Angry in the Great White North

In this case, it was the decision by the Canadian Union of Public Employees to support an international campaign "of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel" is response to the security wall.

The Globe and Mail and the National Post both carried the story. The Globe and Mail carried the Canadian Press newswire story, while the National Post had their own reporter, Melissa Leong, research and write the piece.

I'm going to colour code the analysis -- red for each paragraph neutral or generally supportive of the move, blue for each paragraph containing criticism.

Here is the Globe piece, broken down:

Ontario's largest public sector union has voted to support an international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

Delegates to the Canadian Union of Public Employees convention in voted overwhelmingly Saturday to support the campaign until Israel recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination.

The global campaign started last July and has been supported by many North American churches, 20 Quebec organizations, and others.

The Israeli “apartheid wall” has been condemned and determined illegal under international law, CUPE said in a release.

Under the resolution approved by delegates, CUPE Ontario will develop an education campaign about the issue, including Canada's political and economic support for Israeli policies, similar to the campaign developed by CUPE British Columbia.

Canada has a free trade agreement with Israel, the only such agreement this country has outside of the western hemisphere, the union noted.

In Ontario, the liquor control board carried more than 30 Israeli wines, many produced in the occupied Golan Heights, CUPE said.

“Boycott, divestment and sanction worked to end apartheid in South Africa,” said Katherine Nastovski, chairwoman of the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee. “We believe the same strategy will work to enforce the rights of Palestinian people, including the right of refugees to return to their homes and properties.”

Not a single word in opposition of the move. No inkling of criticism, from any quarter, of the decision.

Now the National Post:

The Ontario wing of Canada's largest union has voted to join an international boycott campaign against Israel "until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination."

Sid Ryan, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario president, said 896 members voted unanimously at its convention in Ottawa on Saturday to support the campaign.

"This is not an attack on Jewish people. It's [an objection to] the state of Israel's policies on Palestinians," Mr. Ryan said yesterday. "They say they are creating an independent state but they're not giving them the tools to do that."

Steven Schulman, Ontario regional director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called the vote "outrageous."

"For a respected labour union to engage in such a vote, which is completely one-sided and based on mistruths, is shocking," he said.

He charged that CUPE Ontario's press release about the vote "reads like a piece of propaganda." He said Israel has recognized the Palestinian right to self-govern and has been engaged in a peace process.

Under the resolution approved by delegates, the union -- which represents more than 200,000 workers -- will also develop an education campaign about the issue, according to a press release. The statement condemned the West Bank barrier erected by Israel.

"The Israeli 'apartheid wall' has been condemned and determined illegal under international law," the release reads.

In a reference to boycotts, it also notes, "Canada has a free trade agreement with Israel, the only such agreement this country has outside of the Western hemisphere."

"In Ontario, the Liquor Control Board carried more than 30 Israeli wines, many produced in the occupied Golan Heights."

Katherine Nastovski, chair of the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee, is quoted in the release as saying, "Boycott, divestment and sanction worked to end apartheid in South Africa.

"We believe the same strategy will work to enforce the rights of Palestinian people, including the right of refugees to return to their homes and properties."

Mr. Ryan said the global campaign started last July and has been supported by 170 organizations around the world. "It's a human rights issue," he said.

He said the union has also come out in the past against attacks by Palestinian extremists and suicide bombers.

CUPE Ontario's next step, he said, is to try to get other unions such as the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress to join the campaign of "boycott, divestment and sanctions."

In recent years, CUPE Ontario has called for the end of Israeli military action and a withdrawal from the occupied territories. The executive of the Canadian Labour Congress crafted a resolution in 2002 comparing Palestinians in the occupied territories to blacks living under apartheid in South Africa.

Ed Morgan, national president of the CJC, said the organization will continue to engage in discussions with unions and added he does not think the vote was representative of CUPE and CUPE Ontario. The vote occurred on the Jewish Sabbath and there was no organized Jewish presence at the convention, he said.

"Boycotts are not the answer to political disputes. Dialogue is the answer to political disputes," Mr. Morgan said.

You'll notice I coloured one paragraph purple in the National Post piece. That's because when you feel the need to have to explicitly say that you are against suicide bombers, you already have a public relations problem on your hands. So even though the text is of the quote says something positive about the union's stand with regards to the Middle East, the fact that it even appears tends to reinforce the notion that the union is being led by meddling radicals.

In any case, the story is interesting in the way it shows how Canadians are getting the news. The National Post is often criticized for being some sort of right-wing propaganda rag. In Canadian terms, that may very well be true. We're so used to one-sided liberal reporting that anything approaching balance must seem like a neck-wrenching shift to the right.