[Guardian-UK] Editorial - The decision of the National Union of Journalists to urge a boycott against Israel is a curious business. How seriously can one take the union's decision to urging the boycott of all Israeli goods in protest at that country's "savage pre-planned attack on Lebanon"? If it were press freedom in the Middle East that truly concerned delegates, Israel - which has a comparatively open and robust domestic press - would hardly be the obvious starting point. One might, for example, rather focus on Iran, Libya or Syria. If, on the other hand, the journalists' union prefers to busy itself with individual governments' foreign policies then, again, there is no shortage of unsavory regimes around the world which might merit some form of consumer boycott. In a statement this week the union's general secretary, Jeremy Dear, pointedly said that it was open to union members to seek to overturn the decision. They would be well advised to do so.
2007-04-20 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive