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31 December, 2008
Find the following statement in Arabic here.
The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Union (ICEM) has added its voice to the calls for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of border crossings between Israel and Palestine to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“It is with shock and horror that I have seen coverage of the bombardment of Gaza in what is now four days of Israeli air strikes that have targeted both Hamas and purely civilian structures, including a major university, a television station, and mosques, as well as refugee camps, which serve as homes to many of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in this densely populated Mediterranean coastal area,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “The loss of innocent Palestinian lives is deplorable and an immediate and fully respected ceasefire by both Israel and Hamas is now clearly the only way forward.”
According to the United Nations, as well as Palestinian officials, more than 370 Palestinians have died in the air strikes, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting that about a third of those killed since Sunday, 27 December - about 90 Palestinians - were civilians including more than 60 women and children. Over 1,000 Palestinians are said to have been injured, many critically, and hospitals and doctors are struggling to treat the injured in the face of chronic shortages of basic medical supplies and blood.
The air strikes have been in response to rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza that have reportedly caused the death of four Israelis and followed the decision of Hamas, which controls Gaza, not to renew a six-month cease fire that had brought a semblance of temporary and relative calm to the area until it expired earlier this month. The action by Hamas is also deplorable and has been strongly criticised by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas is the Islamist movement which won Palestinian elections three years ago and then violently seized full control of Gaza last year.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said Israel's use of force was "disproportionate" and Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in a BBC interview: "Israel is committing a shocking series of atrocities by using modern weaponry against a defenceless population - attacking a population that has been enduring a severe blockade for many months."
Israel has said it is ready for weeks of action to end the threat posed by rockets, one of which on Tuesday landed in Beersheba, 46 km (28 miles) from the Gaza Strip. An extra 2,500 reservists have been called up by the Israeli army and, on the frontier with Gaza, preparations continue for a possible Israeli ground operation. Israel has declared the border area a "closed military zone," which prohibits journalists and others from entering.
There is no entry by sea possible, either. Israeli naval vessels confronted pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the Gaza blockade by boat about 45 miles (70km) off the Israeli coast in international waters. The activists said one vessel had rammed the Palestinians’ craft without issuing a warning during the confrontation. The boat put into port in Lebanon with heavy damage on one side.
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, also President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa called on all parties to address the serious humanitarian needs in Gaza. He said, “There must be the immediate opening of border crossings to ensure that the people of Gaza are supplied with food, water, fuel and medical treatment. The Israeli blockade of Gaza must be immediately lifted and full, unimpeded and urgent access for medical teams allowed.”
ICEM has received a message from Shaher Saed, General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade unions (PGFTU) where he graphically details the suffering Palestinians face, and how Palestinian people only hope to live normal lives without threats of the weapons of occupation.
Saed stated: “It is the human responsibility of the international community to devote all efforts to pressure the Israeli government to stop their aggression and attacks on Palestinian people, who not only face death by the missiles, but also face hunger and death due to the lack of bread, medicine, electricity, and drinking water.”
Clearly, the ICEM believes, there is no military solution to the situation in Gaza or the wider search for peace in the Middle East. There must be a seriously increased international effort to ensure that both Israel and Palestine have the land, rights, and security to live in peace.
ICEM fully endorses the recent statement by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and in particular the statement by ITUC General Secretary, Guy Ryder, that “the cycle of attack and reaction must be be replaced with dialogue, to bring a definitive end to the conflict and establish the basis for the co-existence of Israel and Palestine as two democratic states in peace."
Ryder added, "The international community must bring real pressure to bear to ensure that Israel and Palestine step back from the cycle of violence and follow the path of dialogue. The UN, its Security Council members and all other countries which could use their influence to bring this about, must do so as a matter of the utmost urgency."
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, a former General Secretary of the NUM trade union, is also commended by ICEM for having urged Israelis and Palestinians to stop the violence and asked the international community to find a solution for peace in the Middle East.
"Both parties must do everything their power to come to a solution in order to end the violence in the Middle East," Motlanthe said in a statement. "Violence and counter-violence would not advance the cause of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Strength and efforts must not be spared by the Palestinians and the Israelis to find an amicable solution to their problem."
Motlanthe called for a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state co-existing with an Israel state within secure borders as a lasting solution to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
ICEM fully agrees with this statement and will continue to work for peace in the Middle East. The Geneva-based ICEM is a Global Union Federeation representing 467 trade unions in 141 countries.