I totally disagree with CUPE's initiative. I think its far too grand a maneuver, and - like many demonstrations of support for unfocused boycotts - expresses a desire to impose collective punishment on Israeli civil society for the moral evil that is the Occupation. I don't like such boycott posturing because they tend to ignore the ideological complexity of any civil society and assimilate a citizenry with the policies of their state. I love Judith Butler's essay on the subject - she makes a powerful case for always remaining mindful of this distinction - though Butler herself is not opposed to boycotts if I am remember her recent piece in Radical Philosophy correctly..
I'm also - and will be quite clear about this - opposed to the Israel boycotts that have been tabled thus far. Juan Cole made some excellent points about the ideological distinctions of Israeli university life which are worth considering, in registering his own objections to the academic boycott motion passed in the UK this week. Tikkun itself has argued on behalf of strategic divestment campaigns instead, which bear merit in continuing to discuss amongst anti- Occupation forces. The campaign to divest shareholder stock in Caterpillar - led by Jewish Voice for Peace and the Presbyterian Church USA has been particularly interesting - and worth supporting in my view - given the US of Caterpillar products to destroy Palestinian homes.
But doing things like threatening to boycott small Israeli business people who export their chocolate to state-owned liquor stores in Ontario is a whole different bag. I was invited a few years ago to speak to an alternative grocery store here in San Francisco about their discussing boycotting their Israeli food suppliers to protest immorality of the Occupation. What shocked me was how many small business, run by hippies living in places like the Negev desert, that would have had their goods docked. Most of the people I know in Israel who engage in such commerce tend to be the most politically liberal of folks, and the last people you'd want to punish for the sins of the Occupation.
Joel
On May 31, 2006, at 10:58 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> Canadian Union Takes Important Step against Israeli Apartheid
> by Adam Hanieh
>
> At the annual convention of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
> (CUPE) Ontario, held 24-27 May 2006 in Ottawa, the union passed a
> resolution of historic importance. Resolution 50 -- adopted
> unanimously by the 900 delegates at the largest convention in the
> union's history -- expressed support for the global campaign against
> Israeli apartheid. The union stated that it would educate its members
> on the apartheid nature of the Israeli state and Canadian political
> and economic support for these practices. It also declared that CUPE
> Ontario would participate in the international campaign of boycott,
> divestment, and sanctions against Israel until the realization of
> Palestinian self-determination. Most importantly, the union
> highlighted the significance of the right of return of Palestinian
> refugees as a critical component of Palestinian self-determination.
>
> Resolution 50 is a vital step for both Palestinian rights and the
> North American labor movement. CUPE Ontario is the largest public
> sector union in Ontario and represents over 200,000 workers in the
> most highly populated province of Canada. The resolution represents
> the most powerful statement in support of Palestinian rights ever made
> by a North American trade union.
>
> FULL TEXT:
> <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/hanieh310506.html>
>
> --
> Yoshie
> <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
> <http://mrzine.org>
> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>