WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS

Story 1-Jewish cupe members upset at union resolution.2-Eu urges action on trading blocks. 3-Poland-Slovak floods. 4-World quakes past 2 days June 6-7

Jewish CUPE members upset at union resolution By PAUL LUNGEN ,Staff Reporter

Four years ago at its regional convention, the Ontario wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) adopted a last minute, emergency resolution that critics argued was biased against Israel. Many of CUPE's Jewish members - including those employed by five Jewish agencies in the Toronto area - were incensed at the one-sided nature of the resolution, which in part claimed Israel “invaded” territories in 1967, ignoring the aggression of Israel's Arab neighbours. Around the same time, a CUPE official was seen carrying a CUPE flag at a rally protesting a speaking engagement of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Carolyn Roberts, president of CUPE local 2137, which represents 170 workers at Jewish Vocational Services of Greater Toronto, recalls being “blindsided” by the 2002 vote, and she feels that with the recent resolution attacking Israel that was adopted two weeks ago at CUPE Ontario's regional convention, it's pretty much a case of déjà vu all over again. The resolution is part of an international effort to boycott Israeli products and divest assets from Israel. The resolution criticizes Israel for failing to recognize a Palestinian right to self-determination and slams Israel's “apartheid wall,” the barrier Israel is constructing to prevent terrorist attacks that originate in the West Bank.

Katharine Nastovski, chair of CUPE Ontario's international solidarity committee, said boycotts worked against South Africa and should be used to force Israel to permit “the right of[Palestinian] refugees to return to their homes and property.Roberts believes that leaving CUPE would be going too far, but she is upset that the regional wing of CUPE is making international statements, leaving people like her to field angry calls from members who want to know why their union is dabbling in Middle Eastern politics. Local 2137 is a member of CUPE National, not the Ontario division, but the union's members feel they have been implicated in the Ontario vote, she said. I'm embarrassed to have to speak to my members about this issue,” Roberts said. “I think it's embarrassing to CUPE National. Four years ago, many CUPE members expressed dissatisfaction with the vote, and it was made clear to CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan that employees at the Toronto Jewish agencies were angry as well, Roberts said.

Given that CUPE touts solidarity among members as a key value and proclaims an injury to one is an injury to all, she wondered why CUPE Ontario is adopting resolutions that so many members find offensive.Lil Nobel, president of CUPE Local 2063, which represents workers from UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Canadian Jewish Congress and Jewish Immigrant Aid Services Toronto, said, “We are ashamed to be a members of this union. Despite what Mr.
Ryan says, the resolution is an affront to the Jewish people, because it singles out Israel among all the countries in the world.There are many urgent issues affecting workers in this province. Israel's policies are not one of them. We don't understand why this outrageous, unreasonable and unbalanced resolution is taking precedence.Local 2063 pulled out of CUPE Ontario following it's vote on Israel four years ago, joining CUPE National, Nobel added.CUPE National weighed into the fray with a news release stating it would not urge local unions to join a boycott of Israel.

CUPE National has a policy that was adopted at our 2003 national convention. That policy states that we, 'demand that the Israeli Government immediately withdraw from the occupied territories and abide by UN Resolution 242 and 338; call for and actively work towards an end to all acts of violence that take the lives of innocent people, whether they be Palestinian or Israeli; and, help develop a peace process based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians and based on the implementation of UN resolutions and international law.CUPE National concluded by suggesting, “Debates focused on the Middle East should respect the legitimate
aspirations of both the Palestinian and Israeli people.

Ryan told The CJN the resolution was not aimed at Jews but at the policies of Israel. It was adopted in a unanimous vote at the CUPE convention and was submitted in accordance to union protocols, leaving ample opportunity for opponents to raise their concerns. He defended the apartheid references, saying “it's clear to anybody with any degree of common sense that there are clear parallels with what is happening in Palestine to South Africa.Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said as much, he added.As to the issue of Palestinian self-determination, he dismissed suggestions Israeli leaders had already acknowledged that, saying I come out of Ireland and know about the right to self-determination. You can't have self-determination without a viable state.It's no different than Northern Ireland. You had acts of terrorism in Northern Ireland. Does that mean you put down the entire population because of the actions of a few?

When The CJN suggested to Ryan the separation barrier had led to a dramatic reduction in terrorist attacks, Ryan shot back, Maybe if the occupation wasn't taking place, the bombings wouldn't be taking place.Steven Shulman, director of Canadian Jewish Congress's Ontario region, said Congress and the Canada-Israel Committee had received numerous complaints about the CUPE resolution. Not only are many of CUPE's Jewish members upset, but many calls and e-mails are coming from non-Jews equally concerned about the resolution. We've not seen this kind of groundswell in Ontario in quite a while,he said, adding he doesn't believe the resolution represents the views of the CUPE rank and file.This has hit a raw nerve in people, that this kind of one-sided statement sounds like a propaganda piece from 20 years ago.An e-mail “action alert” by Congress called on Canadians to denounce the resolution to CUPE Ontario's leadership and it urged CUPE Ontario members to voice their disapproval of the resolution to their local union leaders.

The mailing questions why CUPE Ontario would pass a resolution after Israel withdrew from Gaza and parts of the West Bank and had announced it would continue to pull out of more territory.Why would CUPE Ontario call for a boycott that will punish Israelis just as these important steps are being taken?” the mailing asks.Ryan said CUPE Ontario plans to follow the resolution with an action plan that will include educating members about the situation, work with the Canadian Labour Congress to adopt a similar position, lobby against the “apartheid-like practices of the state of Israel,and examine appropriate areas of boycott and divestment of CUPE assets.Most major Muslim and Arab groups strongly endorsed the CUPE Ontario resolution, including the Canadian Islamic Congress, the Canadian Arab Federation, the Muslim Canadian Congress and the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In other developments, the Institute for International Affairs of B'nai Brith Canada last week released a 10-point manifesto urging Canadians to sign a document denouncing CUPE Ontario's planned boycott and reaffirming support for Israel.B'nai Brith's Manifesto engages CUPE members who feel disenfranchised and betrayed by their union, community leaders and individual Canadians who are working together on this campaign,” said Frank Dimant, B'nai Brith Canada's executive vice-president. While the ultimate aim is the repeal of the boycott, we hope in the process to draw public attention to the inappropriate and misguided interference by the union, which is devoting time and resources to advance an anti-Israel agenda at the expense of concentrating on areas that should fall within its mandate.

EU urges action on regional trading blocks including the Pacific Papua New Guinea

The European Union has renewed calls to speed up the pace of regional integration in all parts of the developing world, including the Pacific.Speaking at a summit between Europe and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific grouping of countries (ACP), the EU's top aid bureaucrat says most domestic markets of ACP members are too small to be attractive to investors. Radio Australia's James Panichi reports, the head of Europe's Development Directorate-General, Stefano Manservisi, says the creation of larger markets should be a priority for developing countries.

He was speaking at the opening of the summit in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby.The European Union says it will continue to support initiatives such as the Pacific Plan, the Pacific's blueprint for regional integration. However little progress appears to have been made after the first day of meetings, with ACP ministers unable to broker a deal with the European Union on the issue of Economic Partnership Agreements. The agreements, which are scheduled to be implemented in 2008, would provide the frame work for future trade and aid between Europe and the regions which make up the ACP.

The European Union is concerned that a lack of progress in creating regional trading blocks could compromise the effectiveness of the agreements.

Hundreds evacuated from flood-hit Poland and Slovakia Sun Jun 4, 2:59 PM ET

WARSAW (AFP) - Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas of Poland and Slovakia as torrential rain caused flooding, local authorities said. Some 500 people were forced to leave their homes in the southeastern Polish town of Jaslo, mayor Andrzek Czarnecki said on Polish television station TVP.Several farms and thousands of hectares of agricultural land were flooded when rivers burst their banks.

A flood alert was announced in around 20 townships in the Nowy Sacz and Tarnow regions of southeastern Poland, but by Sunday the situation had eased, the local crisis centre said.The waters rose very fast, but they are also going down quickly. Some of the evacuated inhabitants will soon be able to go home,Polish news agency PAP quoted fire service chief Dariusz Hachaj as saying.Around 50 townships in eastern Slovakia were also affected.The situation was most worrying near the towns of Bardejov and Presov,the head of the Presov fire service Viliam Popadic told the media.

EARTHQUAKES JUNE 6-7,06
Update time = Wed Jun 7 4:18:47 UTC 2006

MAP 2.8 2006/06/07 04:07:46 63.173 -150.394 100.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.9 2006/06/07 02:26:03 -7.562 -73.676 190.9 PERU-BRAZIL BORDER REGION
MAP 2.8 2006/06/07 02:15:12 45.386 -112.590 7.4 WESTERN MONTANA
MAP 3.3 2006/06/07 02:01:52 39.039 -123.088 0.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 2006/06/07 01:49:36 51.873 -179.545 100.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALASKA MAP 2.9 2006/06/07 01:12:40 54.719 -165.731 200.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALASKA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAP 2.6 2006/06/06 23:09:54 59.728 -153.329 160.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 2006/06/06 22:48:55 54.146 -163.161 30.0 UNIMAK ISLAND ALASKA
MAP 2.6 2006/06/06 22:02:20 60.511 -148.904 15.0 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 2006/06/06 21:10:25 39.010 -122.906 3.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 2006/06/06 17:03:09 35.641 46.045 44.3 IRAN-IRAQ BORDER REGION
MAP 2.8 2006/06/06 16:25:49 52.111 -172.314 1.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 2006/06/06 15:40:10 60.388 -153.551 100.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 2006/06/06 12:02:33 51.166 -173.413 80.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 2006/06/06 11:15:18 51.000 -179.159 1.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 2006/06/06 06:24:51 52.530 -167.790 30.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.6 2006/06/06 06:05:15 1.758 -90.788 19.6 GALAPAGOS ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.5 2006/06/06 05:48:16 52.485 -170.731 15.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 2006/06/06 04:59:41 60.220 -152.819 50.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.1 2006/06/06 04:34:28 15.252 -91.499 200.0 GUATEMALA
MAP 3.9 2006/06/06 03:33:31 63.672 -149.251 70.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.6 2006/06/06 01:13:54 55.329 -159.405 50.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.8 2006/06/06 00:03:53 58.806 -145.072 35.0 GULF OF ALASKA