UK JOURNOS VOTE TO BOYCOTT ISRAELI GOODS

HOW CAN ONE POSSIBLY ARGUE THAT BRITISH JOURNALISTS CAN REPORT FROM THE MID-EAST WITHOUT BIAS?

UK journalist union votes to boycott Israeli goods.
Britain’s National Union of Journalists has voted at its annual meeting for a boycott of Israeli goods as part of a protest against the Second Lebanon War, the British daily Guardian reported on its Web site Friday evening. The vote was carried 66 to 54 - a result that met with mixed responses from the NJU delegates present.

The motion came during a series of motions on international affairs and read: “This ADM [annual delegate meeting] calls for a boycott of Israeli goods similar to those boycotts in the struggles against apartheid South Africa led by trade unions and the TUC [Trades Union Congress] to demand sanctions be imposed on Israel by the British government and the United Nations.”

The motion was originally brought by the union’s South Yorkshire branch in February and was opposed by the Cumberland branch, which said it was too political and was not closely enough related to journalistic matters. After a show of hands twice failed to give a clear result, union scrutineers were called in and the doors to the conference room closed. The vote on the motion was taken after it was split from a larger motion that condemned the “savage, pre-planned attack on Lebanon by Israel” last year.

This motion, known as Composite B in Order Paper 4, was carried by a large majority and also condemned the “slaughter of civilians by Israeli troops in Gaza and the IDF’s continued attacks inside Lebanon” following what the motion defined Israel’s “defeat” by Hizbullah.

SEE ALSO: Irish artists' call to boycott Israel meets with mockery (JPost)
The Irish government has condemned an attempt by an artists' organization to boycott Israeli cultural events and institutions.

Aosdana, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of creative artists, voted last week on a motion to "back the call from Palestinian filmmakers, artists and cultural workers to end all cooperation with Israeli state-sponsored cultural events and institutions."

The proposal - put to a motion by composer Raymond Deane, founder of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, and seconded by playwright Margaretta D'Arcy - was defeated in the organization's general assembly.

However, a second motion, sponsored by D'Arcy and seconded by Deane, was passed calling for Irish artists and institutions to "reflect deeply" before working with Israeli cultural institutions.

D'Arcy wrote last week in The Irish Times that she was convinced that a cultural boycott was necessary, "if only as an act of solidarity with those in Israel who seek to remove the inequality, discrimination and segregation of their society."

The Irish government responded to the Aosdana motion by saying it was "firmly opposed to any proposals for an academic or cultural boycott against Israel."