Last month, Israel Railways, a state-owned company, launched a new policy denying employment to railroad crossing guards who have no permit to carry weapons - that is: who have not served in the Israeli army. This policy will lead to the lay-off of the approximately 150 Arab railway workers who monitor and maintain Israel's level crossings.

Seven Israeli teenagers are refusing to serve in Israel's army because they object to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. Known as the Shministim, they are all 18 or 19 years old, have been called up for military service but have refused to go, and are now in prison.

This policy on Israel / Palestine was passed by RMT's 2008 Annual General Meeting.

This AGM condemns the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and denials of Palestinians' human and national rights. This AGM condemns the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, including Israeli military air strikes and the economic blockade of Gaza, as well as the arbitrary murders of Israeli citizens by suicide bombers and rocket attacks. We note both the Israeli and Palestinian victims of the conflict are usually working-class people, targeted by political and military forces that seek to de-humanise Arab and Jewish workers using anti-semitism, Jew-hatred and anti-Arab racism. We note that the Hamas Charter is a virulently anti-semitic document that exhorts the killing of Jews and subordinates all social and human rights to Islam.