Another rambamming before 2012 ends? But of course:
A 16-strong Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) "nine-day, fact-finding mission," organised by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), "met [in November] with chairman of the Israeli-Australian Parliamentary Association Yitzhak 'Buji' Herzog, as well as with IDF and trade union officials. They also visited Sderot and Beersheva and spoke with Jews, Arab Israelis and Palestinians in their work places." (Unionists brave rockets, The Australian Jewish News, 14/12/12)
... and Palestinians in their workplaces?
Ah, so our missionaries must have come face to face with the consequences of an Israeli occupation, which, according to the World Bank, "sets obstacles that 'constrain investment, raise costs and hinder economic cohesion" and has led to 19% unemployment among West Bank Palestinians? (Stifled West Bank economy drains Palestinians' hopes, Yolanda Knell, BBC News, 16/10/12)
As if! Such obstacles as the Palestinian economy-killing West Bank wall and Israeli checkpoints of all shapes and sizes were nowhere to be found.
Search as they may, our intrepid union Frodos could find only one obstacle to Palestinian economic growth:
"At a factory in the West Bank, they met Palestinian workers vehemently opposed to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement... Workers said West Bank boycotts had driven out some international companies, triggering unemployment." (Unionists brave...)
Thank God our Frodos were there to bear witness to the injustice of it all:
"Secretary of the Shop Distributive & Allied Employees' Association, Newcastle branch, Barbara Nebart said... 'It was good to speak to Palestinian workers because it pressed home to me that the average Palestinian person is someone who wants peace, who wants a decent living, a good education for their children, and wants to live in harmony, but they just aren't going to be able to do that while they've got the leaders that they do.'" (Unionists brave...)
And Shoppie Barb knows what she's talking about here because those Palestinian 'leaders' who want war, an indecent living, and a bad education for their children were doing their darndest to spoil the fun:
"Assistant secretary of the ACTU Michael Borowick, who is convenor of Trade Unions for Israel, said the visitors had just left Jerusalem when an air-raid siren sounded. 'The bus pulled over and we were expecting to get out and lie on the road, but an all-clear came through so we proceeded along our way... Ten minutes after we left Rishon Le Zion, a rocket hit and an 18-year-old man was killed,' he said." (Unionists brave...)
But, hey, the "mission" wasn't just about solidarity forever with valiant, BDS-defying Palestinian factory workers. No, our union Frodos also got a glimpse into the living hell forced on the good people of Israel by the rocket-wielding Saurons of Mordor.
As Shoppie Barb said:
"[V]isiting Israel during the conflict 'gave me the smallest sliver of an idea of what these people live with. The little unease I felt is nothing compared to what these people live with on a day-to-day basis.'" (Unionists brave...)
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2 comments:
Did the servile Australian 'trade unionists' speak with the official Palestinian trade union leaders who have been most vocal in calling for B.D.S. as a non-violent means to end the illegal occupation?
No doubt THAT horrible experience was not part of the well choreographed series of conjuroring tricks that lead to a thorough Rambaming.
Wham Bam thank you Ramban!
Hard to say. This is all the AJN reported: "The group visited Nablus to meet the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), but when Palestinian youths staged a blockade, the Australians had to find an alternate exit from the area. 'There were boys who had lit tyres on the roadway, standing around being threatening,' Borowick said."
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