Israel

Discussion of anti-semitism and the left is frought with difficulty, not least because of the efforts of right-wing groups like the Anti-Defamation League to paint all criticism of Israel as anti-semitic, and thus silence dissent.

Their book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy claims that the lobby leads the US into acting against its national interest, and that the Iraq war was a result of the lobby's influence.

Most people in Israel will remember one thing about the protest later today (Sat 3/1/2009): that the organizers went to the Supreme Court in order to make sure they are allowed to present a Palestinian flag.

Now, I am in favor of anyone being able to present any kind of flag or no flag at any time. But one should ask what purpose a Palestinian (former PLO) flag would serve.

The strike quickly ended as the Histadrut labor federation intervened and called to renew negotiations between workers and management officials.

The news that president Bush vetoed Israeli plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities whilst visiting the country in May should, with some luck, permanently put to bed the belief shared by conservatives, liberals and leftists alike in the “Israel Lobby”, and its grip on US interests.

This employee was the first of some 15 expected to be forced into early retirement this year at the Dimona station as part of an agreement between Histadrut and Israel Rail. The employees stopped work as soon as they heard of their comrade's dismissal.

Management responded by threatening to close down trade entirely if disruptions continue today (Tuesday April 1st). Workers retaliated by diverting all incoming calls to the CEO's office.

Normally, passengers wishing to enter baggage in excess of a certain weight must make additional payments. Disgruntled workers bypassed this procedure by distributing the baggage among various passengers evenly, so that none of them had excess weight.

The ban took effect on Sunday (March 9th), and has been maintained on Monday (March 10th) as well. This step is a direct response to current conditions, which preclude overtime pay from counting into workers` pension plans.

These include increasing wages by 4.5% and adding workers hired through HR firms to the group pay agreement. Instead, management is only willing to increase wages to its direct employees, with a 0.5% blanket increase as well as an additional 3% to be rewarded selectively according to individual performance.

Workers at Eilat-based Arkia Airlines have been staging the work-to-rule as part of an on-going dispute with management. A number of flights have had to be cancelled recently owing to "technical difficulties".

In reality, airline staff have decided amongst themselves to make things as difficult as possible for the company to operate smoothly until demands over pay and conditions are met.

"Our historical analogy aimed to demonstrate the failure of the present course of action for the region’s proletariat and suggest an alternative. It is the social and not the military dimension of the struggle that has the potential to transcend capital."

The strike declared Tuesday night closed most government offices and the postal service while workers related to defense and emergency healthcare remained on the job, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Government negotiations with the Histadrut labor federation were to continue Wednesday in hope of ending the strike by day's end, The Post reported.

The strike began as efforts failed to settle a five-year collective wage agreement and bonus payments, and drivers set no limit on the duration of the strike.

Haaretz reported that

The protest disbanded in response to leaders' call, marking an increase in violence but a decrease in independence by student militants.

Teachers plan to launch a full strike today, classes on Sunday were cancelled except for those students preparing for exams.

The event began with a peaceful assembly at Museum Square in Tel Aviv, protesting plans for tuition hikes in Israeli public universities. The planned schedule included live performances by artists sympathetic to the cause, and speeches by various leftist politicians, celebrities and student leaders. Police claim that seeds of unrest could be sensed throughout.

Workers at the Bank of Israel began an indefinite strike on Tuesday, however the strike ended at 3am this morning after a deal was struck between the Bank of Israel Governer and the Ministry of Finance Director of Wages Eli Cohen.

During the meeting, Olmert promised to intervene personally in order to expedite the payment of withheld wages to municipal worker employees and to "personally follow the progression."

The strike was meant to protest a delay in the payment of wages to between 7,000 and 8,000 employees of 40 local authorities and 16 religious councils.

The action was seemingly a mirror of a similar struggle at the port reported on libcom.org last year.

Port2port.com reported that the port workers committee decided at midnight on Tuesday 30 January to exercise a labor dispute declared three weeks ago. The strike ended 2 days later and the workers reurned to work on Friday