TUFI Blog – Delegation to Israel & Palestine

The popular blog Harry’s Place has written about TUFI’s delegation.  Read the post and the comments here.

TUFI Delegation 2009 overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem

To see more photos of the delegation, click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tufiphotos/

The fourth day of the delegation included a trip to the Southern Israeli town of Sderot, a tour of an Osem food plant, a meeting with Sderot’s municipality and briefing from a trauma treatment specialist.  Finally the delegation visited a power station in Ashkelon with lunch hosted by the Employees Committee of Israeli Electric Company.

Today’s blog is written by Joe McGowen:

Today we visited Sderot in Southern Israel.  Sderot has been attacked by missiles fired from the Gaza Strip over 8,000 times since 2001, causing a horrific toll of death, injury and trauma to the civilian population.

The shop stewards at the Osan food factory showed us the concrete shelters they have to run to during a missile attack.  The citizens of Sderot have only 15 seconds to flee before the missiles hit the town.

Delegates outside Osem food factory in Sderot

The experience of meeting people exposed to the constant strain of missile attacks from Hamas was shocking.  These people can’t live normal lives, their children cannot play outside, their homes and public buildings are covered in concrete.

Everything is governed by the cruel and wholly indiscriminate reality of missile attacks.

There can be no justification for targeting civilians and the people of this brave town have every right to be defended by their democratically elected government.

What is even more disturbing is that Hamas is now developing missiles with the ability to fire over 60 kilometres, which would threaten the main population centres in the heart of Israel.

Just some of the thousands of rockets that have been fired from Gaza

In all the discussions about the tragedy of the war in Gaza in December/January it should be remembered that the conflict would not have happened if Hamas had not so relentlessly spent the last eight years trying to kill Israeli citizens in towns like Sderot.

On the third day the delegation drove to the security fence/wall and then went through the Hawara checkpoint on the way to Nablus.  In Nablus the delegation had meetings with leaders from the PGFTU (Palestinian TUC) and Palestinian Authority representatives.   In the evening the delegation had dinner with the British Ambassador HE Tom Phillips at his residence in Tel Aviv.

The third day’s post is written by Mike Dixon, an USDAW National Executive member:

When I set off for Israel and Palestine, I wanted to find out what each side thought and find the truth.

After two days talking to various ministers and trade union officials I was excited and positive at what I had heard.  Today (Wednesday 4 November) we had meetings with Palestinians in Nablus: some positive things came out, but overall I was disappointed with a top official when this person called her neighbours the “enemy” and the meeting got a bit tasty shall we say.  I wonder if she should be in that job as she came across as very bitter.

Delegates walking through West Bank town of Nablus

There was a discussion about the boycott and it is clear that Palestinians don’t want it – all they want is equal pay and a living.

Meeting with Palestinian trade unionists

Over the last few years there has been a lot of good work done on both sides.  For example, there has been checkpoint closures, which in turn has brought more trust on both sides.

This means people will believe peace will come quicker.  Since the fence has gone up, suicide bombings have stopped – I think the quicker they get round the negotiation table the better it will be for everyone.

The Hawara Checkpoint into Nablus has been closed

So back home we must spread the good word and work and hope that peace can come quickly.

I will say words do come cheap sometimes so we must take what we are told as true as we see.

The second day of the delegation included: a meeting with the Jerusalem Municipality Employees Committee, a tour of Yad Vashem museum, a tour of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre, a meeting with the Chairman of the Histadrut (Israeli TUC), Mr Ofer Eini, and finally dinner hosted by UCAPSE trade union.

The second post is written by Gerry Moloney, the Head of Communications at Advance union:

One of the most surprising things about Israel is the lack of ill-well and bad sentiment between Jewish Israelis and the Israeli-Arabs.

We have visited both Jewish orthodox areas and Arab areas and found both communities mixing freely.

Each community seemed to be perfectly at ease with the other.  This was the exact opposite of what I expected to see – it was certainly the opposite of what the media in the United Kingdom report.

Another surprise, related to the above point, was the lack of security in evidence around Jerusalem.  The media propagate Israel as being a “military state” but the reality is that there has been no military presence in evidence at all.

What has been most striking is the good-will that each community has shown to both us and each other.

Delegates with Jerusalem Municipality Employees Committee

Listening to people from both communities on the subject of the proposed international trade union boycott, it is evident that all parties oppose this action.  In a meeting with the Jerusalem Municipality workers, one view from the Palestinian contingent was that a boycott would be more detrimental to the Arab workforce than any other.

The reason for this was that in the event of economic sanctions, it would cause a detrimental impact on the employment levels of their community.

Delegates with Chairman of the Histadrut, Ofer Eini

In the afternoon we visited the Holocaust centre in Jerusalem, which was both disturbing and thought provoking in its portrayal of the events.  Anybody who intends to study the subject should visit this centre as a mandatory part of their study.

Finally, having spent a few days in Israel, I certainly intend to return for a holiday.  The reception from all communities has been most hospitable and kind to us.  The cities are both authentically traditional in parts and completely modern in other parts, the climate is a warm and inviting as any Mediterranean resort and, most importantly, completely safe.

The first day of TUFI’s delegation included a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem, meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a meeting with Israeli’s Welfare Minister, Itzhak Hertzog, a meeting with a representative of the UN Quartet and finally a dinner hosted by the Government Employees Union.

The first delegate post is by Terry McCorran, a Unison Branch Chair (attending in a personal capacity)

The first thing to say is that Israel was not what I expected, at all.

It was a big surprise when we first landed.  I was expecting a large Israeli military presence – like there used to be in my home town of Belfast – but throughout the day we only saw a handful of soldiers walking around Jerusalem.

Unlike the perception from all the media reports, it was incredibly calm in Jerusalem, and the security presence was very light, even in the heart of the Jewish and Arab quarters.

View of the Old City of Jerusalem

We were told that the security was lighter than it had been for some time and that there had not been any Hamas suicide bombers for a number of years.  In fact, since Israel built its security barrier, to protect against terrorists attacks, the amount of suicide bombings has dropped by 90%.  It seems that this has enabled Israel to feel safer and therefore lift many security restrictions, making life easier for many Palestinians.

It is hard to describe how intertwined the significant religious sites are in the Old City  – Churches, Mosques and Synagogues next to each other, overlapping and sometimes even on top of one another.  The proximity is astounding.

I expected to see friction and stand-offs, but people were just getting on with their lives with complete religious tolerance and freedom.

The thing that struck me the most was the mix of people in the different quarters – Arabs, Israelis, Jews, Muslims, Christians and secular people all walking and working freely side by side.  Our Jewish guide seemed to be friends with every Palestinian in the Arab quarter and everyone was working together.

I got the impression that if left to their own devises – if the extremists on both sides backed off – the people of Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine would have peace.

In the afternoon we had a meeting with Itzhak Hertzog, Israel’s Minister of Welfare and Social Services, held at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament building.  He spoke about how democratic Israel’s parliament was, with members from a whole host of parties from across the political and religious spectrum.

After the meeting we were lucky enough to be taken into the Knesset’s chamber while it was in session.  It just so happened that when we walked in an Arab Member of the Knesset was making a speech against some of the government’s policies in the West Bank.

Later in the day we had a very positive meeting with a representative working for Tony Blair at the UN Quartet office in Jerusalem.

UN Quartet Representative with delegate from Community Union

He said that although there were still many problems for people in the West Bank, there had been significant achievements in the last twelve months.  He said that for the first time the Palestinian Authority was performing on the security side, which in turn has lead to improvements with security and access.

He emphasised that there was no comparison to how it was just two years ago, with checkpoints being opened up and dismantled and the economy growing dramatically in the West Bank.

Again this was another positive that has not been reported by the media.  And this is my concluding point – the main eye opener of the day for me is that there seems to be little or no resemblance between what I have seen today and how Israel is sometimes portrayed in the media back home.

We have seven trade union delegates confirmed for our delegation:

• Sheila Bearcroft, GMB Central Executive Council Member & TUC President 2009
• Gerry Moloney, Advance Union, Head of Communications
• Mike Dixon, Usdaw National Executive Member
• Robert Mooney, Community Union National Executive Member
• Duncan Harrod, Community Union, PR & Communications Officer
• Terry McCorron, Unison Branch Chair (attending in a personal capacity)
• Trade union Regional Officer

Welcome to TUFI’s new delegation blog!

You will now be able to follow us as we take a delegation of senior trade unionists around Israel and Palestine from 1-6 November 2009.

The trip will involve a full itinerary of briefings with sister unions, factory visits, a tour of the security fence/wall, and meetings with the Histadrut, the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions(PGFTU), government officials, ministers and others.

A trade union delegate will be posting on this blog each day, giving you an insight into their experiences and opinions. And we will also be posting photos and videos as the delegation progresses.

You will also be able to follow the TUFI delegation on the road with Twitter, and keep up-to-date with our RSS feed.

We look forward to reading your comments!