BEIRUT: Nearly 300 people have been killed or injured in South Lebanon by unexploded ordnance dropped by Israel just before the cease-fire that halted the 2006 summer war, and more than half of the areas originally contaminated by cluster bomblets have yet to be fully cleared, according to the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center for Southern Lebanon (MACC).

The results of a new MACC overview of its functions in Lebanon were released to the public Friday in order to mark, in part, International Mine Action Day. MACC field officer Dalia Farran discussed the results of the study, noting that “since the 2006 [summer war] cease-fire, 965 locations contaminated by unexploded ordnances have been identified throughout the 39 million square meters that constitute South Lebanon.”

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — They still wake before dawn in desert dormitories that pack a dozen men or more to a room. They still pour concrete and tie steel rods in temperatures that top 110 degrees. They still spend years away from families in India and Pakistan to earn about $1 an hour. They remain bonded to employers under terms that critics liken to indentured servitude.

But construction workers, a million strong here and famously mistreated, have won some humble victories.

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Palestinian women stopped at Qalandia checkpoint on their way to work.

Original copy of the declaration and report from the press conference available from, the Stop the Wall Campaign, Palestine .

Today, 11th of February 2007, we, the Palestinian labour federations, vocational and professional trade unions, and the grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, have convened a press conference to announce a call for solidarity with our workers and the Palestinian people endorsed by the General Union of Palestinian Workers, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, the Coalition of Independent Democratic Trade Unions and other professional unions.

This call addresses the Arab and International Trade Unions and, in particular, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the Arab League, the Arab Labour Organization, the International Labour Organization, the International Trade Union Confederation, the Organization of African Trade Union Unity, the Palestinian people and the international community.

We call upon all the above to:
* Boycott and divest from Israel;
* Work towards sanctions upon Israel. (Lire la suite…)

Treated like modern-day slaves, Filipina domestic workers in Lebanon have jumped off buildings to escape from Israeli bombs and abusive Lebanese employers.

by Herbert Docena
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
i Report, 27 August 2006

BEIRUT

Miramar Flores stood on the ledge of her master’s second-floor balcony. As she tried to make up her mind whether to stay on under the Israeli bombardment or to flee it may well have occurred to her that it was a choice between death and death. (Lire la suite…)

On 27 May 2006, CUPE Ontario passed an historic resolution in support of the global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli apartheid. The full text and background to the resolution can be found at: www.ontario.cupe.ca/www/background_on_resolution_50.

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