British journalists' union to work with Israelis despite boycott - Haaretz

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Tue., November 27, 2007 Kislev 17, 5768

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Last update - 04:18 19/04/2007

British journalists' union to work with Israelis despite boycott

By The Associated Press

Britain's National Union of Journalists says it will continue working with its counterparts in Israel despite a vote by its annual meeting to boycott Israeli goods. The motion was adopted Friday on a vote of 66-54, committing the 35,000-member union to boycott Israeli products, while demanding that sanctions be imposed on Israel by the British government and the United Nations.

"This is not, as some critics have indicated, an institutional boycott," NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said in a statement released Tuesday. "The NUJ will continue to seek to work with all its sister unions in the region, be they Israelis or Palestinians.

"The boycott call has nothing to do with reporting," Dear added. "The NUJ is not telling members how to report Israel - beyond its permanent injunctions to members to report independently and fairly on all matters, and not to produce racist or discriminatory copy."

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The British government said it disagreed with the boycott, but also said it valued freedom of expression and would not interfere in what it called an internal discussion. "The government believes that, as a friend of both Israel and the Palestinians, we can best exert influence by encouraging both sides to take the steps needed for progress toward peace through close engagement," Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells said in a statement.

Dear said the call for the boycott related partly to the kidnapping of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston in Gaza. "The Palestinian journalists' union has given huge support to the campaign for his release - holding demonstrations and strikes against the Palestinian authority to demand more action from them. We work closely with the Palestinian union through the International Federation of Journalists and the boycott call was a gesture of support for the Palestinian people - notably those suffering in the siege of Gaza, the community Alan Johnston has been so keen to help through his reporting," Dear said.

In Israel, Simon McGregor-Wood, chairman of the Foreign Press Association, which represents foreign media covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, said the group opposed the boycott. "We feel it's highly inappropriate for journalists to clearly take a position on the coverage of any story," said McGregor-Wood, ABC News' bureau chief in Israel and himself a British journalist. "From what we know, it appears to be unreasonable to go against the basic tenets of journalist objectivity and balance."

He said the FPA's board discussed the British boycott at its annual meeting this week and would issue a formal statement after studying the resolution. But he said it was clear that his organization did not want to be associated with this sentiment.

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1.	Boycott the British National Union of Journalists	04:58	\|	Barry	19/04/07

2.	British Journalists did show true colours	05:14	\|	paulo2005	19/04/07

3.	"report independently and fairly"The BBC fought against releasing	05:16	\|	PETER SM	19/04/07

4.	boycott those from the journalists union	05:45	\|	b.moskowitz	19/04/07

5.	boycott	05:57	\|	rico	19/04/07

6.	boycott	06:40	\|	colin	19/04/07

7.	boycott proof of "Journalists" reporting bias	06:54	\|	bernard ross	19/04/07

8.	Johnston was kidnapped by PALS. Whom they boycott?-Sure, Israel!	07:24	\|	Vittorio	19/04/07

9.	AM I dreaming?	07:47	\|	Jean-Pierre	19/04/07

10.	UK journalist are willingly using Israel productcs every day !	08:10	\|	redmike	19/04/07

11.	Biased Cowards / Hypocrites trying to Backtrack	08:55	\|	Semsem	19/04/07

12.	Clearly mental	09:14	\|	Nik Miller	19/04/07

13.	British hypocrisy!	13:19	\|	Somebody from Europe	19/04/07

14.	THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL IS ANTI-SEMITISM REBRANDED	10:01	\|	Lou Knee	27/11/07

15.	BRITISH ANTI SEMITISM EXPOSED	10:04	\|	Van Kers	27/11/07

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