CUPE's Ontario President: "Slurs will not Silence us"
ONTARIO, July 9, 2006 (WAFA) - Sid Ryan, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE ) in Ontario said "when our union recently passed a resolution critical of policies of the government of Israel, it was savagely attacked in several quarters."
Ryan said in a commentary published by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) "when the Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada, the largest Protestant church in the country, called for a limited boycott and divestment strategy toward Israel, it, too, faced a barrage of baseless allegations"
Ryan stressed that the Canadian media refuse to address Israel's violation of international law, the Geneva Conventions, the rulings of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and a number of United Nations resolutions.
"This lack of reporting leaves the Canadian population with a one-sided view," he adds.
Israel's recent bombing campaign and incursion in Gaza has destroyed schools and universities, demolished bridges and roads, and killed several Palestinians, adds the commentary, the sonic-boom bombardments wreak havoc on a civilian population, smashing windows and doors and terrorizing children. More damaging, there is no electricity for more than 700,000 people - no lights, no refrigerators, and no fans in the suffocating heat.
Ryan said it means no clean water - the public water supply uses electricity - leading to disease, possibly cholera. It means limited services in hospitals and clinics dependant on electricity.
CUPE and United Church of Canada's Toronto branch announced in two separate conferences a boycott of Israeli products and companies that do business with the Israeli Army because of the occupation of the Palestinian territories. |
