September 1, 2015
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has denounced the vote by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and condemned its accusations against Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.” At the UE’s national convention the union adopted a resolution making it the first union in the United States to take a pro-BDS position. In the resolution, the UE called on the United States to end its aid to Israel and aligned itself with overseas labor unions that also oppose the Jewish state.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“It’s deeply disappointing and troubling that the UE has chosen to affiliate itself with a campaign that seeks to isolate Israel economically and politically through boycotts and other discriminatory tactics. This resolution will not bring Israelis and Palestinians together, but will further stoke the flames of division and discord. The anti-Semitic aim of the BDS is to delegitimize and ultimately destroy the Jewish state. Its focus on one and only one state— Israel—betrays the highly sinister intentions of the movement, which conveniently ignores human rights violations committed by the world’s worst abusers while raining fusillades on the Jewish state. This one sided and false resolution ventures untrue claims, fraudulently asserting that Palestinian citizens of Israel “survived ethnic cleansing,” and that members of the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have called for the stripping of citizenship and expulsion of Palestinians. The text further calls for ‘the right of return’ for all Palestinians and characterizes Israel’s defensive military operation in the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians in 2014 as “genocide”. While levelling outlandish falsehoods at the only democracy in the Middle East, the resolution does not once mention the terror organization Hamas and the violent fanaticism Israel faces every day. The UE is promoting a one-sided, distorted view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In doing so, it is spreading hatred, endangering the security of the Middle East’s only democracy and harming the cause of peace in the region.”
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677
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