purview of the Palestinian National Authority, though Israel retains control over entrances and exits to the city. Nablus is a commercial trade centre dealing in traditional industries such as the production of soap and olive oil.
The delegation stopped just south of the city at the Hawara checkpoint, which is one of the busiest in the West Bank. It used to be a major friction point, but Israel has recently closed the old crossing and now waves the traffic through, only carrying out random checks. This decision followed the removal of other checkpoints, such as Beit Iba in West Nablus.
Above all, the experience for me demonstrates the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where both sides have to take brave steps to end this conflict once and for all.
Dougie Rooney, former TUC President
After driving straight through the checkpoint the delegation continued on to Nablus for a meeting with the General Secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), Shaher Sa’ed.
Mr Sa’ed spoke about his willingness to work with the Histadrut in the interests of workers and to contribute to the peace process, but said that the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank needed to be resolved for progress to continue.
The delegation then drove back to Tel Aviv for a dinner hosted by the British Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould. Matthew had just taken over at the Mission and gave the delegates an analysis of developments in the region.
He said he understood the importance of good relations between Israeli, Palestinian and British trade unions.
Thursday 21st October
Security Barrier
The fourth day of the delegation started with a visit to the Israeli settlement of Alfe Menashe. Alfe Menashe neighbours Qalqilya, a Palestinian town almost completely encircled by the security barrier.
The delegates were given a tour of the barrier and were able to view the lay of the land from a strategic viewing platform. From this position, Israel can be seen at its narrowest and shows how vulnerable the country is to attacks.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) guide who gave the briefing spoke about the 100 percent drop in terrorist attacks from the West Bank on Israel since the erection of the barrier in August 2003. He also explained that over 95 percent of the barrier is a fence, which gives the IDF the flexibility to open new gates as and when they are needed, or quickly remove it completely if the peace process allows.
A lot of questions were fielded from the delegates about access for Palestinian workers and the route of the barrier. These are some of the most controversial aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The guide said the route of the barrier had been changed many times due to rulings made by the Israeli Supreme Court. He said the principle established in Israeli law was that the barrier is only legal as a security measure and only allowed if the disruption caused to Palestinians is proportionate to the security threat to Israel.
Sderot
The delegation then drove down to Sderot in Southern Israel. Sderot is the Israeli town most heavily affected by rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza and the delegation was shown the rocket shelters and the reinforced roofs of children’s play areas and public buildings.
Delegates heard first-hand the terror inflicted upon the town over the last eight years from more than eight thousand rocket attacks; three hundred of which have been fired since the end of conflict in Gaza.
The delegation was also taken to see the town’s ever increasing collection of spent Qassam rockets, long-range Katyusha missiles and mortar shells.
The Secretary of the Municipality, Shalom Halebi, gave an emotional briefing and a tour of Sderot . He pointed out the need for bomb shelters and the new bomb proof schools that were being built.
After the briefing the group moved on to a nearby vantage point from which nearly the whole of the Gaza Strip could be seen.
The delegation then went on a tour of the Osem food factory. Delegates were told about the workers impressive terms and conditions and were able to see the food production and health and safety procedures of the modern food processing plant. Ominously there were also bomb shelters and evacuation procedures in the factory for when the air raid warnings sounded.
The delegation was told that when the warning alarm sounds, all Sderot residents have less than 15 seconds to run for cover.
The end of the delegation took in a leaving dinner in the port of Jaffa where we thanked our hosts and took a final tour of the old town of Jaffa.
It was a great delegation. I now have a greater knowledge and a better understanding of the issues and challenges facing the region.
Steve Price, AWU
TUFI would like to thank Avital Shapira-Shabirow, Director of the Histadrut International Department for co-ordinating the delegation, the PGFTU for hosting the activities in Nablus and all the unions for their hospitality.
TUFI would like to thank the Australian trade unionists for taking part in this year’s successful delegation, which coincided with the official launch of TUFI Australia, set up to support Israeli-Palestinian trade union co-operation within Australian trade unions.
TUFI takes regular delegations to Israel and the Palestinian territories for British trade unionists. If you are interested in attending the next trip or would like any further information, please contact TUFI at:
TUFI kept a blog throughout this year’s delegation. To read posts from the delegates and to see more photos of the delegation, please visit the visit the blog.
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