Since then the Middle East in particular has had a sharp increase in violent conflict with Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon experiencing invasion and war.

In addition, there is a growing fear of nuclear threats from Israel and potentially Iran.

However, it is the conflict between Israel and Palestine that began in 1947 which, internationally, many people believe is the source of Middle East estrangement from Western society.

Backed unconditionally by the US, and more covertly by the EU, Israel's policies have almost destroyed the potential viability of Palestine as an economic and geographical entity.

A recent British Government report that highlighted the woeful state of the Palestinian economy called on Israel to strike a balance between short-term security needs and Palestinian economic development.

The report "Economic Aspects of Peace in the Middle East" confirms the crisis in the Palestinian economy.

It also reports that although International Aid of £5bn was donated since 1993, Palestinians are getting poorer, with 65pc living below the poverty line.

In 2005, the Palestinian population was more than half that of Israel, yet Palestinian GDP was only 3pc of Israel's. Since the start of the second intifada in 2000, per capital GDP has fallen a third from 1612 dollars in 1999 to 1129 dollars in 2006.

The election of a Hamas government in January 2006 also led to increased sanctions and blockades as Israel stepped up its programme of annexation and refused to deal with a Hamas-led government.

The exclusion of Hamas is viewed by many as a contributory factor towards the breaking up of Palestine into the Fatah-led West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza.

It was also the pretext for tightening the stranglehold on Gaza. Israel, with US and EU support, imposed conditions for Palestinian participation in any negotiations. This included Hamas.

The three conditions are:

1. Recognise Israel and its right to exist;

2. Renounce violence;

3. Accept past agreement, in particular, the Road Map as agreed between the US, Europe, UN and Russia.

In what he called the hypocrisy of power, Noam Chomsky has spoken and written that no such conditions are imposed on Israel.

Measured against the three conditions imposed on the Palestinians:

1. Israel does not recognise Palestine;

2. Israel does not renounce violence;

3. Israel rejects past agreements and its support for the Road Map which it formally accepted, has been effectively neutered by 14 amendments.

It is within the context of the above situation that in July 2007 the biennial delegate conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) passed a motion in response to mounting public concern about the policies of the government of Israel.

The motion from Belfast Trades Council called for the ICTU to "support and promote a boycott campaign of Israeli goods and services similar to the boycott of South African goods during the Apartheid regime".

The ICTU has received both criticism and support for this motion from many quarters. We have been criticised by some politicians and individuals who are supportive of Israel, just as we have been praised by people who support the human rights of the Palestinian people.

We have also been directly contacted by diplomatic representatives of the Israeli government.

The Northern Ireland Committee of the ICTU met with Israel's Ambassador to the UK last month in Belfast, and his equivalent in Dublin met with the ICTU's Executive Council. Both meetings were cordial and respectful. Both Ambassadors made clear their disappointment with the ICTU position, and it was made clear in turn by the ICTU representatives that our concerns were genuine and serious.

We made it clear that this was not a sudden shift in our thinking, that we had been vocal supporters for human rights at home and abroad.

For many years, ICTU conferences had passed motions critical of oppression in many countries, including Israel. However, as admitted by the Ambassadors, it took this call for a boycott of Israeli goods to make the Israeli government take notice.

The Israeli representatives were also told about ICTU's consistent opposition to violence and oppression in Northern Ireland, regardless of its origins. We have opposed paramilitary violence as well as working for the full re-integration of ex-prisoners in to our economy and society.

We have denounced state abuses such as strip-searching and we have lobbied for accountability in the security forces.

Our activists have been arrested, assaulted, and denounced by so-called 'respectable' politicians.

We have also worked to head the divisions in our society, through initiatives such as Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre, Counteract and TradeMark.

We are assisting and advising migrant workers for the same reasons that we struggled to make the workplace as harmonious as possible between nationalists and unionists, Protestants and Catholics. A united workforce is a stronger workplace.

It has to be said that the ICTU policy is more than a call for a simple boycott.

It also calls for us to "strengthen solidarity links between the Irish, Palestinian and Israeli labour movements through exchange visits".

We are at present organising a visit to both Israel and Palestine in which senior trade union leaders from both parts of the island will be meeting workers, trade unionists, politicians, and NGO's from Israel and Palestine.

When we are in Ramallah and Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, we will make clear our continued firm opposition to violence. We abhor all acts of war aimed at civilians, those carried by missiles from Israeli jets and tanks or by Palestinian suicide bombers and rockets.

We believe that a two-state solution is the most viable solution. We favour independent states for Israelis and Palestinians which are viable, secure, secular and democratic, and where the rights of minorities and women are protected.

We will support our sisters and brothers in the trade unions of both states towards mutual respect and co-operation, just as we support them now in their mutual quest for a just peace.