Sir, – Supporters of boycotts in countries with struggling economies are best counselled to wield their power judiciously (Home News, December 3rd).
While all too many in Ireland are charged with their ill-advised boycott of Israel and its products, I dare to suggest that the spirit of the boycott equally has the effect of inciting worldwide supporters of Israel to boycott products of Ireland, and Irish travel.
Is it not interesting that the effects of boycotts are reciprocal? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) recently called for a boycott of Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria settlements. In doing so it joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which works to delegitimise the state of Israel by comparing it to Apartheid South Africa.
Anyone who has any familiarity with Israel knows that the charge that Israel is an apartheid state is an outrageous lie on many grounds. Your paper, while not expressing explicitly its position on the boycott, went even beyond supporting the boycott implicitly, by publishing a how-to guide for boycotting settlements’ products. In doing so, you not only made your position in favour of the boycott clear, but promoted the BDS movement’s actions. This crosses the line of a legitimate journalism even for an anti-Israel paper like yours. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Modai is concerned that a ban on imports from the Israeli settlements in Palestine “would have a devastating impact on the Palestinian economy” (Home News, December 3rd). Someone should tell him that airstrikes, artillery bombardments and cluster bombs tend to do the same thing. If he is that worried about the Palestinian people he might consider directing his concerns to his government, which authorises the slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children on an all too frequent basis.
I welcome the efforts of David Begg of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to apply pressure on the Government concerning the revocation of the favoured trading status enjoyed by Israel with the European Union. Perhaps now the trade unions affiliated to Congress will finally put their money where their considerable mouths are by actively supporting the boycott, sanctions and disinvestment policy which they themselves put in place as far back as 2007. Or maybe they prefer to spend the next 40 years doing exactly what they’ve been doing for the last 40, making speeches about Israeli brutality while failing miserably to pass official ICTU policy on to their rank-and-file members.
There are many more like Mary Manning out there who are ready to act with the same courage and determination as was displayed by the Dunnes Stores Strikers against Apartheid (1984-1987). All we need are the trade union leaders with the same levels of courage as that displayed by Ms Manning and her colleagues in relation to Apartheid South Africa.
I won’t be holding my breath waiting for the leaders to emerge, but I would remind all trade unionists that boycotting Israeli goods is official Ictu policy. – Yours, etc,