LONDON (Dispatches) – Dozens of civil society groups have called on the UK government to drop a proposed anti-boycott bill they say is primarily aimed at stopping local councils from supporting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement opposing the Zionist regime’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) bill, which was presented to parliament on Monday, would prohibit procurement and investment decisions made by public bodies that are “influenced by political or moral disapproval of foreign state conduct”.
The bill sets out that the government can “specify a country or territory” for which the bill “does not apply”. But the text of the bill, as reported exclusively by MEE last week, explicitly states that such exemptions “may not specify” decisions or considerations “relating specifically or mainly to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or the Occupied Golan Heights”.
In comments announcing the bill, communities secretary Michael Gove said boycotts of organizations and businesses linked to the Zionist regime had led to “appalling anti-Semitic rhetoric and abuse”.
The BDS movement describes itself as an “inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is opposed on principle to all forms of discrimination, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”.
In a joint statement on Monday, major trade unions and pro-Palestine groups described the bill as an affront to freedom of speech and the rights of workers to show support for Palestine and other causes.
“We are concerned that this [bill] would prevent public bodies from deciding not to invest in or procure from companies complicit in the violation of the rights of the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
“We affirm that it is the right of public bodies to do so, and in fact a responsibility to break ties with companies contributing to abuses of rights and violations of international law in occupied Palestine and anywhere else where such acts occur.”
Sharon Graham, head of the Unite union, which represents 1.4 million public sector workers, said the bill was “another assault on workers by a government keen to suppress the right to protest”.
Graham criticized the bill’s targeting of a pension scheme for local government workers.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Britain’s largest pro-Palestine group, also condemned the proposed boycott legislation and said it was an attack on freedom of expression in the UK.
The head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, Husam Zomlot, called on the UK government to withdraw the legislation, saying: “We are deeply concerned that this has broader implications for Britain’s supposed commitment to the global rule-of-law-based order. We view the proposed legislation as yet another sign that the UK is abdicating its historic responsibility for and direct role in creating the plight of the Palestinian people.”