Canada’s largest trade union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is to debate the question of Israel and the Palestinians at its National Convention next month in Montreal. Among the four resolutions submitted is one which calls for the union to “support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel”. But there is also a resolution calling for a more balanced approach, which calls on the union to “actively work towards an end to all acts of violence that take the lives of innocent people, whether they be Palestinian or Israeli” and explicitly calls on the union to “not take actions that only target one side of this conflict”. The full text of the resolutions appears below.
Resolution No. 250 (International Solidarity)
Submitted by CUPE Manitoba
CUPE NATIONAL WILL:
1. Re-affirm CUPE National’s policy that was adopted at our 2003 National Convention and re-affirmed at our 2007 Convention. That policy states that we:
a) “Demand that the Israeli Government immediately withdraw from the occupied territories and abide by UN Resolutions 242 and 338;
b) Call for and actively work towards an end to all acts of violence that take the lives of innocent people, whether they be Palestinian or Israeli;
c) Help develop a peace process based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians and based on the implementation of United Nations resolutions and international law”; and
2. Add to the above policy that we not take actions that only target one side of this conflict.
BECAUSE:
• There is a long and terrible conflict that continues to cost many lives today; and
• We must condemn all acts of violence and aggression that continue to emanate from the region; and
• Our international work and actions should be coordinated through our national body and have National Convention support where possible; and
• This issue continues to be a source of discussion and debate in our union with our provinces interpreting the intent of the 2003 policy differently and the place to clarify the intent would be our National Convention; and
• Taking sides in any conflict as long standing and complex as this does not help us resolve it; and
• Actions in one region of our country repeatedly cause other regions to respond to a position on an international issue in another region.
Resolution No. 251 (International Solidarity)
Submitted by CUPE British Columbia
CUPE NATIONAL WILL:
1. Support the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall Campaign against the construction of illegal Israel settlements and the illegal Israel separation wall; and
2. Condemn Israeli attempts to violently disrupt Bil’in’s demonstrations against illegal settlements and the separation wall; and
3. Support the Palestinian village of Bil’in and its fight in the Quebec Superior Court against Green Park International and Green Mount International, Quebec construction companies actively building illegal Jewish-only settlements within Bil’in, in violation of international law and the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act; and
4. Investigate additional steps CUPE can take to support Bil’in and sister villages in the struggle against illegal settlements and the separation wall.
BECAUSE:
• Bil’in is a Palestine village near Ramallah which has over 60% of its land confiscated by illegal settlements and the illegal separation wall; and
• Bil’in is waging a non-violent campaign with weekly demonstrations to defend its land that is fully supported by the Israeli peace movement and international supporters; and
• Bil’in is typical of the situation of Palestinian villages subjected to Israeli land theft; and
• Two Quebec development companies are building illegal settlements on Bil’in contrary to international law, namely the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Resolution No. 252 (International Solidarity)
Submitted by Local 3393 (Ont.)
CUPE NATIONAL WILL:
1. Develop an education campaign to inform and activate CUPE members about the injustice of Israel’s 42-year old military occupation of Palestine, based on CUPE B.C.’s The Wall Must Fall, and CUPE Ontario’s Towards Peace and Justice in the Middle East; and
2. Organize a delegation of CUPE members to Palestine to investigate first hand why increasingly leaders like South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu call the current situation a present-day apartheid; and
3. Investigate and develop policy regarding divestment of CUPE National funds invested in Israel or in corporations involved with the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
BECAUSE:
• Working people in Palestine lack ready access to their workplaces, medical care, water, housing because the military occupation denies their basic civil, human and labour rights; and
• This past winter we witnessed the indiscriminate bombing of thousands of Gazan civilians, including a number of schools; and
• Divestment campaigns were instrumental in the struggle to liberate South Africa from apartheid; and
• Diplomatic efforts during the last 42 years of military occupation have not been successful in ending the military occupation and establishing a just peace for Israel and Palestine.
Resolution No. 253 (International Solidarity)
Submitted by Local 3903 (Ont.)
CUPE NATIONAL WILL:
1. Develop an education campaign to inform and activate CUPE members about the injustice of Israel’s 42-year old military occupation of Palestine, based on CUPE B.C.’s The Wall Must Fall and CUPE Ontario’s Towards Peace and Justice in the Middle East; and
2. Organize a delegation of CUPE members to Palestine to investigate first hand why increasingly leaders like South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu call the current situation a present-day apartheid; and
3. Investigate and develop policy regarding divestment of CUPE National funds invested in Israel or in corporations involved within the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
BECAUSE:
• Working people in Palestine lack ready access to their workplaces, medical care, water, housing because the military occupation denies their basic civil, human and labour rights; and
• This past winter we witnessed the indiscriminate bombing of thousands of Gazan civilians; and
• Divestment campaigns were instrumental in the struggle to liberate South Africa from apartheid; and
• Diplomatic efforts during the last 42 years of military occupation have not been successful in ending the military occupation and establishing a just peace for Israel and Palestine.
Resolution No. 254 (International Solidarity)
Submitted by Local 1979 (Ont.)
CUPE NATIONAL WILL:
1. Support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it fully complies with UN resolutions and international law, notably by dismantling the separation wall, recognizing the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and putting an end to its occupation of Palestinian territories; and
2. Work with human rights organizations to call for an end to all acts of violence that take the lives of innocent people in Israel and the occupied territories.
BECAUSE:
• The situation today in Israel has been described by South African observers as worse than the old apartheid regime of South Africa; and
• In 2005, over 170 Palestinian organizations issued a call for a global campaign of boycotts and divestment against Israel similar to those imposed against South African apartheid; and
• In May 2009, CUPE 1979 participated in a delegation to Israel and Palestine where it witnessed the devastating effects of Israeli apartheid policies; and
• All the organizations met by the delegation, including Palestinian and Jewish organizations in Israel, reiterated the call to support the BDS campaign, stating that it was the single most effective action the international solidarity movement could undertake to help bring about a just and lasting peace.