Alabor union has dared take on Ontario's most influential lobby and its unfailing ally,

government, and been rebuffed as if it had asked for a 50 per cent pay raise.

The Ontario division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees joined groups overseas saying Israel is moving too slowly to help Arabs obtain their own state and Ontario should boycott its goods to push it.

The issue, difficult to encapsulate, stems from 1948, when Western powers gave Jews part of Palestine as their state. They since have seized much more and pressure has built for two separate states.

Israel has kept saying it wants separation, but indicated it is unwilling to give up anything like all the land it seized, continued building new homes on it for Jews, tightened its grip by building a wall around much of it and dropped many hints it may set boundaries unilaterally.

Israel also refuses to negotiate with the Hamas party Palestinians chose recently to represent them on the stronger ground it has called for the destruction of the state of Israel and approved suicide bombings.

The pro-Israel lobby is Ontario's most successful because hundreds of MPPs in all parties have expressed solidarity with Israel over the years, knowing the value of Jewish votes, which are crucial in some ridings

But only one, New Democrat Peter Kormos in 2000, has said Israel treats Arabs unfairly and should give up some of its seized land.

Pro-Israel views also dominate editorial opinion and letters in three out of the four major Toronto newspapers. Now CUPE has incurred the full wrath of Jews and their supporters, who say the union should stick to negotiating pay and not interfere in issues overseas.

Unions oddly often are criticized for caring only for themselves, but many have protested over decades at oppression from Indonesia to Chile.

Jews accused the union of singling out Israel and refusing to criticize countries with poor human rights records such as China and Russia, but it has condemned these and even some Arab states.

Critics argued boycotts are ineffective, but unions led calls for Ontario to stop importing wines for liquor stores and produce for institutions from South Africa when it discriminated against blacks. A Liberal government complied in the 1980s and Nelson Mandela said this helped end apartheid.

Jews have said the union is uninformed on conditions in Israel, but Ontario church representatives just returned from a 16-day visit contributed that they saw Israel constantly intimidating and humiliating Arabs and doing everything in its power to make their lives unbearable.

Among other noteworthy statistics, while Jews express fear of attacks by Arabs, Jews have killed three times as many Arabs, including many women and children, only they do it with tanks, helicopter gunships and soldiers.

Israel had only 700,000 Jewish residents in 1948, but now has 5 million, who speak in New York, London and Russian accents and must have taken land from Arabs.

Israel claims it cannot negotiate with Hamas because it is terrorist, but Menachem Begin led a group which blew up a hotel, killing 91 Britons, Arabs and Jews; Yitzhak Shamir was prominent in another which murdered the United Nations' mediator; and Yitzhak Rabin was high-ranking in a third which slaughtered British peacekeepers and left their bodies hanging in trees.

All three later became Israel prime ministers, so it would be difficult for Israel to argue that terrorists cannot change their spots.

Ontario politicians' only response to CUPE's proposal has been Liberal Immigration Minister Mike Colle's comment, prompted by a Conservative, that it was appalling and should be withdrawn.

Colle has many Jewish voters in his riding and is very much in their pocket. He told one of their rallies that Israeli Jews suffer terribly from Arab suicide bombers, but expressed no sympathy for Arabs.

But the union's plea shows that concern at this far-off injustice is growing among the public, and one day the politicians will have to catch up.