The Israel-based ZAKA International Rescue Unit delegation, who were in Mexico assisting in the recovery efforts following the helicopter crash on Sunday, flew to the Haiti earthquake disaster area in a Mexican air force Hercules together with the Mexican official aid delegation.

Photo: courtesy of ZAKA

Michael Gove, British Member of Parliament and former Associate Editor of The Times, announced yesterday that he was leaving the National Union of Journalists over its call for a boycott of Israel. From The Times:

I have been a member of a trade union for nearly 20 years now. The union to which I belong, the National Union of Journalists, kept me fed and watered when I was a young trainee and out on strike. I was grateful for the support and camaraderie of its members and appreciated the virtues of solidarity. As time has worn on I’ve kept faith with the union because it kept me going at a difficult time.

With the benefit of hindsight I realise that the strike for which I came out in support was mishandled. Better men and women than I, with much more to lose, lost it in a vain struggle. Yet they made those sacrifices in defence of a principle in which they believed, and they thought that their actions would protect younger journalists like me most. So it would have been more than churlish to fail to respect their sacrifice.

But now, reluctantly, I fear that I will have to part company with the union, even as I continue to respect the men and women who went out on strike, in its name, in Aberdeen nearly two decades ago. Because the NUJ recently passed a motion at its conference calling for a boycott.

This boycott is not of a repressive state that outlaws free expression (of which, sadly, there are still too many) but of one of the few states in the Middle East with a proper free press: Israel.

The NUJ exists to defend, among other virtues, freedom of speech. That virtue is better defended in Israel than in any other nation of the Middle East and it comes under assault daily from forces driven by fanaticism.

Now is a time, for all sorts of reasons, for showing solidarity with those defending democracy in that region, not for passing on the other side of the road. So, with no little sadness, I feel that I have to leave.

We have been asked to circulate details of the following event:

Foreign Policy Evening

organized by the Selsdon Group

‘Islamic Fundamentalism – the challenge to Western democracy’

Speakers:
Dr Julian Lewis MP, Shadow Defence Minister
Roey Gilad, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Israel

Date and Time:
Thursday, 12th April 2007 – 7:30pm.

Venue:
St Stephens Tavern
10 Bridge Street
London SW1A 2JR
(next to Westminster underground station)

For more details visit the Selsdon Group website.

Jewish-Arab researchers evaluate the economic dividends of peace
by Nicky Blackburn, Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre

A new report which shows that Palestinian-Israeli economic cooperation could lead to a huge growth in prosperity, a leap in exports, and a wave of lucrative tourism to the area is now being distributed to Israeli, Palestinian and international policy makers.

The research, which was carried out by Jewish and Palestinian economists at the Peres Centre for Peace and the Palestine Trade Centre (PalTrade), showed that more than 5.4 billion pounds in exports and 465,000 jobs for Palestinians, and 8.85 billion pounds in exports and 375,000 jobs for Israelis in agriculture, textile, construction and tourism could emerge within five to 10 years, once political stability is achieved between the warring sides.

Full report »