7th March 2008 10am

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union has vowed to intensify its campaign to force municipalities in the country not to have any trade dealings with Israel.

SAMWU firmly believes that Israel is an apartheid state that needs to be isolated and the perpetrators of human rights violations, prosecuted. The union utterly condemns Israel’s latest massacre of over 125 people in the Gaza Strip, including babies and toddlers, and Israel’s bombing this week of the offices of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions.

The union is appalled and disgusted that Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into a concentration camp, exactly like the ones in Nazi Germany. SAMWU is also appalled and disgusted that the West Bank has been bantustanised by the Apartheid Wall into ten tiny disconnected pieces, exactly as South Africa was under apartheid.

SAMWU also notes that the media has refused to cover COSATU’s earlier statement condemning the Israeli massacres of Palestinians in Gaza.

SAMWU is going to intensify pressure on the ANC led government to place diplomatic and economic sanctions against Israel.

SAMWU further calls for Nuremburg trials for the Israeli masterminds of the latest Palestinian massacres. Furthermore, we support the Palestinians’ right to resist the ghastly Israeli colonisation.

We call on our government, being a member of the UN Security Council, to demand:

• That the United Nations set up a special tribunal to bring the perpetrators of human rights violations before a court of law
• that Israel immediately withdraws all Israeli Occupation Forces from Gaza and ends the occupation of Palestinian land
• that Israel abides by international humanitarian and human rights law, and refrains from imposing collective punishment on Palestinian civilians (as per the UN Human Rights Council declaration issued on 6 July 2006)
• that Israel releases all detained Palestinian ministers and legislators and releases all Palestinian political prisoners ­ including hundreds of women and children
• that the United Nations implements the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Israel’s Apartheid wall
• that Israel fulfills its obligations in terms of international law; international protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian Territory

For comment, please call Mthandeki Nhlapo, SAMWU General Secretary on Xolile Nxu, SAMWU First Vice-President on 0767549331