Madam, - So the Israeli Ambassador has expressed "dismay" at the Ictu call for a boycott of Israeli goods (The Irish Times, September 6th).
The unions' general secretary, Mr David Begg, might remind the ambassador that this is not the United States, where Israeli lobby groups such as AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) regularly browbeat US politicians and policy-makers to accede to Israeli policy and ignore clear abuses of the Palestinian people. Witness the vilification of former US President Jimmy Carter when he published his superb analysis of the Palestinian problem in his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
Perhaps the ambassador should show some dismay at his country's brutal treatment of the Palestinians, the illegal settlements on Palestinian land, the occupation of Syrian and Lebanese lands at the Golan Heights and Sheeba farms, the illegal separation wall through Palestinian lands in the West Bank, and countless other abuses of civil rights.
It seems appropriate that a boycott of Israeli goods would have a direct impact on foodstuffs grown by the Israelis on stolen Palestinian land. Well done to Mr Begg and his members at Ictu for their courageous stand. - Yours, etc,
CHARLES SPILLANE, Sycamore Avenue, Castleknock, Dublin 15.