The United States has expressed concern that the International Labor Organization may once again be politicizing itself with respect to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Paul Hilburn, the American delegate attending the meeting of the ILO’s governing body here last week, was dubious about a proposed investigation and report on working conditions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The proposed investigation came from the committee on discrimination and was adopted at the closing session of the governing body meeting last Friday.
It calls on the ILO director general, Francis Blanchard, to prepare a brief descriptive paper on the situation of workers in those territories.
The report would be presented at the ILO’s annual conference to be held next June, along with recommendations.
Hilburn warned the governing body that the ILO, a U.N. agency, had in the past overstepped its bounds and responsibilities by addressing political issues.
He said if that were so with the current proposal, the United States would oppose it.
Rafael Walden, the Israeli consul, said earlier that the proposal could lead to a political debate over the territories which has no part on the ILO’s agenda.
The United States walked out of the ILO in 1983 over what it considered politically motivated anti-Israel measures.
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