Israel, the Middle East and the International Trade Union Movement – notes for a lecture

The following are my notes for a talk given at the headquarters of the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, DC on 23 March 2011.
What I will talk about today:
The bad news
The good news
Where do we go from here
The bad news
The growing strength of the global BDS campaign in the trade union  movement
Cannot be seen in isolation from the increasing isolation of Israel on campuses, in the media, etc.
How the discourse has turned against Israel – the apartheid analogy, for example
Recent example: Large Norwegian union calls for boycott, sanctions
This is a union that invited me to speak a few years back
Well-intentioned, strong internationalist views
Clearly ignorant about the Israel/Palestine conflict
Call for LO to sever relations with Histadrut – but gives no reason for this, no explanation apparently needed
COSATU plays a very bad role here
They give credibility to the line that Israel is an apartheid state
They carry great moral authority in the movement
Why this is happening
Say it up front: Israeli policies don’t help
Stalemate in peace talks (even if Palestinians at fault) doesn’t help
Decades-long decline in the post-war consensus which has now allowed anti-semitic arguments to resurface
Israeli unions have not taken international work seriously since the early 1990s and have a very low presence in the international trade union movement
Histadrut doesn’t even have a website in English
The good news
Major national trade union centres – here in the USA, in Germany, to a certain degree in Australia – remain largely immune from this
Each country has its own reasons why this is true
The ITUC and the GUFs continue to play a positive role
ITUC thwarts COSATU proposal in Vancouver
Ofer Eini’s elevated status
GUFs continue to seat Israeli representatives
Some GUFs (ITF, BWI) make a concrete contribution to the peace process
Unions still influence each other across international borders
US and German trade union statements and their effect on the British TUC
An increasing awareness in Israel and in the Histadrut that this is a problem and we need to devote resources to it
The revolution in Egypt may be good news for Israeli unions
My experience at the CTUWS event
PGFTU invited though boycotted by the official unions
Because of their relationship with Histadrut
Prospects for a new regional body – that might eventually include the Israelis
Where do we go from here
Leverage our strength in union movements like the one here in the USA to expose, isolate and defeat our opponents internationally within the labour movement
This is why TULIP was founded – explain what TULIP is
Expose
Show how our opponents are not fighting for peace, but for Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran
The link to Iran is particularly potent – trade unions are implacably opposed to the Iranian regime
Don’t be afraid to attack anti-semitism (e.g., the boycott of Israeli academics; hate speech by Bongani Masuku)
Role of the TULIP website (over 430 posts) and mailing list
Isolate
Identify the forces behind these campaigns – e.g., PSC – and focus on them
Role of the totalitarian left (SWP, CP) – small organizations that have in some cases hijacked union agendas
We must use forceful language to identify our opponents for what they are – not pro-Palestinian, but pro-Hamas
Work closely with Palestinian moderates (e.g., TUFI delegations meet PGFTU)
Link trade unionists in different countries who share the same view – TULIP launch event in London in June
Defeat
The need to move from defense to offense
Propose positive alternatives (e.g., joint Histadrut/PGFTU projects) to BDS
Change the discourse – why we no longer say ‘friends of Israel’ and focus discussion not on defending the Jewish state, but on what we can do to promote a two-state solution
What victory will look like: an international trade union movement that doesn’t demonize one side, that supports genuine peace and reconciliation