Press Release: Wednesday 4th July 2007
We believe the T&G Boycott Vote to boycott Israel is: "a
kick in the teeth for the Palestinians"
Today Stop The Boycott Campaign branded the T&G's vote to boycott Israel as "gesture politics." The T & G at their conference in Brighton today voted to boycott Israeli products and Israeli goods, supported by their executive.
Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council said:
"The new government's policy in the Middle East centres around what
Gordon Brown has described as an "economic roadmap", promoting
economic engagement and investment for peace. The Palestinian people
are desperate need of such engagement at this time. The T & G vote cuts
right across this strategy, sends out the opposite message and is actually
a kick in the teeth to the Palestinians. We are sure that rank and file
members of the union will ignore this vote."
In response Lorna Fitzsimons, the Chief Executive of BICOM, says
"This vote won't help the Palestinians and it won't help bring about peace.
Lets be clear this is a bad day for T & G and their members. Playing fair is a
British characteristic which today is not on show. Further more, it is in
direct conflict with the strategy set out by Gordon Brown of economic
regeneration in the area, as the Palestinian Authority is totally reliant on
Israel's economy."
ENDS
Notes for editors
The T & G is part of UNITE which was formed after a merger of Amicus and
the Transport and General Workers Union as of May 1st 2007
- Unite the 2 million strong with an annual income of £150 million
- Represents workers across multiple areas including road transport,finance, manufacturing, print, aviation, food and farming, public servicesand many others
- Invest £7.5 million on organising, rising to around £15 million (10% membership income), the biggest investment of any union in the UK and Ireland
- Represent workers across Britain and Ireland with 10 regions including 7 in England based on Regional Development Authority boundaries, and Scotland, Ireland and Wales
- Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley will serve as joint general secretaries until Derek Simpson retires in December 2010. An election for general secretary of the new union will be held in September 2010.
The decision by the recent University and College Union conference to consider a boycott of Israeli universities has been widely condemned by politicians of all parties, trade unionists, Palestinian groups, and academics.
In response "Stop the Boycott" has been formed. We are a bespoke coalition of academics, Jewish and non- Jewish groups across the UK who have come together to counter the UCU's decision.
The campaign is being sponsored by BICOM and the Fair Play Campaign Group.
We can be contacted at:
0207 636 5500 / 0207 467 8949 and the press officer is Khevyn Limbajee, the Head of Media at BICOM, who can be reached 24/7 on 07984 924 962 and at press@stoptheboycott.org
Our website is live at http://www.stoptheboycott.org/
