Can sense prevail?

The STUC
Annual Conference, APR 18 – 20, 2005

SCOTTISH TRADES UNION CONGRESS

ANNUAL CONGRESS 2005

Congress Decisions

Passed

Caird Hall, Dundee

Monday 18 APRIL – Wednesday 20 APRIL 2005

Composite Y (Covering motions 103 & 104 and amended)

Palestine

“That this Congress records its respect to Yasser Arafat, the former leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and sends the Palestinian people its warmest wishes for peace, liberation and security.

“Congress congratulates Mahmoud Abbas on becoming the new President of the Palestinian Authority and asserts that the trade union movement in Scotland will continue to campaign to secure Palestinian self determination.

“Congress notes that the UK and American Governments have stated that they now wish to see an end to the turmoil and war in the Middle East. We welcome this, but would impress that any settlement needs to ensure that the Israeli Government complies with UN resolutions 242 and 338 and with paragraph 151 of the July 2004 opinion of the UN International Court of Justice.

“Congress asks the General Council to:

• call for a major Peace Conference to be held, to discuss the signing of a peace agreement by Israel and Palestine;

• make representations to the UK Government, seeking the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable democratic Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital; and to press the government of Israel to demolish the wall and end the occupation of Palestinian territory.

• draw attention to the continuing plight of the Palestinian people, particularly to the poverty and fear they experience in their daily lives, and seek to publicise this, wherever possible, through organising events and conferences;

• seek continuing moral and financial support from the trade union movement to help the Palestinian people.

A previous addition to the above resolution;

· “ to meet with the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions and the Israeli Histradut to discuss co-operation between both centers based on building workers unity, to meet the objectives of Congress policy in the context of United Nations resolutions.”

was deleted from the composite motion. It probably didn’t sit well with the STUC General Secretary, Bill Speirs’, long-standing call for a boycott of Israel, even though representatives of both the above Federations exchanged greetings at the conference.

SG

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