Canadian Union of Postal Workers Votes to Sup****t Boycott of Israel
author Friday April 18, 2008 18:19author by Fuad Zir - IMEMC News Re****t
this post to the editors
Palestine's Boycott National Committee Issues Statement Saluting the
Postal Workers' Boycott
Resolution
At their annual national convention, delegates of the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers
(CUPW)representing 50,000 workers across Canada, voted overwhelmigly in
favor of resolution
338/339. The resolution commits the union to sup****t the Palestinian
people's inalienable
rights including the right of return. The resolution also joins the global
campaign of
"boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS)against Israeli Apartheid."
bds_poster.jpg
In a statement issued on Friday, the BDS National Committee (BNC) in
Palestine, which
represents over 200 Palestinian civil society organizations, saluted what
it called a "historic
resolution." The BNC statement further stated that the resolution
"exemplifies the cause of
workers' solidarity against oppression and racism, particularly at a time
when Israel is
intensifying, with impunity, its acts of genocide against close to 1.5
million Palestinians in
occupied Gaza."
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)'s resolution is the first
boycott resolution passed
by a labor union at the national level in North America. It follows a
similar resolution that
was passed in May 2006 by the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of
Public Employees.
The workers comprising the CUPW have a history of international
solidarity. The union passed a
similar resolution during the boycott campaign against the South African
Apartheid regime.
During that period, Canadian postal workers, members of the union, refused
to handle mail to
and from South Africa as part of the boycott.
While stemming from a long history of non-violent civil action, the
Palestinian BDS campaign
was officially launched in July 2005, when over 170 Palestinian civil
society organizations
signed an appeal to the people of the world calling for a BDS campaign
against Israel. The call
states that these non-violent measures to isolate Israel "should be
maintained until Israel
meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable
right to
self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international
law by: 1. Ending its
occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall; 2.
Recognizing the
fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full
equality; and 3.
Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to
return to their
homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194."
Since the call was issued in 2005, several churches, labor unions, and
civil society
organizations have responded to the call by taking action to implement
BDS.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com
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