Communist Unions Seek to Isolate Israel
Communist led unions are calling for an international labour boycott of Israel.
From San Francisco-note the communist controlled ILWU and Peace&Freedom Party presence, Socialist Action and International ANSWER (Workers World Party front banners.
From South Africa and Australia. COSATU is controlled by the South African Communist Party. MUA is heavily influenced by the Communist Party of Australia.
From Links
FREE PALESTINE! ISOLATE APARTHEID ISRAEL!
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) launch Week of Action for Palestine supported by the Young Communist League and other progressive organisations
February 3, 2009 -- In a historic development for South Africa, South African dock workers have announced their determination not to offload a ship from Israel that is scheduled to dock in Durban on Sunday, February 8, 2009. This follows the decision by COSATU to strengthen the campaign in South Africa for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against apartheid Israel.
The pledge by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) members in Durban reflects the commitment by South African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.
Last year, Durban dock workers had refused to offload a shipment of arms that had arrived from China and was destined for Zimbabwe to prop up the Mugabe regime and to intensify the repression against the Zimbabwean people. Now, says SATAWU’s General Secretary Randall Howard, the union’s members are committing themselves to not handling Israeli goods.
SATAWU’s action on Sunday will be part of a proud history of worker resistance against apartheid. In 1963, just four years after the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dock workers refused to offload a ship with South African goods. When the ship docked in Sweden, Swedish workers followed suit. Dock workers in Liverpool and, later, in the San Francisco Bay Area also refused to offload South African goods. South Africans, and the South African working class in particular, will remain forever grateful to those workers who determinedly opposed apartheid and decided that they would support the anti-apartheid struggle with their actions.
Last week, Western Australian members of the Maritime Union of Australia resolved to support the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and have called for a boycott of all Israeli vessels and all vessels bearing goods arriving from or going to Israel.
This is the legacy and the tradition that South African dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy they are determined to honour, by ensuring that South African ports of entry will not be used as transit points for goods bound for or emanating from certain dictatorial and oppressive states such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Israel.
COSATU, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the Young Communist League and a range of other organisations salute the principled position taken by these workers. We also take this opportunity to salute the millions of workers all over the world who have openly condemned and taken decisive steps to isolate apartheid Israel, a step that should send shockwaves to its arrogant patrons in the United States who foot the bill for Israel’s killing machine. We call on other workers and unions to follow suit and to do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine is free.
This may seem small beer at the moment-but so was the anti-Apartheid/South Africa movement in the '50s and '60s.
Israel should be very worried by this trend.
From San Francisco-note the communist controlled ILWU and Peace&Freedom Party presence, Socialist Action and International ANSWER (Workers World Party front banners.
From South Africa and Australia. COSATU is controlled by the South African Communist Party. MUA is heavily influenced by the Communist Party of Australia.
From Links
FREE PALESTINE! ISOLATE APARTHEID ISRAEL!
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) launch Week of Action for Palestine supported by the Young Communist League and other progressive organisations
February 3, 2009 -- In a historic development for South Africa, South African dock workers have announced their determination not to offload a ship from Israel that is scheduled to dock in Durban on Sunday, February 8, 2009. This follows the decision by COSATU to strengthen the campaign in South Africa for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against apartheid Israel.
The pledge by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) members in Durban reflects the commitment by South African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.
Last year, Durban dock workers had refused to offload a shipment of arms that had arrived from China and was destined for Zimbabwe to prop up the Mugabe regime and to intensify the repression against the Zimbabwean people. Now, says SATAWU’s General Secretary Randall Howard, the union’s members are committing themselves to not handling Israeli goods.
SATAWU’s action on Sunday will be part of a proud history of worker resistance against apartheid. In 1963, just four years after the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dock workers refused to offload a ship with South African goods. When the ship docked in Sweden, Swedish workers followed suit. Dock workers in Liverpool and, later, in the San Francisco Bay Area also refused to offload South African goods. South Africans, and the South African working class in particular, will remain forever grateful to those workers who determinedly opposed apartheid and decided that they would support the anti-apartheid struggle with their actions.
Last week, Western Australian members of the Maritime Union of Australia resolved to support the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and have called for a boycott of all Israeli vessels and all vessels bearing goods arriving from or going to Israel.
This is the legacy and the tradition that South African dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy they are determined to honour, by ensuring that South African ports of entry will not be used as transit points for goods bound for or emanating from certain dictatorial and oppressive states such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Israel.
COSATU, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the Young Communist League and a range of other organisations salute the principled position taken by these workers. We also take this opportunity to salute the millions of workers all over the world who have openly condemned and taken decisive steps to isolate apartheid Israel, a step that should send shockwaves to its arrogant patrons in the United States who foot the bill for Israel’s killing machine. We call on other workers and unions to follow suit and to do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine is free.
This may seem small beer at the moment-but so was the anti-Apartheid/South Africa movement in the '50s and '60s.
Israel should be very worried by this trend.
posted by Trevor Loudon at
2/07/2009 02:08:00 PM
16 Comments:
I wonder how these groups feel their "freedom fighters" such as Hamas are now hampering aid to the Gazan Palestinians whom suffered greatly during the war.
There'll be no protests against Hamas.
This may seem small beer at the moment-but so was the anti-Apartheid/South Africa movement in the '50s and '60s.
This is what gives me and many others around the World hope.
"This is what gives me and many others around the World hope."
I wonder where the heck is your criticism toward Hamas, which even irks the U.N. as being responsible for halting aid to Palestinians?
People like you accuse Israel of "establishing" concentration camp systems in Gaza and the West Bank. Yet those whom are really behind the concentration camp-like atmosphere are the terrorists you are defending like Hamas, and Fatah.
"This may seem small beer at the moment-but so was the anti-Apartheid/South Africa movement in the '50s and '60s."
So you also think that the anti-apartheid movement was a bad thing?
You really are an unmitigated liar Mah Mah.
The zionist Holocaust Nazis' murder and apartheid is their creation alone.
Yet either because you're a liar as I say, or because you cannot but think in the screeched, clanging nonsequitur, you blame the victims.
Very zionist, very vile, very stupid !
Cameron-hope for what? Several million Israeli Jews either forced out of their homes, slaughtered or forced to live under Arab domination and probable revenge?
You need to think about what you're actually aiming for Cameron.
Steve, the Hamas Apologist From Northland,
Even the U.N. is against Hamas, after it stole food meant to be for the Palestinians, yet you somehow call these "lies". You're nothing more than an apologist for Hamas terrorism, plan and simple.
You promote revisionist lies, stating how Israel is like apartheid South Africa even though there are no major similarities at all. Arabs, and Jews alike are born in the same hospitals in Israel. Arabs are allowed citizenship, while black South Africans were at second class citizenship.
Israel is also not on the lines of Nazi Germany. Many Jewish temples, in general have been attacked in Europe, and also in the USA because of how anti-Israel activists like yourself happily allow the revival of anti-Semitism, while you're stating that the Israelis are the new "Nazis" even though "Nazi" state of Turkey, which has long standing abuse of Kurds and Armenians just went to support YOUR cause.
You're an outright hypocrite, deal with it.
I agree with most of what you say Reid.
However remember this is primarily a propaganda war not a military one.
The US won the military war in Vietnam, but lost the propaganda battle.
Same with South Africa's battle against the far weaker (militarily) ANC.
Same with the french in Algeria etc etc etc.
Also worth factoring in how strong the US military may be after a few years of recession/depression and Obama's disarmament policies.
Read it and weep!
February 6, 2009 -- The Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) is pleased to announce that its members, dock workers belonging to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), achieved a victory last night when they stood firm by their decision not to offload the /Johanna Russ/, a ship that was carrying Israeli goods to South Africa. This, despite threats to COSATU members from sections of the pro-Israel lobby, and despite severe provocation.
Full statement at http://links.org.au/node/896
Anonymous says "Read it and weep!"
Now why would any supporter of Israel weep about any decision taken by The New South Africa? When Indian or Chinese dockworkers reject shipments of advanced arms systems from Israel it will be a bad sign. If Germans turn back shipments of Israeli farm goods it will be a very bad sign. If dockworkers in New York turn back goods from Israel it will be a extremely bad sign. But when semi-literate third worlders from South Africa engage in anti-semitic activity it hardly merits notice. This is South Africa we are talking about. A nation that is devolving faster than just about any other nation excepting Zimbabwe.
You left out a word: ``Now why would any supporter of APARTHEID Israel weep about any decision taken by The New South Africa?''
Why not accept both sides have many people who are in the wrong?
"Opposition to Apartheid was a good cause..."
And one which "libertarians" and others on the right generally didn't lift a finger to support, in fact, quite the opposite. They let the left do all the work, then moan that human rights movements are dominated by leftists. So much for supporting freedom.
Cheers
Sam Buchanan
Only liberals can back folks who send suicide bombers into Israel to blow up malls,school buses and restaurantes.
Sam says libertarians didn't lift a finger to end apartheid. Apartheid is not democratic but it served the economic interests of southern African blacks far better then majority rule. The blacks of both South Africa and Zimbabwe had a much higher standard of living under apartheid. The whole world is familiar with black misrule in Zimbabwe but pretends to not notice the terrible track record of the new South Africa. The standard of living of blacks is half of what it was 20 years ago. Violent crime has skyrocketed and now is among the highest in the world. The inconvenient fact is all of black Africa was better off under colonial rule then independence. The nation state is an alien imposition on tribal black Africa. The left cannot admit this so they pretend the situation in South Africa has improved. It has deteriorated in the extreme. The only good thing one can say about the new South Africa is it is not as awful as Zimbabwe.
I agree with every word Reid.
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