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5 February, 2007
The 20-million-member ICEM strongly condemns the Friday, 2 February, rocket blast that destroyed the Gaza headquarters of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) in Jebaliya in northern Gaza. The blast and subsequent assault destroyed the PGFTU’s Voice of Workers radio station.
“The ICEM finds it totally unacceptable that peaceful trade unionists, working hard to promote the rights of workers, must work and live in fear of their lives and that of their family members,” ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said in a letter to Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas.
“The Palestinian Authority has a duty to ensure the personal safety of all trade unionists in accordance with internationally recognised rights, namely the right to life and freedom of association.”
The 2 February destruction of the PGFTU comes just days after the attack on the home of the labour federation’s deputy general secretary, Rasem Al Bayari. It also came amidst the worst sectarian violence in Gaza over the past year. Since 1 February, 28 people have been killed in Gaza and some 250 wounded.
PGFTU General Secretary Shaher Sae'd
Yesterday, 4 February, PGFTU conducted a march and labour demonstration in Ramalah, rejecting the recent violent incidents and attempts to silence the voice of workers. PGFTU General Secretary Shaher Sae’d said that workers reject the killings and destruction of property at a time when Palestinians need to face the impacts of poverty and unemployment.
The ICEM, comprised of 384 trade unions in 125 countries, stands with the PGFTU in its call for a peaceful end to the sectarian violence in Palestine, and the need for a national unity government.
To view the ICEM’s protest letter to Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, click here. For background on the 29 January assassination attempt on Rasem Al Bayari, click here.