| Thursday, September 17, 2009 |
 Click here to read the original article in The Jerusalem Post The Jerusalem Post By The Associated Press British labor unions agreed Thursday to support a boycott of some Israeli goods in response to the offensive in Gaza. The boycott, approved at the annual conference of the Trades Union Congress, calls for a ban on importing goods produced in some Israeli settlements, an end to arms trading with Israel and disinvestment from some companies. Union officials said the boycott would target products including dates, herbs, fruit and vegetables grown on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "We will support a boycott of those goods and agricultural products that originate in illegal settlements through developing an effective, targeted consumer-led boycott campaign," the TUC said in a statement. The TUC is an umbrella organization of 58 British labor unions, representing about 6.5 million workers. In a statement, union members also condemned Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli citizens. Members of the TUC’s general council held often fractious talks on the motion - originally introduced by the Fire Brigades Union - at an annual conference in Liverpool, northern England. The boycott was proposed in response to the December-January offensive in Gaza, in which about 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and 13 Israelis, including four civilians, died. Israel said it was seeking to stop rocket fire by Gaza militants on southern Israeli towns. "This is not a call for a general boycott of Israeli goods and services which would hit ordinary Palestinian and Israeli workers, but targeted, consumer-led sanctions directed at businesses based in, and sustaining, the illegal settlements," said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber. Two years ago, Britain’s largest union of college teachers attempted to organize a boycott of Israeli universities, which would have led to a halt on funding, visits and conferences with Israeli institutions. The University and College Union was forced to abandon the plan because it breached discrimination laws. |
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