UK trade unions back motion to boycott and sanction Israel

Motion demands taking action to oppose the ‘catastrophic destruction of Gaza’ and Israeli settler violence.The umbrella organisation for trade unions in the United Kingdom has passed a motion calling for an end to complicity in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and settler violence in the occupied West Bank.The Trades Union Congress, representing more than 5.3 million workers, voted in favour of the motion on Wednesday during its annual conference in Brighton, southern England. The vote marks the first time the congress has backed the Palestinian-led movement Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions known as BDS.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Can a party be leftist and Zionist?list 2 of 3How Israel systematically dismantles Palestinian life in occupied West Banklist 3 of 3Palestine weekly: Settlement sanctions spark diplomatic crisisend of list“It’s essential for the trade union movement to answer the call from the BDS movement, to challenge all complicity and to use our collective powers, to stand shoulder to shoulder with Palestinians to Free Palestine,” said Zita Holborne from England" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="205465" data-entity-type="organization">Artists’ Union England, which put forward the motion.The unanimous vote demands that the Trades Union Congress take action to oppose what the motion described as the “catastrophic destruction of Gaza” and Israeli settler violence “supported by the IDF [Israeli army]”.The steps include campaigning to end military cooperation and arms deals with Israel, calling on the government to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Israel and backing trade union-led campaigns in support of Palestine.Co-founder of the BDS movement, Omar Barghouti, welcomed the development.“This mass movement of solidarity with the people of Palestine, led by Palestine-solidarity-campaign" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="36955" data-entity-type="organization">Palestine Solidarity Campaign with many trade unions affiliated to it, is the reason why your government was compelled to adopt minor measures in the right direction to end its complicity,” Barghouti said.