CUPE BC ON ISRAEL'S WALL IN WEST BANK
CUPE BC Responds to Vancouver Sun column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement for criticizing Israeli policy in West Bank.

Last Saturday (Feb 5), the Vancouver Sun ran a column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement in general, and CUPE BC in particular, for criticizing Israeli policy on the West Bank. Yaffe singled out the widely-read CUPE BC publication, The Wall Must Fall, for particular scorn, saying that such publications “only contribute to the negative climate on [university] campuses in B.C.”

The following is the union’s response:

Dear Editor (Re: “B.C. unions’ anti-Israel stance is troubling,” Feb. 5),

Trade unions deal principally with wages and working conditions, but we also serve as human rights organizations. As such, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has a long history of debating social justice issues. The point is to give voice to the voiceless, and the publication of educational materials on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, by CUPE BC’s international solidarity committee, follows in that tradition.

The Wall Must Fall is a primer for interested union and community members featuring voices from the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements that are shut out of the mainstream media. By highlighting progressive Canadian and Israeli Jewish opinion, The Wall Must Fall demonstrates that this issue is not a Jewish vs. Palestinian question but one of basic human rights. The pamphlet’s main message is that peace requires the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the end to violence against all Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In fact, this view is entirely consistent with international law and reflects the general program of the federal Liberal and New Democratic Parties. It is not “anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish,” as your columnist erroneously states.

The Wall Must Fall also quotes the words of Israeli Human Rights organization BTSELEM, and the Nobel Prize-winning South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, as saying that apartheid is alive and well in Israel/Palestine because different legal rights and privileges apply to Jews and Palestinians depending on their “nationality” or ethnic background and because of the overall treatment of Palestinians.

By irresponsibly tying CUPE’s promotion of fair coverage of this issue to the victimization of students on university campuses, your columnist is shooting the messenger. The reason students who support Israeli policy feel uncomfortable on their campuses has nothing to do with CUPE and everything to do with the Israeli policy itself, which is currying more and more disfavour with the student body in general.

The only people who should be “troubled” by The Wall Must Fall are those who, like your columnist, offer unconditional support for Israel’s violations of international law. Far more troubling, for those who respect human rights, is Ms. Yaffe’s defense of the building of the separation wall on occupied Palestinian territory; the fact she doesn’t even mention the recent International Court of Justice decision condemning the Wall; and her condoning of the demolition of Palestinian homes—a collective punishment in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.

We hereby challenge the Vancouver Sun, and other Asper-owned media in Canada, to present fair coverage of The Wall Must Fall and other resources like it. We also invite the Sun’s readers to reach their own conclusions by reading the pamphlet themselves. It’s available on our home page, at www.cupe.bc.ca

Barry O’Neill
President, CUPE BC

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CUPE BC ON ISRAEL'S WALL IN WEST BANK
CUPE BC Responds to Vancouver Sun column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement for criticizing Israeli policy in West Bank.

Last Saturday (Feb 5), the Vancouver Sun ran a column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement in general, and CUPE BC in particular, for criticizing Israeli policy on the West Bank. Yaffe singled out the widely-read CUPE BC publication, The Wall Must Fall, for particular scorn, saying that such publications “only contribute to the negative climate on [university] campuses in B.C.”

The following is the union’s response:

Dear Editor (Re: “B.C. unions’ anti-Israel stance is troubling,” Feb. 5),

Trade unions deal principally with wages and working conditions, but we also serve as human rights organizations. As such, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has a long history of debating social justice issues. The point is to give voice to the voiceless, and the publication of educational materials on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, by CUPE BC’s international solidarity committee, follows in that tradition.

The Wall Must Fall is a primer for interested union and community members featuring voices from the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements that are shut out of the mainstream media. By highlighting progressive Canadian and Israeli Jewish opinion, The Wall Must Fall demonstrates that this issue is not a Jewish vs. Palestinian question but one of basic human rights. The pamphlet’s main message is that peace requires the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the end to violence against all Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In fact, this view is entirely consistent with international law and reflects the general program of the federal Liberal and New Democratic Parties. It is not “anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish,” as your columnist erroneously states.

The Wall Must Fall also quotes the words of Israeli Human Rights organization BTSELEM, and the Nobel Prize-winning South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, as saying that apartheid is alive and well in Israel/Palestine because different legal rights and privileges apply to Jews and Palestinians depending on their “nationality” or ethnic background and because of the overall treatment of Palestinians.

By irresponsibly tying CUPE’s promotion of fair coverage of this issue to the victimization of students on university campuses, your columnist is shooting the messenger. The reason students who support Israeli policy feel uncomfortable on their campuses has nothing to do with CUPE and everything to do with the Israeli policy itself, which is currying more and more disfavour with the student body in general.

The only people who should be “troubled” by The Wall Must Fall are those who, like your columnist, offer unconditional support for Israel’s violations of international law. Far more troubling, for those who respect human rights, is Ms. Yaffe’s defense of the building of the separation wall on occupied Palestinian territory; the fact she doesn’t even mention the recent International Court of Justice decision condemning the Wall; and her condoning of the demolition of Palestinian homes—a collective punishment in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.

We hereby challenge the Vancouver Sun, and other Asper-owned media in Canada, to present fair coverage of The Wall Must Fall and other resources like it. We also invite the Sun’s readers to reach their own conclusions by reading the pamphlet themselves. It’s available on our home page, at www.cupe.bc.ca

Barry O’Neill
President, CUPE BC

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CUPE BC ON ISRAEL'S WALL IN WEST BANK
CUPE BC Responds to Vancouver Sun column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement for criticizing Israeli policy in West Bank.

Last Saturday (Feb 5), the Vancouver Sun ran a column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement in general, and CUPE BC in particular, for criticizing Israeli policy on the West Bank. Yaffe singled out the widely-read CUPE BC publication, The Wall Must Fall, for particular scorn, saying that such publications “only contribute to the negative climate on [university] campuses in B.C.”

The following is the union’s response:

Dear Editor (Re: “B.C. unions’ anti-Israel stance is troubling,” Feb. 5),

Trade unions deal principally with wages and working conditions, but we also serve as human rights organizations. As such, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has a long history of debating social justice issues. The point is to give voice to the voiceless, and the publication of educational materials on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, by CUPE BC’s international solidarity committee, follows in that tradition.

The Wall Must Fall is a primer for interested union and community members featuring voices from the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements that are shut out of the mainstream media. By highlighting progressive Canadian and Israeli Jewish opinion, The Wall Must Fall demonstrates that this issue is not a Jewish vs. Palestinian question but one of basic human rights. The pamphlet’s main message is that peace requires the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the end to violence against all Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In fact, this view is entirely consistent with international law and reflects the general program of the federal Liberal and New Democratic Parties. It is not “anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish,” as your columnist erroneously states.

The Wall Must Fall also quotes the words of Israeli Human Rights organization BTSELEM, and the Nobel Prize-winning South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, as saying that apartheid is alive and well in Israel/Palestine because different legal rights and privileges apply to Jews and Palestinians depending on their “nationality” or ethnic background and because of the overall treatment of Palestinians.

By irresponsibly tying CUPE’s promotion of fair coverage of this issue to the victimization of students on university campuses, your columnist is shooting the messenger. The reason students who support Israeli policy feel uncomfortable on their campuses has nothing to do with CUPE and everything to do with the Israeli policy itself, which is currying more and more disfavour with the student body in general.

The only people who should be “troubled” by The Wall Must Fall are those who, like your columnist, offer unconditional support for Israel’s violations of international law. Far more troubling, for those who respect human rights, is Ms. Yaffe’s defense of the building of the separation wall on occupied Palestinian territory; the fact she doesn’t even mention the recent International Court of Justice decision condemning the Wall; and her condoning of the demolition of Palestinian homes—a collective punishment in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.

We hereby challenge the Vancouver Sun, and other Asper-owned media in Canada, to present fair coverage of The Wall Must Fall and other resources like it. We also invite the Sun’s readers to reach their own conclusions by reading the pamphlet themselves. It’s available on our home page, at www.cupe.bc.ca

Barry O’Neill
President, CUPE BC

News & Analysis

CUPE BC ON ISRAEL'S WALL IN WEST BANK
CUPE BC Responds to Vancouver Sun column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement for criticizing Israeli policy in West Bank.

Last Saturday (Feb 5), the Vancouver Sun ran a column by Barbara Yaffe that criticized the labour movement in general, and CUPE BC in particular, for criticizing Israeli policy on the West Bank. Yaffe singled out the widely-read CUPE BC publication, The Wall Must Fall, for particular scorn, saying that such publications “only contribute to the negative climate on [university] campuses in B.C.”

The following is the union’s response:

Dear Editor (Re: “B.C. unions’ anti-Israel stance is troubling,” Feb. 5),

Trade unions deal principally with wages and working conditions, but we also serve as human rights organizations. As such, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has a long history of debating social justice issues. The point is to give voice to the voiceless, and the publication of educational materials on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, by CUPE BC’s international solidarity committee, follows in that tradition.

The Wall Must Fall is a primer for interested union and community members featuring voices from the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements that are shut out of the mainstream media. By highlighting progressive Canadian and Israeli Jewish opinion, The Wall Must Fall demonstrates that this issue is not a Jewish vs. Palestinian question but one of basic human rights. The pamphlet’s main message is that peace requires the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the end to violence against all Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In fact, this view is entirely consistent with international law and reflects the general program of the federal Liberal and New Democratic Parties. It is not “anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish,” as your columnist erroneously states.

The Wall Must Fall also quotes the words of Israeli Human Rights organization BTSELEM, and the Nobel Prize-winning South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, as saying that apartheid is alive and well in Israel/Palestine because different legal rights and privileges apply to Jews and Palestinians depending on their “nationality” or ethnic background and because of the overall treatment of Palestinians.

By irresponsibly tying CUPE’s promotion of fair coverage of this issue to the victimization of students on university campuses, your columnist is shooting the messenger. The reason students who support Israeli policy feel uncomfortable on their campuses has nothing to do with CUPE and everything to do with the Israeli policy itself, which is currying more and more disfavour with the student body in general.

The only people who should be “troubled” by The Wall Must Fall are those who, like your columnist, offer unconditional support for Israel’s violations of international law. Far more troubling, for those who respect human rights, is Ms. Yaffe’s defense of the building of the separation wall on occupied Palestinian territory; the fact she doesn’t even mention the recent International Court of Justice decision condemning the Wall; and her condoning of the demolition of Palestinian homes—a collective punishment in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.

We hereby challenge the Vancouver Sun, and other Asper-owned media in Canada, to present fair coverage of The Wall Must Fall and other resources like it. We also invite the Sun’s readers to reach their own conclusions by reading the pamphlet themselves. It’s available on our home page, at www.cupe.bc.ca

Barry O’Neill
President, CUPE BC