So what do members a Trade Union dedicated to journalistic freedom and independence do when they see piece of journalism they don’t like?

Well, the NUJ’s Vice President Donnacha Delong called for NUJ members to protest outside the BBC, and for BBC NUJ Chapels (ie branches) to put out ‘a statement’, presumably condemning one of their own members for writing something they disapprove of.

And another senior NUJ activist wants the NUJ to force the BBC to commission another Panorama that is more politically acceptable to them.

It’s a real shame – but no a surprise – that senior activists in a journalists’ union are prepared to throw out their founding principles in favour of attacking Israel.

First email –

From: donnacha.delong@tiscali.co.uk

To: leftlist@lists.riseup.net

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:26:54 +0100

Subject: [leftlist] Demonstration called at the BBC

Ken O’Keefe and (one of) the Muslim Defence League(s) have called a demo on Sunday at BBC Television Centre.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=151713191507367&index=1

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it, but it would be really good to have NUJ people. A statement from some of the BBC Chapels wouldn’t go amiss, particularly with the prospect of a strike at the BBC. The last thing we need is people attacking the BBC in its entirety as a result of this, and I’ve seen a few examples of that already on Facebook.

D.

—-

The National Union of Journalists runs a discussion list for people working in new media, join the debates at:

http://mailman.journonet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/newmedia

second email

From: Larry Herman <larry@larryherman.net>

Sender: leftlist-owner@lists.riseup.net

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:27:23 +0100

To: Tim Gopsill<timgo@inweb.co.uk>

Cc: ‘Vicki Morris’<vickimorris@btinternet.com>; <leftlist@lists.riseup.net>

Subject: Re: [leftlist] Israeli propaganda machine

On 17 Aug 2010, at 15:25, Tim Gopsill wrote:

…  And the issue is not religion or ideology but western militarism and imperialism, …

Hello,

Our legitimate reaction to the BBC Panorama pro Zionist programme has thrown up profound questions and has, once again, labeled those of us who fight for self determination of all the world’s peoples, including for those who live in the UK, closed – minded bigots and specifically, in this case, Jew haters. Those who sneer and seek to denigrate our views are wrong, but we don’t fear their slander because it shows our strength. Our responsibility is to determine how we better organise to take on the enemies of humanity and their apologists who live their lives giving the politics of reaction credibility.

There are many explanations why Zionism was organised in the 19th Century and why it was able to establish its state after the Second World War, why this State was violently inserted into Palestine and why Israel has carried on a sixty-year war to defend its interests. Israel is the form that imperialism takes in the Middle East. The Apartheid governments in South Africa were another, and equally unique, form of imperialism. The support of all American big capitalists, their governments and military, since the mid 1950’s (and before) for the Zionist state is because it defends Imperialism and Israel is its imperialist  beachhead in that part of the world.

American imperialisms has always fought wars to extend its interests, whether in The philippines in 1898, in the First and Second World Wars and now throughout Western Asia and North Africa ( of course, on other continents, too. The biggest military base outside of the United States is in Honduras!). It’s not the very active and well funded lobbyists in the United States that cause the American Government’s defence of the Zionist State; to argue this is playing into the hands of anti-semitism. The nefarious activity of pro Zionist organisations and individuals throughout the world exists because of the historic weakness of imperialism. That’s why they are compelled to do what they do.

I enthusiastically acknowledge that anti – Zionism occupies our political activity today because of several decades of Palestinian resistance. But, it’s not what we are against that defines people, but it’s what we are in favour of. If there were ever a crises of leadership it is there, in Palestine, for all progressives to see. As activists, we are in harmony with the Palestinian people in their struggle for self – determination. We are transformed into anti imperialist fighters through building this solidarity. We, as NUJ activists, have struggled to be heard in the past and will continue to organise against bigotry.  Perhaps, beginning with a demand, supported by a Union – wide campaign, that the BBC fund a ‘Panorama Two” putting the different view. The Leftlist should convene an immediate meeting, with an agenda, open to all who are opposed to the the content of the Panorama film, to initiate this demand within the Union.

Yours,

Larry

I was at Elton John’s sold-out concert last night at Ramat Gan stadium, and thought this greeting he delivered was spot-on and deserves wide distribution.

Elton told the crowd that he was happy to be back in Israel (he played here in 1993), and in a reference to anti-Israel boycotters who called on him to cancel the show, proudly proclaimed “ain’t nobody gonna stop us from coming here.” He said that as a musician his job was to spread love and peace, and that “we don’t cherry-pick our conscience,” a line for which he received extended applause.

I took this to be a sharp dig at the hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness of figures in the West who focus their ire almost exclusively on Israel, and particularly at his fellow musicians who have recently cancelled their shows here, such as Elvis Costello, the Pixies, Gil Scott-Heron and others.

How many musicians have cancelled their concerts in America because of the thousands of civilians the U.S. military has killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and in drone attacks in Pakistan?

• UCU Congress begins this weekend, running from 30th May – 1st June, in Manchester
• This year, UCU Congress will debate three motions that relate to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

• The first of these, SFC14, encourages the Union to build links with Palestinian academics and unions

• The second motion, SFC15, is called “Palestinian Solidarity, BDS, and Histadrut”
• It reaffirms UCU’s support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel “within legal constraints”
• It forces UCU to establish and fund a “research centre into complicity with Israeli breaches”, a BDS website, and an annual pro-boycott conference
• It demands UCU severs all ties with the Histadrut, the Israeli TUC
• An amendment to this motion would refer the decision on Histadrut to a special committee

• The third motion, SFC16 “Ariel and West Bank Colonisation”, formally starts the procedure to institute an academic boycott against Ariel College

• Additionally, a motion SFC17, called “UCU invitation to Bongani Masuku of South Africa”, comes from Oxford University’s UCU branch
• It was submitted in response to UCU’s invitation of Bongani Masuku to a UCU boycott conference this winter
• It dissociates UCU from his views and actions, and formally censures those who invited Masuku to the conference

• Stop the Boycott’s 2007 polling showed that the Union’s membership is largely moderate and neutral on the Middle East
• However, UCU Congress is always unrepresentatively hostile to Israel and has a record of supporting discriminatory policies

• If the motion “Palestinian Solidarity, BDS, and Histadrut” passes, UCU will be converting itself from a Trade Union into am organisation focused on promoting division and discrimination
• Sally Hunt holds the international portfolio on the Trades Union Congress’ General Council
• She cannot hold this position, which requires her to work closely with the Histadrut, while her Union is undermining these ties

Donate Here to support Stop the Boycott.

In its efforts to become a member of the OECD, Israel has reformed its economy in areas involving combating corruption or protecting intellectual property rights for example. The country will benefit from the transformative effects of OECD membership and the OECD will take advantage of Israel’s advanced scientific and technological policies.

The decision to accept Israel as a permanent member was unanimous, although anti-Israeli groups tried to prevent Israel’s entry to the organisation. These failed attempts are proof of Israel’s firm stand in the international community. They demonstrate that the Jewish state is appreciated for its achievements, despite violent criticism of its political decisions and security policy. Israel is succesfully integrating into more and more international forums, thus countering anti-Zionist efforts to undermine Israel in the international arena.

On March 31st UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade unions, announced their support for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s effort to end the sale of Israeli settlement produce in Britain. On the face of it this is hardly a controversial position – the settlements established from 1967 onwards are widely considered illegal and a barrier to the peace process.

However, a closer look at the ideology and discourse of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign show that all is not as it seems. The PSC have an interesting article on their website entitled 62 Years of Nakba in which they state the following:

The United Nations had proposed a partition plan giving 55% of ancient Palestine for a Jewish state but the Zionists – who had targeted the whole of Palestine for the creation of a Jewish State long before the Nazi atrocities – took 78% of the land by terrorist tactics and military force.

The clear implication here is that it is not the land taken in the 1967 war by Israel that is occupied, but rather much of the land that Israel controlled after the 1948 War of Independence. Under this thinking, the cities such as Ashdod, Beersheva and Jaffa are considered occupied Palestinian land. Does the PSC consider produce from these areas as ‘settlement goods’ that should be boycotted?

The PSC’s ‘Settlements – The Fact’ briefing sheet again reiterates this position :

In 1947, the UN partitioned Palestine (whose population was 70% Palestinian Arab) and decreed that 55% of the land would be used to create Israel. In 1948, Zionist forces seized more land, razing about 500 Palestinian villages to the ground and driving 750,000 Palestinians abroad as refugees. More than 13,000 Palestinians were killed.

The PSC is deliberately blurring the line between the lands occupied in 1967, and the State of Israel as established in 1948. The TUC, UNISON, and other trade unions that sign up to the PSC campaign to boycott settlement goods should clearly distance themselves from any attempt to conflate the two. Failure to do so could result in a full scale boycott of Israeli goods, which would be a barrier to peace and significantly damage Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists and workers on the ground. Opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank should be accompanied by solidarity with grassroots activists in the Histadrut and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions. It is the workers on the ground that want to see a just and long lasting peace for Israel and Palestinian – and it is groups like the PSC that seek to undermine them at every turn.

Yesterday the PSC quietly amended the advert for their campaign.

Spot the difference:

Before

After

Its website currently has a graphic (below) which says “Get Involved: Boycott Israeli Goods”. The words are on top of the logos of various companies which people are supposed to boycott.

PSC's boycott graphic - Click for larger version

What are these companies? Some are a bit unclear, but we could recognise the following names or logos:

• Auchan
• Ball Park
• Bumble and Bumble
• Calvin Klein
• Clinique
• CNN
• Coca Cola
• Disney
• Doctor Pepper
• Donna Karan
• GAP
• Garnier
• Giorgio Armani
• Hanes
• HarperCollins
• Huggies
• Hugo Boss
• IBM
• ICQ
• Intel
• JC Penney
• Johnson and Johnson
• L’eggs

If you can identify any logos we’ve missed, let us know in the comments.

This is a pretty weird list, even if it does only include the first half of the alphabet. For a start, none of these are even Israeli companies!

• Some used to be Israeli, eg ICQ which was bought by Yahoo twelve years ago.
• Some have factories or shops in Israel (like Coca Cola or Intel).
• More worryingly, the list includes various make-up brands owned by Estee Lauder, presumably because the Lauder family are prominent American Jews and Zionists.
• And some on the list have only the most tenuous connections to Israel, if any – like CNN.

From this list, it’s clear that the boycott campaign isn’t even pretending to have a guiding logic. It’s just throwing in any company that has a vague link to Israel.

So are the PSC Executive Committee and employees actually boycotting all of these brands? Will PSC’s affiliated Trade Unions stop using Intel’s computers, J&J’s medicine and Disney’s new Alice in Wonderland? If not, they’re just a bunch of hypocrites.

This is a Guest-post from Northern Ireland Friends of Israel.

Originally from Donaghadee, Laura Kafif does not have to search around for job satisfaction.

Fourteen years ago the former hairdresser and part owner of a salon in Bangor left Northern Ireland for a new life in Israel with her Israeli husband Boaz.

When her own son was safely off to nursery school, Laura volunteered with Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), an Israeli charity, which brings thousands of children from around the world to Israel in order to carry out life-saving heart surgery unavailable  in their own countries.

On January 28 this year Save a Child’s Heart hit the headlines when a 6 year old boy named Woodley, together with his aunt, flew from Haiti to Tel-Aviv with the returning Israeli rescue team.  Woodley was greeted at the airport by hundreds of well-wishers, including the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Woodley was brought to Israel by SACH to undergo complicated cardiac surgery he desperately needs to survive.

Laura explains that SACH is totally dedicated to the idea that every child deserves the best medical treatment available, regardless of the child’s nationality, religion, colour, gender or financial situation.

Since  SACH was founded in 1995, by the late cardiac surgeon Dr Ami Cohen, it has saved the lives of more than 2,300 children from 36  countries – many of which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. 40% of the children who underwent cardiac surgery are from Africa; 49% from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan & Iraq;  the remainder from many other countries including the former USSR, China, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The children brought to Israel are treated at the Wolfson Medical Centre in Holon by a team of 70 dedicated experts who, from chief surgeon to the physiotherapist, contribute a substantial portion of their time without any payment from SACH.

The children are hosted at the SACH children’s home in nearby Azor before and after their treatment.

And that is where Laura comes in, her job is to run the children’s home. “As a child’s average stay in Israel is three months I get to know the children personally”, she says

Laura explains: “My son had just started Kindergarden so I just decided to show up at the SACH house to see how I could help. SACH had grown and were in the process of moving to a larger house.   After volunteering for six months, I was offered a job. I have been with SACH for eight and a half years, travelling twice to Zanzibar on medical missions with the SACH  medical team”.

In Laura’s care at the moment are five children from Gaza, children from Iraq, as well as children from Angola, Ghana, Uganda and the Gambia.

“Working for SACH is so completely different to what I was doing before I came to Israel.  Maybe it is a little clichéd to say, but there is nothing like working with these children and their escorts and seeing them within a few weeks after surgery,  running and playing like any child should.”

”During the month of February SACH is running a Valentines Day campaign.  Please visit their new interactive donation web page, watch world music innovator Idan Raichel hanging out with the children, and take a moment to “Give Your Heart…and Save a Life.”

If you would like to know more about Save a Childs Heart visit their website : www.saveachildsheart.org ]]> http://www.fairplaycg.org.uk/2010/02/nifi-from-donaghadee-to-israel-%e2%80%93-with-a-heart/feed/ 0 http://www.fairplaycg.org.uk/2010/02/baroness-tonge-sacked-by-libdems/ http://www.fairplaycg.org.uk/2010/02/baroness-tonge-sacked-by-libdems/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:51:43 +0000 fpcg http://www.fairplaycg.org.uk/?p=595 Baroness Tonge, a Liberal Democrat peer was fired from her front-bench health role after calling for an investigation into wild allegations that Israeli rescue teams had stolen Haitian organs while responding to the earthquake.

The following joint reaction to the sacking of Baroness Tonge by Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg was issued by the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews:

“Baroness Tonge’s support for an investigation into baseless accusations of organ harvesting by the Israeli rescue teams are outrageous and a calumny.

Baroness Tonge has promoted this libel against Israel by utilising historic themes that are classically deployed to attack the Jewish People. She has dishonoured the noble efforts of Israeli soldiers and civilians who engaged in a selfless humanitarian effort to save lives in Haiti.

Whatever her motives, Jenny Tonge’s persistent use of Antisemitic tropes has no place in British politics. Nick Clegg has responded swiftly and correctly. We welcome this. Nevertheless, any further use of antisemitic rhetoric must result in Tonge’s expulsion from the party and loss of the whip.”