January 2008 Update
TUFI’s monthly update looks at important trade union issues in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Middle East Peace Process, regional developments, domestic Israeli and Palestinian affairs and primary issues affecting British trade union policy on Israel
December 2007 TUFI Delegation: Israel and the Palestinian Territories
A TUFI Delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories took place between the 2nd and the 7th December 2007. The Delegation comprised of senior full-time union officials, executive members and local councillors from several British trade unions. With a packed week of activities, the delegates experienced all aspects of civil, industrial and political life in the region.
Full-time officials included Ronnie Draper, the National President of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), and Duncan Connors, the General Secretary of the National Post Graduate Committee. National executive members included Noel Mullen and John Hillon, both from the BFAWU, and Councillor Ian Malcolm, the Deputy Leader of South Tyneside Council and a UNITE member. The delegation also included Roger Lyons, Doreen Gerson and Steve Scott from TUFI.
The Delegation included:
- Meetings with: Isaac Herzog, Knesset member and Welfare Minister; Ofer Eini, the Chairman of the Histadrut; and Shaher Sa’ed and others from the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU).
- Hosted lunch at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Deputy Director of Europe, Rafael Barak, and a reception with the British Ambassador HE Tom Phillips.
- Meetings with: the local government employees union in Jerusalem; post-graduates at Tel-Aviv University, OneVoice, a cross community peace organisation; the Jerusalem Municipality Employees Committee and UCAPSE, the local government union.
- Visits to: the Na’amat Peace Nursery in Jaffa; Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust Memorial Centre; and the Osem food plant.
- Tour of the Old City in Jerusalem and a visit to the Dead Sea and Mount Masada.
- Tour of the security barrier near Qalkilya.
TUFI is planning on taking three Delegations to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2008. If you are interested in seeing firsthand the situation in the region please contact your union for more information.
Lecturers strike: Senior Lectures agree to end 89-day strike
After the longest university strike in Israeli history, students will finally be able to return to university on 20 January and complete the academic year. Representatives from the Senior Lecturers’ Union (SLU) and the Finance Ministry have signed an agreement based on a proposal put forward by Ofer Eini, the Chairman of the Histadrut. Mr Eini proposed:
- A 15.3 percent raise to compensate for wage erosion from 1997 to 2006
- A future wage erosion mechanism of 1.5 percent per year from 2007 to 2015
- A 4.7 percent wage increase secured for all public sector employees as well as any future raises secured.
In response to the breakthrough, the head of the SLU, Prof. Tzvi HaCohen, said "the agreement which we reached is unprecedented, and we are positive that it will significantly reduce the brain drain... we thank Ofer Eini for his help, and the strong backing he gave the senior lecturers...this is a good day for the higher education and for the State of Israel.”
Earlier this week the University Presidents (CUP) announced that if there was no progress in negotiations by the 17 January, the entire academic year would be cancelled. This announcement came after the National Labor Court declined to issue back-to-work orders to the professors and instead gave the sides another week to negotiate.
One-hundred-and-twenty thousand students have been affected by the cancelation of classes and the National Union of Israeli Students had begun preparing to sue the state and the universities for nearly one billion pounds if the semester and academic year had been cancelled.
The university strikes began during the Secondary School strike, which ended in December, and took a back seat in how the government dealt with the issue.
Middle East Peace Process: Background
The Annapolis conference, held in Maryland at the end of November 2007, was the first big push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement since the collapse of negotiations at Camp David in 2000. Nearly 50 countries attended, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, and 15 other Arab nations.
Palestinians and Israelis agreed two main things at the conference: that final status talks would begin in weeks and that the United States would monitor both sides’ compliance with the “road map” peace plan of 2003, under which Israel is meant to freeze settlement-building in the West Bank while the Palestinian Authority (PA) takes action against militants who attack Israel.
The agreements made at Annapolis mean for the first time since 2000 there will be direct negotiations between the two sides aimed at reaching a final agreement.
The core issues that need to be addressed are:
- The borders of a future Palestinian state,
- The status of Jerusalem,
- The status of Palestinian refugees,
- The sharing of water and energy resources.
The negotiations process is designed to work on three levels:
Israeli Prime Minister and Palestinian Authority President:
The two leaders will continue to meet regularly in order to offer all necessary assistance in the negations’ advancement.
Steering Committee:
The Israeli team is headed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni; the Palestinian team by the former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.
Technical Committees:
Each of the final status issues gets its own committee of experts from both sides.
Middle East Peace Process: Bush outlines Middle East Peace Plan
US President George Bush visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories last week in his first tour of the Middle East since becoming president in 2000. Throughout his visit, Bush emphasised the opportunity for a peaceful settlement to the conflict; outlining in the clearest terms so far his vision for a two-state peace treaty.
Mr Bush expressed confidence that a final treaty would be signed by the time he leaves office in January 2009, and the White House indicated that he would be returning to Israel and the region at least once, in all likelihood for the 60th anniversary of Israel’s founding in May.
Special Envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair also said he believes a settlement by the end of the year is achievable. “It is absolutely possible to have a peace deal by the end of the year if people want to make it happen…and this should only happen under terms which guarantee Israel’s security…But if we can achieve those terms and give the Palestinian people a state, then I think there is nothing more important…”
Speaking in Jerusalem following two days of separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mr Bush said in a statement: “I believe that any peace agreement will require mutually agreed adjustments to the armistice lines of 1949 to reflect current realties and to ensure that the Palestinian state is viable and contiguous.” He added, “I believe we need to look to the establishment of a Palestinian state and new international mechanisms, including compensation, to resolve the refugee issue.”
Mr Bush addressed the core issues, but did not give details of precisely what a final agreement might contain – he said that would be a matter for the negotiations.
Middle East Peace Process: Negotiating teams start core talks
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders authorised the start of negotiations on the delicate core issues of the conflict on the 14 January. The Israeli prime minister, Ehut Olmert, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, met for two hours. Both leaders agreed to authorise their negotiating teams, led by the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, and the former Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, to conduct direct and ongoing negotiations on all core issues for a final status agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a clear statement against continued settlement expansion during a cabinet meeting on Sunday (13 January). Israel has long committed itself to removing about 26 outposts set up after 1 March, 2001. There are 100-plus “unauthorised” outposts established by hard-line settlers, of which the road map requires Israel to dismantle around 60. Mr Olmert described the unauthorised settlement outposts which still exist after Israel pledged to remove them as “a disgrace”.
Gaza incursion / Rocket attacks: Escalation of violence in Gaza as Kassam rockets continue to fall on southern Israel
Over 100 Kassam rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israel over the last two days. Last week the town of Sderot was subject to its 2000th rocket attack in four years. Eight people have been killed by rockets and over 7 thousand of the population of 24 thousand have fled the town during this time.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has launched air and ground operations into Gaza over the last few days in response to the continued rocket attacks. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed, including Hussam Zahar, the son of hard-line Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar who is viewed as the mastermind behind the violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June. Hamas’ armed wing has claimed responsibly for the recent heavy barrage; breaking its informal moratorium on attacking Israel.
A farm worker in southern Israel was also killed by sniper fire from Gaza. The 20-year-old Ecuadorian kibbutz volunteer, Carlos Andres Muscara Chavez, was working in a potato field near the Gazan border when he was shot in the back.
Israeli Affairs: Hardliners leave Israeli government
An Israeli right-wing party has pulled out of the coalition government in protest at the starting of peace talks on core issues with the Palestinians. Yisrael Beitenu leader, Avigdor Lieberman, said the land-for-peace talks would lead to Israel's destruction.
Despite its departure, the coalition still retains a parliamentary majority. However, it is only by seven seats, meaning Ehud Olmert's government is now vulnerable to any similar withdrawal by the religious party Shas. Shas has 12 seats and has also threatened to leave the coalition over the issue of peace talks.
The departure of Yisrael Beitenu, leaves the coalition led by Mr Olmert's Kadima party with 67 seats (in the 120-seat chamber); the minimum needed to form a government.
Bookmark this page with: