The Mystery of the Other Five

"Liberal Senator for Queensland Amanda Stoker* is a recent graduate of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) Rambam study program to Israel, and addressed an AIJAC function in Melbourne to discuss impressions of her visit to Israel in June. " (Senator & union leaders on their visit to Israel, jwire.com.au, 1/8/18)

Unsurprisingly, Stoker's now stoked on Israel: she now has "a greater understanding of Middle East realities through meetings with quality speakers," was "particularly impressed by the Israeli culture of entrepreneurialism," and was "shocked by the antisemitism and incitement she witnessed in the Palestinian media, which was exposed to her in a meeting with the director of Palestinian Media Watch Itamar Marcus."

But it's not her gullibility and abysmal ignorance of the Palestine problem that interests me here. I've documented such cliches as hers a thousand times over on this blog. It's the presence by their absence at AIJAC's function of the other 5 junketeers, namely Senators Kristina Keneally (ALP, NSW), Anthony Chisholm (ALP, QLD), Jonathan Duniam (Lib, TAS), Sterling Griff (Centre Alliance, SA), and Alfred Ngaro, New Zealand MP.

What gives? Did they simply eat and drink their way through this AIJAC-sponsored junket? Roll their eyes while visiting Ziv Hospital, Israel's R&R facility for Syrian jihadis? Nod off on poor old Itamar Marcus as he rattled off his tall tales of Palestinian wickedness? Trot out a lame excuse when AIJAC asked them to report back at its Melbourne function?

Fie on them! Sharper than a serpent's tooth is an ungrateful rambamee!

And for those concerned with the sad decline of Australia's union movement, here's another nail in the coffin:

"Another group of Rambam graduates consisting of trade union leaders also discussed the impact of their study visit to Israel in December at an AIJAC luncheon on July 20. The group consisted of seven trade union leaders and was organized by AIJAC's Rambam Israel Fellowship Program together with the Australia-Israel Labor Dialogue [AILD], headed by ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick, who accompanied the delegation. Reporting back on their experiences... were Nina Taylor, Organiser with the Community and Public Sector Union who is also a councillor at the City of Glen Eira**; Justin Power, Assistant Secretary of the Queensland branch of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association (SDA); and Robert Tonkli, the assistant Secretary of the NSW Branch of the SDA. The group mentioned that highlights included speaking with Upstart Start-Up Nation author Saul Singer and meetings with the Histadrut - Israel's national trade union centre. Both Taylor and Powers noted that they were impressed with the Histadrut's efforts to ensure equal workplace rights for Palestinian workers, which they felt few people in Australia were aware of." (ibid)

Ninny Nina: Israel? Absolutely fabulous, comrade! And, and... wait till you hear this! Israel's Histadrut is making efforts to ensure that Palestinian workers have equal rights!!! Yay! Betcha didn't know that before, eh?
Interlocutor (underwhelmed & sotto voce): Fabulous...

[*Brandis' pro-life, anti-euthenasia, Anglican replacement in the Senate; **Hilarious Nina Taylor tweet, July 20: "Israel/Palestine union delegation Dec 17 reunion #aijac#aild#peace#tolerance"]

The Incredible Lady Di

Two union leaders, Diana Asmar, state secretary of the Health Workers Union (HWU), the biggest union within the HSU, and Dr Henry Pinskier, a former vice-president of the ALP, "have described a Health Services Union (HSU) motion supporting a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel as 'anti-Semitic, misguided, ignorant and quite frankly, mad'." (BDS Health warning, The Australian Jewish News, 1/9/16)

They added: "It is not a trade union's job to delve into international geopolitical affairs or to raise misguided and anti-Semitic motions."

In which case then, why has Ms Asmar recently returned from an AIJAC Rambam Fellowship Trade Union Study Visit to Israel, where she "noted how incredible she found it to see Jews and Arabs working together in Israeli hospitals to treat all citizens without prejudice or favour," and "commented on the incredible medical technologies coming out of Israel, expressing incomprehension as to how BDS supporters could want to boycott such life saving techniques." (Returning trade unionists praise Israel at AIJAC function, jwire.com, 30/6/17)

(For the record, the only other Israel-bound unionist named by jwire.com was "Glen Chatterton of the Plumbers Union Service Trade Queensland." They were "accompanied" by Michael Borowick of the Australia/Israel Labor Dialogue (AILD).)

So what kind of unionist is one minute laying down the law that unions shouldn't be bothering their pretty heads with international geopolitical affairs, and the next is up to her neck in a certain international geopolitical affair?

Well, in addition to being  an apparent expert on international geopolitical affairs and anti-Semitism, Asmar's certainly an interesting (and innovative) character, as the following profile indicates:

"Asmar is a former Labor mayor with the troubled Darebin council in Melbourne's northwest. As a novice leader of a small to middle-sized union branch, her salary has raised eyebrows inside the HSU, especially after pay packet excesses of [Michael] Williamson and [Kathy] Jackson. Asmar boosted her salary to $182,000 in the 2014 financial year... On $182,000, Asmar was the highest paid union official in Australia... Asmar's perceived mastery of the industrial landscape and how the modern world came to be has prompted some mirth among her colleagues. At a 2013 national council meeting in Sydney, they recall Asmar referring to 'World War Eleven' - apparently mistaking Roman numerals for the higher number. In all seriousness, what her colleagues do find astounding is the remarkable 'cashing out' of a $25,975 paid maternity leave entitlement that Asmar secured for herself in the 2015 financial year... World experts on gender and employment... say 'cashing out' maternity leave is unheard of, and defeats the whole purpose of the entitlement as leave... There is more that is murky about Asmar. During royal commission evidence in 2014, Asmar claimed she did not know about her election campaign funding because she left it to her husband, David, a former staffer of recently-departed senator Stephen Conroy." (From Diana Asmar: Bill Shorten's no 1 union mate, Brad Norington, The Australian, 7/11/16)

The Australian: All Shock, No Yawn

Only in Murdoch's  Australian:

SHOCK!

"New ACTU secretary Sally McManus told the Greens mayor of a Sydney inner-west council that she vigorously supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel, a stand directly at odds with Labor policy and local federal MP Anthony Albanese." (ACTU chief backed anti-Israel campaign, Brad Norington, The Australian, 21/3/17)

HORROR!

"Some observers believe Ms McManus could be amenable to using the Greens and their political influence to push Labor further to the left in backing pro-union workplace laws. The ACTU's policy on Israel is to support 'comprehensive peace between Israel and Palestine' based on co-existence. While supporting past UN resolutions critical of Israel and its continued occupation of the West Bank, ACTU policy does not extend to wholehearted support for the BDS campaign. Many right-wing unions oppose it." (ibid)

Never in The Australian:

*YAWN*

ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick (who leads an outfit called the Australia Israel Labor Dialogue (AILD) and seems to spend an awful lot of time in Israel) tweeted on March 3: "Great pleasure to have met today in Tel Aviv with Eran Hermoni, the newly elected Secretary-General of the Israeli Labor Party."

Politicians Who Fly Under the MSM Radar

Not all frequent-flying Australian politicians get the media scrutiny they deserve:

"A few weeks ago, I was pleased to receive updates from Michael Borowick and Adam Slonim, the co-convenors of the Australia-Israel Labor Dialogue (AILD), which had just completed two successful missions to Israel - a trade union mission and its first-ever Innovation Mission, led by senator Kim Carr,* a prominent figure in the left-wing faction of the Labor Party. All who care about the Australia-Israel relationship must care that members and representatives of the ALP understand Israel and its unique history and precarious situation better, which makes tours run by AILD, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce and others so important." (Stop tarring Israel's critics as Israel's enemies, Dean Sherr, The Australian Jewish News, 13/1/17)

[First rambammed in 2010.]

Recently Rambammed

Sarah Ferguson: How do you account for [the Israel lobby] wielding so much power?
Bob Carr: I think political donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel.
7.30 Report, 9/4/14

Remember Paul Howes' flirtation with horticulture, TULIP (Trade Unions Linking Israel & Palestine)? Well, ever since Paul left off linking Israel and Palestine (LOL) and took up a position with KPMG last year, TULIP seems to have withered, judging by the sad state of its Australian website. 

So where's a Labor lad/ladette to get his/her Ziofix these days? No problem! Meet TULIP's successor AILD (Australia Israel Labor Dialogue), which aims "to promote and foster dialogue and fraternal links between the Australian and Israeli Labor parties" (aild.org.au)

AILD, you'll be pleased to know, had its first rambam last month:

"In the first mission of its kind, the Australia Israel Labor Dialogue has hosted a group of 11 members and officials of the Australian Labor Party on a Study Mission to Israel."  (ALP on an Israeli study mission, jwire.net.au, 24/12/14)

Just for the record, the lucky 11 were:

Paul Frayne (Office of Andrew Giles MHR), Kent Rowe (ALP Secretary NT), Mitchell Wilson (NSW ALP Organiser), Jessica Malnersic (President NSW Young Labor), Tim Hammond (Barrister), Adam Slonim (AILD), Kaila Murnain (Assistant Federal Secretary ALP NSW), Michael Vaughan (Office of Tanya Plibersek MHR), Greg Holland (ALP candidate NSW state election), Rose Butler Jackson (Assistant Secretary NSW ALP), Michael Borowick (AILD chair & ACTU Assistant Secretary).

Hm... Rose Jackson, who, like federal opposition deputy leader Tanya (Once Was Warrior) Plibersek, had to recant her views in order to climb the greasy pole. (Just click on the Rose Jackson and Tanya Plibersek labels below.)

Hm... Office of Tanya (Once Was Warrior) Plibersek.

Hm... Assistant Secretary, ACTU.

Here's some of what they got up to:

"The group spent a week touring Israel being briefed by academics, journalists, and policy advisers, the Australian Embassy, the Knesset and spent a morning in Ramallah meeting the Palestinian Authority and PLO spokespeople. Mission highlights included meeting the leadership of the Israeli Labor Party, touring Sderot and the Gaza border crossing, visiting Gush Etzion, and seeing first hand the work of Australian doctors at the Tzefat hospital treating Syrian child casualties of the civil war."

Hm...

Note how a cup of coffee with the PA is always part and parcel of these Zionist propaganda tours, yet has bugger all impact on the rambammed. What happens I wonder? Do the rambammed a) play with their phones? b) roll their eyes? c) stare out the window? d) dream of the long liquid lunch that awaits back in Jerusalem? e) nap? f) all 5?

Note how the Australian Embassy is part of (complicit in?) the exercise.

Note how the carry on at Ziv Hospital, Israel's cover for its intervention in Syria, has become part of the program. (See my 12/12/14 post A Side of Israel the World Too Rarely Acknowledges.) 

Let's Do the Rambam Again...

"Trade Union representatives who participated in an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Rambam mission last November reported their impressions at a lunch in Sydney last Thursday."  (Unionists report back, The Australian Jewish News, 14/2/14)

Our happy clappy rambammers (and their 'insights') this time around are:

Scott McDine (National Secretary, AWU): "There are... some in the labor movement... who have a very strong preconception of the Israeli-Palestinian issue'... He recalled discussing his experience with a representative from a union which endorses BDS, noting that the representative subsequently enquired about the next mission."

David Bliss (Assistant Secretary, Newcastle branch of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association (SDA): "It's very hard to put yourself in the shoes of the Israeli people and how they have struggled in the 60 years of the existence of the state to actually push away the many threats which surround them. When people criticise Israel about how it defends itself and the measures it takes to protect its people - we live in a very kind of sheltered existence."

Daniel Mookhey (Federal Election Campaign Coordinator of the ACTU): "Daniel Mookhey recalled witnessing 'a blistering, no-holds-barred industrial relations dispute' upon arriving in Israel... you wouldn't think, reading the press about Israel... that something so ordinary happens in practice day-to-day, because the view that you get of Israel is a view of a militaristic state. It's certainly not something that is worthy of sanction, boycott or divestment."

Phoebe Drake (See my 29/9/13 post Transformative Experience, Anyone?)

Michael Borowick (Assistant Secretary, ACTU): "It's critical that Israel remain a bipartisan political issue in the Australian body politic... and the mission plays its role in anchoring this strategy."

Union Frodos Brave Mordor Rockets

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...)

Another Time, Another Place

It's hard to believe but BDS campaigns against genocidal, occupying powers were once a breeze in Australia.

The following document, dated 10/9/99, can be viewed in its entirety at workers.labor.net.

"Nobel Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta has urged Australian workers to do whatever they can to pressure the Indonesian Government to bring the violence in East Timor under control, including details of protest actions. In a letter to the Labor Council of NSW, Ramos Horta says the support to date has been both practical and appreciated. But he asks the union movement to 'initiate suitable industrial action, such as refusing to service Garuda aircraft'.

"The ACTU this week endorsed a 'campaign for peace' including industrial action, consumer boycotts and lobbying efforts to bring the situation under control. A similar resolution has been endorsed by the NSW Labor Council. The Sydney community protests are being led by the CFMEU Construction division, which is providing significant resources and logistical support, backed by the Labor Council of NSW.

"Meanwhile, many trade unions have already announced action against Indonesian Government and related business interests, including:

1) The Maritime Union has imposed bans on all Indonesian ships and cargo and will block a shipment of around 80,000 tonnes of wheat due to be exported next week.

2) Printing workers are refusing to handle paper products made in Indonesia.

3) Community actions today forced the rescheduling of flights by Garuda Airlines in both Sydney and Melbourne airports.

4) Postal and telecommunication workers have placed bans on communications, including fault repairs, to the Indonesian Consulate.

5) The Australian Workers Union says refinery operators will indefinitely refuse to process Indonesian crude oil.

6) The Community & Public Sector Union has called for all government departments - including SOCOG - to suspend production contracts with Indonesia.

7) The Transport Workers Union has banned the airport loading of all Indonesian freight.

8) The Australian Nurses Federation has placed members on standby to respond to the looming humanitarian crisis.

9) Other unionists are voicing their concern directly with the United Nations, the Howard Government and the Indonesian Government.

"Individual workers are asked to back a consumer boycott of Indonesian products called by the ACTU. A full list of firms and products can be found at http://freetimor.com. They are also being asked to boycott Indonesian tourist destinations, including Bali." (Ramos Horta calls for workers' support)

Watch This Space...

"Australian unions are signing up to an international campaign to boycott Israeli goods, but a fight is brewing over a proposal for the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to endorse the movement. The broad-based divestment and boycott campaign is targeting companies that profit from the Israeli settlements. The Electrical Trades Union (ETU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU), the Queensland branch of the Rail Tram & Bus Union (RTBU) and the Finance Sector Union (FSU) have all passed a resolution supporting the international campaign of 'boycott, divestment & sanctions' (BDS) against Israel... Australian Workers Union (AWU) national secretary Paul Howes said he would fight any plan to see the ACTU endorse the sanctions..." (Unions to take Israel boycott plan to ACTU, Patricia Karvelas, The Australian, 15/10/10)

CFMEU-BDS

"The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union [CFMEU] has become the first major Australian union to boycott all Israeli-made goods produced in the occupied Palestinian territories. The union's executive voted this week to join the international Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions [BDS] campaign aimed at the 'illegal' settlement policies of the Netanyahu government. The campaign's goal is to prevent 'Israel's normalisation until it abides by its obligations under international law'. The CFMEU said it would push for the entire Australian union movement and the Labor Party to join the boycott." (Union boycotts Israeli goods, Sydney Morning Herald, 20/5/10)

Note the Herald's placing of quotation marks around the word illegal as though the matter were in dispute. Pathetic!

The ACTU's Sarah Palin

Remember when Sarah Palin was John McCain's running mate and we were all chilled by the realisation that Hockey Mom could be but a heartbeat away from the presidency? To be sure, the stakes are nowhere near as high, but the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) vice president Paul Howes is but a heartbeat away from the ACTU presidency, and I find that pretty chilling. As if his anti-BDS front, TULIP - see my 29/9/09 post ACTU: Missing in Action on Palestine - weren't worry enough, now he's come out, in a column in Murdoch's Sunday Telegraph, as a cheerleader for Mossad assassins:

"Let's be clear: the death of al-Mabhouh is a positive outcome for those who believe in peace and justice... [W]e're talking about a man who has turned Palestinian children into human bombs to murder and terrorise Israeli civilians..." (Dubai killing strikes blow for decency, 7/3/10)

Note here the recycling of Zionist propagandist and Age 'journalist' Julie Szego's line about Mabhouh "turn[ing] Palestinian children into bombs for the wiping out of Israeli children..." (beautifully skewered by letter writer Sol Salbe: "How could he have been involved in the use of children, or anyone else, as suicide bombers when he left the occupied territories* before the first suicide bomber appeared on the scene, and spent 2003, one of the worst years for such bombings, in an Egyptian jail?" See my previous post, Mabhouh Mythology).

[*In 1989 to be exact. Hamas' first suicide bombing wasn't until 1994 - 8 years after its founding - and "was carried out in retaliation for the Hebron massacre, in which a fanatic Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinian worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in February 1994." (Hamas for Beginners, Khaled Hroub, 2006, p 52)]

Of course, the drive-by smear is the weapon of choice for Zionist media assassins like Szego and Howes, and that turning Palestinian children into human bombs is typical. It goes without saying that the findings of those who've actually researched the phenomenon, such as political scientist Mohammed Hafez (University of Missouri), are simply not on their radar: "Observers of the second intifada often comment that suicide bombers do not lend themselves to easy generalizations. Other than being Muslim, usually unmarried, and in their late teens or early 20s, the bombers have little in common." (Manufacturing Human Bombs: The Making of Palestinian Suicide Bombers, 2006, p 24)

And those Australian passports? Not a problem. What's a passport (or two, or three) between friends?: "The question of the use of Australian passports in the operation in Dubai raises many issues for the Australian Government. Traditionally, Australia has been a loyal friend of Israel, no matter which party is in government. This is something that should make us all proud. Some have argued that if Israel has illegally used Australian passports, this is not the action of a friend. Maybe. But in my view, friends stand by each other in the good times and the bad, and a friend is someone who lends a hand when the going gets tough. That's why I'm proud that our nation has played a small, and accidental role, in the removal of the terrorist al-Mabhouh from the planet."

Friends stand by each other, eh? But think about it. If Australia were a real friend to Israel, surely we'd be supplying Australian passports, no questions asked, right? But hang on! Aren't we really more than just good friends? Aren't we, in fact, mates? After all, we partied together in Parliament House, didn't we? And we drop in on each other regularly for a spot of mutual backscratching, don't we? Not to mention our love-ins at the UN. So, in addition to keeping our little mate in passports, why don't we also join him in the biffo and mount a few joint Mossad/ASIO operations? But let's not stop there. As a reflection of true mateship, ASIO could be rebadged Ozzad and operate under the motto By way of self-deception.

Now someone needs to get that ball rolling here, and who better, say I, than the Sarah Palin of the ACTU? Howes is obviously a straight shooter - if you get my drift - and a man who puts his money where his mouth is, so I imagine he's already lent his mates a hand and given them his passport, and is now in the process of assembling a bipartisan team of Arab fighters. Such doughty pro-Israel warriors as Christopher Pyne, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, and Kevin Rudd, to name only the most obvious, spring to mind.

I mean, would you expect anything less from the man who penned these rousing, dare I say Churchillian, words?: "The world defeated Nazism. Now the world must support those countries fighting Islamo-fascism. It is a war that is being fought on the streets of Tehran, where democratic forces battle that Islamic dictatorship; it's being fought on the streets of Gaza, after Hamas launched their coup there; it's being fought in Lebanon against Hezbollah and in the mountains of Afghanistan against the remains of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The fighters had a small victory in Dubai."

And these words - are they not straight out of John Howard's mouth?: "It is in our nation's interest and the interests of the world as a whole, to ensure democracy, liberty and freedom thrives. It is in our interest to ensure that a free, secular and healthy democratic Palestinian state is created. It is in our interest to ensure that when private citizens leave their homes and go to work or school that they don't have to fear suicide bombers will kill them." Just beautiful! Takes you back, doesn't it?

Except there's only one hitch. Howes is adamant that Hamas' redundant and superseded 1988 Charter is what rules it out of the "national liberation movement" stakes, and puts it into the "ugly Islamo-fascist terrorist organisation" category instead. Still, what's good for the goose is equally so for the gander, no? So the Likud Charter (aka Likud Party platform), which "flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River," should not only rule out the creation of a "free, secular and healthy democratic Palestinian state," but any claim of Israel's ruling party to being merely a Middle Eastern version of the Australian Labor Party, right?

Now I'm sure that as a teen Trot once, Howes must've heard Che Guavara's famous Create One, Two, Many Vietnams. Maybe this explains his distinctively neoconservative cry, Create One, Two, Three Wars on Terror: "This is not an easy war to fight, or to win. It has to be fought in many different theatres."

Pretty heady stuff, eh? But he does have lighter side. Check this out for comic relief: "But it is in our interest to ensure that all human beings regardless of their sex, race, religion, sexual orientation and political belief can live their lives free from persecution or harassment. Hamas and al-Mabhouh stand against all these values - values we hold dear. Therefore, it is in our nation's interest to do whatever we can to remove these vile people from power - by any means necessary." Regardless of religion? Apparently, not only does the Jewish state not discriminate on religious grounds, but the world is flatter than you ever thought possible.

Only... one... heartbeat... away. One! Scary!

ACTU: Missing in Action on Palestine

"[I]ndustrial workers and their trade unions have been the least active and militant components of the anti-imperialist movements. Many workers fear the loss of employment, faced by a mass of unemployed workers. Equally damaging, most of the trade union officials have consolidated control and become closely linked to tripartite pacts with the state and employers, and reject independent class action, let alone active anti-imperialist solidarity." (Empire With Imperialism: The Globalizing Dynamics of Neo-liberal Capitalism, James Petras & Henry Veltmeyer, 2005, p 113)

ACTU supremo Sharon Burrow met Dr Ron in 2006: "Two MPs from the Labor Party's left faction and the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) met with the director-general of the Peres Centre for Peace last week in a bid to build bridges. Tanya Plibersek and Maria Vamvakinou, both of whom have previously been critical of Israel, as well as ACTU chief Sharan Burrow, from the left flank of the union movement, met with the Peres Centre's Dr Ron Pundak during his 5-day visit to Australia to promote the opening of the Australian arm of the centre. Pundak told the AJN... he believed both Plibersek and Vamvakinou are 'pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian*, yet critical of many of the policies of the Israeli Government'." (Peres Centre woos ALP's left faction, The Australian Jewish News, 15/12/06) [*NB Palestinians, not Palestine.]

In 2008, however, despite Pundak's charms, Burrow could still - well, sort of - call a spade a spade in response to Israel's barbarous Operation Hot Winter in Gaza: "ACTU President Sharan Burrow is calling on the Australian government to take the urgent steps required to help parties to avoid further bloodshed and to request commitment from the Israeli Government to adhere to international laws and conventions in respect to military conduct." (The ACTU condemns military attacks against Palestinian & Israeli civilians, actu.asn.au, 5/3/08)

By 2009, however, in response to Israel's even more barbarous Operation Cast Lead (Gaza again), the "bloodshed" was gone, replaced by a "humanitarian crisis," and Australia, not Israel, was told to pull its finger out: "As the situation continues to escalate and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip worsens, the ACTU calls on the Australian government working through the United Nations to increase pressure for an immediate ceasefire and an end to all violent hostilities." (Global action needed to effect immediate Gaza ceasefire & restart peace process, actu.asn.au, 7/1/09)

In 2008, international law and the UN was Burrow's reference point, including a recognition that Israeli occupation was simply not on: "'International humanitarian law prohibits targeting of civilan populations under all circumstances; in this conflict, this applies to both the Israeli military and those launching rockets from Gaza', said Ms Burrow. The ACTU supports the stance of the United Nations... The ACTU's policy is that "real progress be made to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, based on the co-existence of 2 sovereign states in line with United Nations' resolutions. Furthermore, the ACTU opposes the establishment of the 'separation wall' as a violation of Palestinian human rights'. The ACTU supports... UN policy that the occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights should be ended." (ibid)

By 2009, however, the UN's only role was to clean up after Israel and "dialogue" was counselled. (Oh, yeah, and while we're watching the bloodbath in Gaza, let's put our hands together for... Israeli and Palestinian trade unions): "'The people suffering from Israel's military actions and Hamas' rockets are working people who live in Gaza and the Sderot region of Israel. The ACTU has long supported... a genuine internationally-backed negotiation process for a peaceful and sustainable resolution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Ms Burrow said the ACTU applauded the Palestinian and Israeli trade unions in their efforts for peace, for decent work, sustainable jobs and livelihoods, and for social and political rights for workers living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories... The people of Gaza who have been suffering so long without food, fuel, water and medicines, and without the opportunity to travel outside their enclave, must be able to receive essential humanitarian supplies from the United Nations and the international community', Ms Burrow said. She said a solution to bring about a lasting peace will only become possible if there is a willingness for dialogue and creating a ceasefire is the first step." (ibid)

In June 2009, while the ACTU Congress passed ringing resolutions on Western Sahara and Sri Lanka, to cite but two examples, Palestine had magically disappeared from the union agenda. But not, I hasten to add, from Burrow's thoughts, which were decidedly warm & fuzzy on the subject. In July, she once more advanced solidarity between Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists as the definitive answer to the Zionist project of wiping Palestine (and its people) off the map:

"Trade unionists must show they can create practical examples of solidarity between Israelis and Palestinians, the president of the ACTU, Sharan Burrow, told a labour movement meeting in Sydney this week. 'These practical working models would be a demonstration to all that a peaceful end to the strife between the two peoples can be achieved', Ms Burrow told a largely labour movement audience attending a Fringe Event at the Australian Labor Party national conference... The discussions [of practical solutions at the Fringe Event] highlighted the recent creation of a new global labour grouping Trade Unions Linking Israel & Palestine (TULIP) which seeks to promote solidarity with both the Israeli trade union movement, the Histadrut, and the Palestinian trade union movement, the PGFTU. Paul Howes, the national secretary of the AWU, is a founder of TULIP, a global anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) trade union group. Ms Burrow, who is also President of the International Trade Union Confederation [ITUC], related stories about her several visits to the region where she shared both feelings of fear and optimism, despite the horrors, with her Palestinian and Israeli trade union sisters and brothers. She praised the purpose of the Fringe Event to look at what the labour movement does best: 'build solidarity because we recognise that a worker is a worker is a worker, who deserved equal treatment in our eyes as they are all brothers and sisters... If we can build solidarity between unions, first and foremost in this region the PGFTU and the Histadrut - something we have been doing through the work most particularly of the International Transport Workers Federation [ITWF] - then I am sure that trade unions can make a difference." (Unions back Palestine/Israel peace, labor.net.au, 2/8/09)

Still, Burrow somehow manages to take time off from group-hugging her "Palestinian and Israeli trade union sisters and brothers" and popping up at anti-BDS (Israel) functions to head up pro-BDS (Burma) campaigns: "'No company could be proud of dealing with Burma... Major companies around the world are now withdrawing. Businesses who stay in there know they are helping the junta and therefore [abetting] the abuse of human and trade union rights...' Ms Burrow will join Burmese democracy activists in Sydney today for the beginning of a campaign to pressure Australian companies into withdrawing from Burma." (Jetstar denies link to Burma rights abuse, Deborah Snow, Sydney Morning Herald, 28/9/09)

Now let's contrast 'our' ACTU's complete absence of a resolution on Palestine (Burrow's warm and fuzzies notwithstanding) with Resolution 76 of Britain's Trade Union Congress (TUC): "Congress condemns the Government of Israel's January offensive in Gaza resulting in 1,450 Palestinian deaths and 5,000 injured and the massive destruction of infrastructure. Congress further condemns the ongoing blockade that is in contravention of International Law. Congress calls on the General Council to: i) use its influence with the British Government to make appropriate representations to the international community to secure support for a negotiated settlement based on justice for the Palestinians; ii) build solidarity with the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions. Congress condemns the Histadrut statement of 13 January 2009 in which it backed the attacks on Gaza and calls on the GC to pressure the Government to: a) condemn the Israeli military aggression and end the blockade on Gaza; b) end all arms trading with Israel; c) impose a ban on the importing of goods produced in the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories; d) support moves to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Congress further calls on the GC to encourage affiliation to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and to develop an effective Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions campaign by working closely with the PSC to: 1) raise greater awareness on the issues; 2) promote a targeted consumer-led boycott; 3) encourage trade unionists to boycott Israeli goods, especially agricultural products that have been produced in the illegal settlements; 4) encourage campaigns of disinvestment from companies associated with the occupation."

Way to go!

Asleep at the Wheel

"Israel's success at fragmenting physical and geographical Palestine is matched by its success in having shattered the social, political and economic strata as well... during 'Operation Defensive Shield' in the spring of 2002, IDF soldiers were responsible for destroying the records of civic institutions and NGOs throughout the West Bank city of Ramallah, very often the central location for these offices. Ransacking soldiers left furniture and appliances wrecked beyond repair. Food, drink, mud, urine, faeces, and trash covered the floors, and graffiti was scrawled across the walls. After removing computer hard drives (which were transported to Israel) soldiers smashed up the computers and printers rendering them permanently unusable. They spilled out the contents of the filing cabinets, burned or shredded documents and papers leaving them strewn across the floors or scattered in the streets. Soldiers also burned, shredded, and sometimes shot at personal photographs, posters and pictures on the walls. In addition to the destruction of these offices, IDF soldiers vandalized radio and TV stations, banks, schools, hospitals, medical clinics, and cultural centers. Many soldiers broke or shot bullets through office windows, destroyed office, medical and school supplies, trashed the lavatories, and broke down the doors to the buildings." The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle, Ramzy Baroud, 2006 pp 5-6

"Have you seen the [Palestinian] Ministry of Culture, the inside of that?
- I've seen the pictures that [the Palestinians have] shown all over the place.
You've seen the shit - excuse me using the word - all over the place, the broken photocopiers, the files pulled out - what military objective is there in that sort of rampage?
- I don't want to be the one who consistently says that all [the Palestinians] do is lie. But I have problems with a lot of the pictures that I've seen...I just say that we have a code of ethics which is very different from anything else I've heard anywhere else." (Exchange between Debbie Whitmont of the ABC's Four Corners and Colonel Miri Eisin, spokeswoman for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the wake of Israel's 2002 Operation Defensive Shield in the occupied West Bank.)

One such trashed organization in Ramallah was the independent, non-partisan Palestinian NGO Ma'an Development Center. Eleven years of records, data and teaching manuals were destoyed, in addition to equipment to the value of $40,000. The Ma'an Development Center, with a focus on health and aged care, literacy, vocational education and so on, was one of 3 projects in the occupied Palestinian territories funded by the ACTU's Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA. To my knowledge, no mainstream Australian media outlet reported the attack.

Incredibly, the Ma'an Development Center (still funded by APHEDA) has again been trashed by the IDF. According to a 3/4/08 press release, posted on APHEDA's website, the Center's doors were blown open at 2 o'clock in the morning, causing major damage to its offices. Many other public, private, and NGO institutions in Ramallah received similar treatment at the same time. No mainstream Australian media outlet bothered to report the attack.

Another APHEDA-funded Palestinian institution, El Wafa Medical Rehabilitation Hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip, also came under attack, by Israeli tanks. According to a 16/4/08 press release, in addition to its buildings, the cable of the hospital's only generator was damaged, endangering the lives of paralyzed and comatose patients. No mainstream Australian media outlet bothered to report the attack.