January 21, 2009

Boycott Israel's Histadrut


The Israeli state trade union, the Histadrut, issued a shameful declaration of support for the Gaza slaughter. The statement regurgitates every single Hasbara lie, including that the slaughter was the Israeli defense against Qassams, that the occupation of Gaza ended in 2005, that Hamas took over Gaza by force and rules as a dictatorship, that Hamas broke the cease-fire, that the military assault was directed against Hamas's "command and control", and more. Here's a choice quote.
Israel embarked on operation "Cast Lead" after acting with great restraint for many years towards unbearable constant terror attacks from Gaza and making every diplomatic attempt to avoid confrontation. Israel agreed to a "state of calm", while Hamas exploited the agreement to build up its forces and rearm. Not only did Hamas rearm itself, but it terminated the calm by launching up to 80 rockets a day at Israeli civilians. By this time, Israel had no choice but to respond to the repeated attacks and aggression as an act of justifiable self-defense. (Histadrut Statement on Gaza)
The Histadrut collects dues from Palestinian workers without their consent and without representing them ever in any shape of form. The Histadrut is also the incubator of Israeli apartheid. Tony Greenstein explains:

Histadrut is an apartheid [system] which began its life with a boycott of Arab Labour and Produce. For its first 40 years it barred Arabs frommembership and when it finally allowed them in they were segregated in a separate Arab section – headed by a Jew of course! The separation of Arabs inside Histadrut was natural for an apartheid organisation which was at one and the same time Israel’s second largest employer (until its industries were privatised in the 1980’s). Histadrut refused to invest in Arab villages and barred Arabs from most of its factories on ‘security’ grounds. In short, it reflected the chauvinism and racism of Israeli Jewish workers just as South Africa’s white mining unions rep resented the interests of white workers. (AZVSAS Blog)

Real trade unions should cut all relations with the Histadrut and boycott it.

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