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March 6, 2009
Union boycotts Israel
Resolution supporters "extremist": Kenney.
DAVE GORDON
Ontario's largest public sector union, CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Ontario, has passed a controversial resolution singling out Israel for boycott.
Members met in Windsor, Ont., recently. Heading the initiative was CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan, with a call on Ontario universities to boycott Israeli institutions doing research that may benefit Israel's military.
The union's motion, Resolution 50, continues a two-year-long campaign of Israeli boycott, divestment and sanctions. The resolution says the union, "encourages public forums to discuss the academic boycott of Israel," condemns the "Israeli Apartheid Wall" and will "develop an education campaign about the apartheid nature of the Israeli state."
The resolution alleges that Canadian university administrators have been guilty of limiting free speech on campus, penalizing staff for speaking out against Israel, and squelching dialogue about "the occupation of Palestine."
In a parliamentary statement, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney juxtaposed recent harassment of pro-Israel students on Canadian campuses with the resolution. He said the hostility is "in the same spirit" and described the union's resolution supporters as "intolerant" and "extremist."
He also said motions that specifically single out Israel for censure delegitimize the country's existence and, "in the most vile language possible," undermine Canadian values.
Ryan and CUPE have not limited the discussion to only Canadian or Israeli academia. The resolution included support for Birzeit University, a Palestinian institution in the West Bank.
In a January Globe and Mail interview, Ryan likened the Israeli Defence Forces' attack on Islamic University in Gaza to book-burnings by Nazis. He issued a statement of retraction two days later. The university, which the New York Times has said serves as a breeding ground for Hamas trainees, was reportedly being used to house munitions for the terrorist group. The school was evacuated days before the attack, according to the BBC.
Sparked by Israel's incursion into Gaza last month, the union and member group the University Workers Coordinating Committee included in the resolution text that "over 1,300" Palestinians were killed. One section of the CUPE website stated the assault on Gaza killed 1,400 Palestinians and, in another page, "nearly 900." According to media reports, approximately 1,300 Palestinians were killed, of which at least 580 are confirmed to have been terrorists from Hamas and other groups.
Ryan did not return a call to the Jewish Independent before press time.
There are currently no resolutions tabled by CUPE Ontario to protest any other country for military actions or human rights violations. In a recent press release, Ryan stated that the union has voiced concern over Iran, Ireland, Guatemala, Hamas and Egypt in the past. Other international issues of interest to CUPE Ontario are that hundreds of workers at a Turkish leather manufacturer, DESA, decided to join a union.
In a different press release, Ryan said his union would also examine if its pension plan is investing in companies developing weapons in Israel that may be used against the Palestinians.
Paul Moist, the president of CUPE's national office, issued a statement of disapproval of the Ontario union's resolution.
"The views expressed in the resolution are those of a small number of CUPE Ontario members. The resolution does not represent CUPE national policy. CUPE is made up of autonomous provincial divisions and local unions, each of which has the right to adopt policies independent of one another, and independent of the national union."
CUPE's national policy on the Middle East, he added, demands that "the Israeli government immediately withdraws" from the West Bank and abides by United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338 concerning the territories in and around Israel. The policy also calls for the end of violence from both the Israelis and Palestinians.
B'nai Brith Canada has characterized Moist's statement as "a positive development."
"[We] hope that it will be part and parcel of what must be a consistent ongoing strategy by CUPE national to denounce the vehemently anti-Israel agenda for which its Ontario affiliate has become notorious," said Frank Dimant, B'nai Brith Canada's executive vice-president, in a press release. "Paul Moist should seize this opportunity to take CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan to task for his promotion of a resolution that is, at its core, racist and discriminatory...."
Len Rudner, Ontario's regional director of Canadian Jewish Congress, said that the motion has the potential to deprive individuals of career-related opportunities by virtue of their nationality.
"It is difficult to ignore the fact that the overwhelming majority of individuals who are likely to be affected by the policy will be Jewish. If implemented, the policy would be discriminatory in its effect against members of the Jewish community who are employed by academic organizations," he said in an interview with the Jewish Independent.
Rudner believes that the decisions of CUPE Ontario and its president must be challenged from within the union. "Mr. Ryan is accountable to the people who voted him into office and the people who can vote him out of office."
Rudner is certain, though, that supporters of the resolution are few in number.
"The vast majority of the mainstream media and, I believe, the general public, are pretty united in the belief that the actions of Sid Ryan and his associates are reprehensible."
Dave Gordon is a Toronto freelance writer. His website is DaveGordonWrites.com.
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