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Middle East: TUC calls for immediate end to violence

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Middle East: TUC calls for immediate end to violence

The TUC has called for an immediate ceasefire and a political solution to the violence in the Middle East.

Expressing solidarity with trade unionists in Israel and Palestine, the TUC called for both the Israeli Government and those firing rockets into Israel to recognise that violence would not solve the problems of the Middle East.

'Violence only creates further violence,' said TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. 'Ordinary people suffer most.'

The TUC has endorsed the statement of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) - http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2665 - which deplored the killing of dozens of innocent civilians and called for an immediate cessation of violence, as Israel continued its attacks inside Gaza in response to the launching of rockets by Hamas, ending a six-month cease-fire.

The TUC and ITUC support the UN Security Council's call for both sides to cease hostilities. 'The cycle of attack and reaction must be replaced with dialogue, to bring a definitive end to the conflict and establish the basis for the co-existence of Israel and Palestine as two democratic states in peace', said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

The ITUC, which represents workers in both Israel and Palestine, echoed the concerns expressed yesterday by the General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, Shaher Sae'd, who called on the Security Council and international human rights organizations to act immediately to stop Israeli aggression (http://www.pgftu.org/En/?cat=view&Id=202).

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