(Photo: Hatem Khaled/Reuters)

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) joins the rest of the global community to act to end the war in Gaza; protect rights in the West Bank, and achieve a just and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. The barriers to peace are not the people of Israel and Palestine, but rather those of extremist groups and parties that seek to sustain armed conflict. Those barriers must be overcome.

BWI condemned the attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians and the taking of hostages. Those horrible crimes cannot be forgotten, even with the release of hostages. However, they in no way justify genocide or Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilians through bombing and other military attacks, forced displacement, and deliberate withholding of food, in some cases leading to starvation, the lack of clean water, and medical services. Palestinians are victims of both the Israeli government and Hamas. 

After this long and brutal conflict, the ceasefire is being greeted with relief and joy in Israel and Palestine. Unlike other pauses, this ceasefire must be permanent if other fundamental conflicts are to be resolved and if there is to be peace in the region.

Peace is more than the absence of conflict. It requires trust, respect for human rights for all, and social justice. Measures should be taken to ensure that the ceasefire cannot be sabotaged. Urgent humanitarian aid needs to arrive quickly; Palestinians should have representation as early as possible if further progress is to be made.

Support from countries in the region and other powerful nations is important to further develop the 20-point agreement and commence the rebuilding of Gaza; however, legitimacy requires that Palestinians can govern themselves and that the UN take a leading role based on consensus policies and international law. Continuing and developing the peace process requires: 

1. Full cessation of hostilities in Gaza and the West Bank.
2. Recognition of the right to self-determination of the Palestinians and the implementation of a two-state solution involving the full recognition of the State of Palestine in all international fora, including full membership in the UN and its agencies, including the ILO.
3. Full enforcement of international humanitarian law, international labor standards, and the 4th Geneva Convention, including international protection for the Palestinian people.
4. Bringing those accused of crimes against humanity to justice under the auspices of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
5. End construction and development of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories prior to the removal of existing ones. Stop the furnishing of arms to settlements and provide law and order to ensure that settlers cannot attack Palestinian villages with impunity. The Extreme Right in Israel seeks the expansion of settlements in the West Bank to guarantee that there will never be a viable Palestinian state.
6. Just compensation for workers affected by the conflict, especially the Palestinian construction workers who were affected and covered by the BWI complaint to the ILO.
7. Reconstruction based on decent work and international labour standards, as well as on the needs of the communities, based on the principle of sovereignty and self-determination.
8. Cultivation of people-to-people reconciliation by creating a community of peace.

BWI reaffirms that what continues to happen in the region is not only a humanitarian crisis for residents but a catastrophe for the global community, a breakdown of the most basic principles and values of international law.

We stand with all the trade unions in the region in their struggle for justice, peace, and dignity. As stakeholders for peace, they must have the freedom to perform their role and missions and should not be subjected to legal, physical, and institutional attacks. From the fight against apartheid to struggles for independence and democracy across the world, history has shown that workers, organized across borders, can shift the course of events when governments fail to act and injustice seems entrenched.

We call on BWI affiliates to mobilise to help ensure that the conflict is truly ended, and to support all workers as they struggle for rights, social justice, and peace anywhere in the world.