UK trade union backs boycott of Israel settlement project

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) in England and Wales has passed a motion reiterating its “commitment to ‘boycott the goods of companies who profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and the construction of the Wall’.”

In a motion passed on Wednesday, the 5.5 million member strong TUC said: “Any attempt to delegitimise the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and to suggest that Palestinians should be denied the right to appeal to people of conscience for support, must be rejected.”

Adding that “Congress resolves to: Reaffirm support for Palestinian rights, including our commitment to “boycott the goods of companies who profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and the construction of the Wall”.”

Slamming the UK government’s planned ban on state bodies boycotting Israel, the TUC said: “The ability of public authorities, including public sector pension funds, to divest from companies responsible for violations of human rights should be defended. Such legislation could have blocked the boycott of goods and companies complicit in Apartheid South Africa.”

In June, the British Parliament voted to advance the Oversees Matters bill that bars local councils and other public bodies from boycotting Israeli goods.

The anti-boycott bill faces a third reading in the House of Commons and further scrutiny in the House of Lords, the UK parliament’s upper house, before it becomes law.

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