Situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories – Presentation of report/ILO 99th session (twelfth & thirteenth sittings) – Provisional record (excerpts)

 Twelfth sitting

Thursday, 17 June 2010, 10.00 a.m.

President: Mr de Robien

REPORTS OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE GOVERNING BODY AND OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL: DISCUSSION (CONT.)

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Original Arabic: Mr RESHID (Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Iraq)

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I would like to offer my thanks to the Director-General for his report on the issue of the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories and the dreadful consequences of the Israeli occupation on the economic and social situations in Palestine and the occupied Arab territories in Golan, the West Bank and the south of Lebanon. The racist policy which prevents job creation and exploits workers and leads to their arrest reflects the barbarism of the occupation and its negative effects on stability. I therefore call on this Conference to take firm decisions for the benefit of workers in the occupied Arab territories and for the establishment of unions in accordance with the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

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Mr AHMED KHURSHID (Worker, Pakistan)

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We fully support the fundamental right of self-determination and independence of the Palestinian people and withdrawal from occupied Arab land and an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza by Israel.

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Original Arabic: Mr AZOUZ (Worker, Syrian Arab Republic)

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We encourage the initiative of the ILO and of the Director-General in preparing the Report on the situation of the workers in Palestine, the Golan and southern Lebanon, describing their suffering under the occupation of our country. This Report coincides with the ignoble crime perpetrated on 31 May 2010 by the Israeli occupation forces, killing and wounding people who were showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, and peace activists from many countries, on board the freedom flotilla transporting relief to the Palestinian people in Gaza, held under siege by the Israeli entity for over three years. This is only one of hundreds of crimes Israel has committed against the Palestinian people and the Arab people in the occupied Golan and southern Lebanon, in violation of all of the principles of humanitarian law and international labour Conventions. Israel’s disregard for international law, its acts of blatant state terrorism, its constant threats to peace in the region and its hostility to peace efforts in the context of international charters and resolutions – all this has constituted a major impediment to development in the region.

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(The Conference adjourned at 1.25 p.m.)

Thirteenth sitting

Thursday, 17 June 2010, 2.30 p.m.

Presidents: Ms Powell and Mr de Robien

REPORTS OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE GOVERNING BODY AND OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL: DISCUSSION (CONT.)

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Original Arabic: Mr JABBAR (Worker, Iraq)

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In conclusion, we cannot fail to mention the serious violations and heinous crimes perpetrated by Israel against the Arab Palestinian people, and the unfair blockade of the Gaza Strip, after the brutal attack on its economic and social infrastructure, in which women, children and elderly people were killed. We must also mention Israel’s recent act of brutal military piracy against the freedom flotilla carrying food and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza in an attempt to break through the blockade. In this attack, many of the activists were wounded, killed and arrested, after being subjected to insults and immoral practices. This monstrous attack by Israel bears witness to its violation of international law and principles, and we would also like to remind the world of the serious Zionist violations of international Conventions in the Syrian Golan and southern Lebanon, yet another crime to be added to its bloody record.

Mr JAVED (Employer, Pakistan)

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We congratulate the Director-General on the Report of the high-level ILO mission to the occupied Arab territories. We regret that innocent people – and even the international community’s humanitarian support to the Palestinian people – are being subjected to military action by Israel, killing the innocent volunteers from Turkey and elsewhere. We condemn this action and urge that a loud message of concern to be conveyed to the Israeli Government. We demand that the yardstick be the same for East and West, South and North and that it be free of prejudice.

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Original Arabic: Mr BALKDR (Worker, Yemen)

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While the situation of workers is difficult in many countries, there are some workers whose situation is difficult in the extreme. They are the workers of the occupied Arab territories in Palestine, the Golan and southern Lebanon, who face hardships, such as denial of social protection, unfair dismissal, apartheid and humiliation, the like of which the world has never seen before. We strongly condemn all that the workers of the occupied Arab territories have suffered at the hands of the Israeli Government. The ILO has a great responsibility for protecting them and providing them with a decent livelihood in accordance with international Conventions, treaties and resolutions.

We cannot fail to mention the brutal Israeli attack on the freedom flotilla attempting to transport food and medicine to children, women and elderly people in Gaza under the blockade, which caused deaths and injuries of people from many countries, people who love peace, security and stability and who gave their lives to lift injustice and the blockade and to help a people in need and children suffering from hunger and illness, who are denied medicine to relieve their pain.

We salute them, and we salute Turkey, its Government, its workers and its people for their humanitarian support and for having organized this freedom flotilla.

The international community is called upon to lift the blockade on Gaza and rebuild the enterprises that were destroyed by the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The question remains: what is the world going to do in the face of what has happened and is still happening in the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied territories in the Syrian Golan and the Shebaa farms in southern Lebanon?

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(The report, as a whole, is approved.)

(The Conference adjourned at 6.15 p.m.)