Barclays Bank support Apartheid in Israel - join protests in Brent and Harrow on Saturday 11am-1pm

 

 Barclays propped up apartheid in South Africa. But inspiring anti-racist campaigning forced the bank to withdraw. Today, Barclays invests £1bn+ in companies arming Israeli apartheid. Once again, we're calling on #Barclays to #StopBankingOnApartheid

Join Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign at choice of three Barclays locations 11am to 1pm on Saturday March 25th:

Kingsbury: Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury Jubilee Line.

Harrow Town Centre, Harrow-on-the Hill Metropolitan Line and Chiltern Line

Willesden Green, junction of Walm Lane and High Road, Willesden Green Jubilee Line 

Chai & Palestinian Stories at Rumi's on Sunday 3pm-5pm - free but registration required

 

Why we are opposing the government's proposed Anti-Boycott legilsation - stand up for human rights and climate justice

An umbrella group of some 60 organisations has been set up to counter the UK Government's proposed legislation that would ensure public bodies followed the government's foreign policy. This is their statement and frequently asked questions. The Bill is expected to be published soon and the casmapign against it will intensify.

From Right to Boycott LINK

 

As a group of civil society organisations made up of trade unions, charities, NGOs, faith, climate justice, human rights, cultural, campaigning, and solidarity organisations, we advocate for the right of public bodies to decide not to purchase or procure from, or invest in companies involved in human rights abuse, abuse of workers’ rights, destruction of our planet, or any other harmful or illegal acts. We therefore oppose the government’s proposed law to stop public bodies from taking such actions.

 

The government has indicated that a main intention of any legislation is to ensure that public bodies follow UK foreign policy in their purchasing, procurement, and investment decisions, particularly relating to Israel and Palestine. We are concerned that this 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. 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.

 

From bus boycotts against racial segregation to divestment from fossil fuel companies to arms embargoes against apartheid, boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns have been applied throughout history to put economic, cultural, or political pressure on a regime, institution, or company to force it to change abusive, discriminatory, or illegal policies. If passed, this law will stifle a wide range of campaigns concerned with the arms trade, climate justice, human rights, international law, and international solidarity with oppressed peoples struggling for justice. The proposed law presents a threat to freedom of expression, and the ability of public bodies and democratic institutions to spend, invest and trade ethically in line with international law and human rights.

 

We call on the UK government to immediately halt this bill, on opposition parties to oppose it and on civil society to mobilise in support of the right to boycott in the cause of justice.

• Amos Trust
• Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA)
• Anti Apartheid Movement Archives Committee 
• Artists for Palestine UK
• Artists Union England
• ASLEF Union
• Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)
• British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP)
• BRISMES Campaigns
• British Palestinian Committee (BPC)
• Campaign Against Arms Trade
• Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
• Communication Workers Union (CWU)
• Cuba Solidarity Campaign
• Ethical Consumer Magazine
• Europal Forum
• European Legal Support Centre
• Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
• Free Speech on Israel

• Friends of Birzeit University (FOBZU)
• Friends of Al Aqsa
• Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• Friends of the Earth (Scotland)
• Global Justice Now
• Greenpeace UK
• Institute of Race Relations
• International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
• Israeli Committee against House Demolitions UK
• Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JJP)
• Jewish Voice for Labour
• Labour and Palestine
• Liberty
• London Mining Network
• Makan
• Methodist Church in Britain
• Movement for the Abolition of War
• Muslim Association of Britain
• Na’amod: UK Jews Against the Occupation
• National Education Union
• National Union of Students

• Netpol
• Palestine Solidarity Campaign
• Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB)
• People and Planet
• Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
• Quaker Roots
• Quakers in Britain
• Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers Union (RMT)
• Sabeel-Kairos UK
• Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
• SOS-UK (NUS climate campaign)
• Stamp out Poverty
• Stop the War Coalition
• Transport Salaried Staffs Association Union (TSSA)
• UNISON
• Unite the Union
• United Reformed Church
• University and College Union (UCU)
• War on Want
• Western Sahara Campaign UK
• Boycott Divest Zabludowicz;
• Boycott Turkey Campaign;
• Jewish Solidarity Action

 

·       Why is the government introducing this legislation?

 

·       This proposal must be understood in the context of the current government bringing in some of the most repressive legislation we’ve seen in decades, such as the Policing Bill, the ‘Spy Cops’ Bill, the Nationality and Borders Bill, and the Overseas Operations Bill.

·       All of these laws and related policies have imposed limits on campaigners’ abilities to challenge the UK government and UK companies over illegal or unethical practices, and to participate in our fundamental rights to organise and to hold government and institutions to account.

 

·       Is this only happening in the UK?

·       No. At least 35 states in the US have passed similar laws, as has Germany, and similar legislation has been proposed in several other European countries.

·       Broadly speaking, many of these laws have targeted the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which aims to pressure Israel to meet its obligations under international law in relation to justice for Palestinians.

 

·       Why are so many organisations from across society opposing this?

·       Such legislation would be completely anti-democratic, and a serious blow to our civil society. it risks blocking campaigners from seeking accountability, and from protesting when institutions and corporations are involved in violations of international law.

·       There are dozens of examples of similar laws in other countries being used to shut down campaigning for divestment from fossil fuels across the US, banning public bodies from procuring any services from companies who support divestment, or targeting campaigners opposed to gun and weapons manufacturers. This legislation leaves all groups campaigning for social, climate and international justice vulnerable to such government overreach in the UK.

 

·       Will this law affect my ability to boycott or make ethical investment decisions?

·       No! While some MP’s have made grandiose comments to the press suggesting that they will ‘outlaw Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’, the proposed legislation is aimed at public bodies’ decision making. Nobody will be criminalised for the decisions they make as private citizens while shopping or investing money. Any limits on public bodies’ abilities to act in accordance with international law and ethical principles are extremely dangerous and must be fought, but we must not fall into the trap of furthering the ‘chilling effect’ by over-stating what the government can do.

·       When is this legislation going to be announced?

 

·       We anticipate that plans to table this legislation are coming soon. We will update this website when we have more clarity on dates.

 

Join the protests at Twickenham Stadium Arms Fair - Monday 23rd January and other dates

PSC Statement on Investigation into Antisemitism in the NUS

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is deeply concerned at the outcome of the investigation by Rebecca Tuck KC into antisemitism within the National Union of Students (NUS). The report released today follows the unprecedented decision in November 2022 to dismiss its elected President, Shaima Dallali, a decision PSC condemned. 

From the outset of the investigation, we raised fundamental concerns about the terms of reference of the investigation and the failure to acknowledge how the conflation of antisemitism with legitimate critique of Israeli oppression has been used to silence Palestinians and those who support their rights. We have also raised concerns about the disproportionate involvement of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), which was given significant authority in the framing of the investigation and the appointment of the independent investigator.  

Whilst we recognise the need for the NUS to consult with a body representing many Jewish students in addressing concerns about antisemitism, the degree of prioritisation of a single interested party violates due process, in particular because it was clear that some allegations of antisemitism being investigated were clearly cases of legitimate protest of the Israeli state. 

 The report also fails to take into account the role the UJS has played in the conflation of antisemitism and legitimate critique of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, including its active promotion of resources which suggest that it is inherently antisemitic to advocate for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against companies involved in violations of Palestinian rights, or to describe Israel as a state practising the crime of apartheid, despite this being the view of Amnesty International, B’Tselem and Palestinian civil society. 

These concerns have been proven justified by the content of the report, which the NUS committed to accepting in full before it was even written. Whilst the report does touch on incidents of antisemitism such as the deplorable “white t-shirt parties” held on campuses, which should be rightly investigated and condemned, the report’s primary and explicit focus is on finding antisemitism in the campaign for Palestinian rights. It reinforces, both in its main body and its recommendations, the conflation of antisemitism and legitimate advocacy for Palestinian rights.  

 A key recommendation is that students should be “facilitated to engage in more nuanced debate” when discussing Palestinian rights.  There can be nothing nuanced in enabling Palestinians to articulate the facts about what they are being subjected to by the Israeli state – forcible transfer, home demolitions, arbitrary detention and torture, and armed violence, including the assassination of human rights defenders. It is grotesque to suggest that debates about Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, a set of non-violent tactics to end complicity in these abuses, should be facilitated to ensure that nuance is maintained, that “both sides of the argument” are heard, and that students who identify with Israel are protected from discomfort. Must we ensure everyone hears “both sides” of colonisation? Will this mean the NUS start imposing facilitation on debates about showing solidarity with Ukrainians? On showing solidarity with Black people struggling against racism? 

Astonishingly, in a multi-page section on different interpretations of Zionism, not a single Palestinian perspective is cited. Throughout the report, there is no mention of Palestinian students, or the impact this report will have on their engagement with the NUS and student activism.  

In the summer of 2022, accusations of antisemitism in the NUS began to dominate media headlines, fuelled by Government threats to cease engagement with the NUS and to cut its funding. At this point the NUS made explicit to PSC that it regarded these threats as potentially existential. It has asserted that it will not allow those threats to divert it from its decolonisation work, of which support for the liberation of the Palestinian people is an integral part. If it is to make good on these commitments and live up to its broader obligations to be an anti-racist institution, then it must take these urgent steps:  

1. Of paramount importance, it needs to make clear its understanding that being consistently anti-racist means opposing antisemitism robustly but also opposing the conflation of antisemitism with advocacy for Palestinian rights.  
2. The NUS must reaffirm publicly that consistent anti-racism means standing opposed to all structures of racist oppression, including the system of apartheid imposed by Israel upon the Palestinian people.  
3. The NUS must abandon any process, including training and guidance for students on Palestine, that suggests the rights of the Palestinian people and the facts of Palestinian history are a matter for debate.  

We will continue to hold the NUS to these challenges. We also call upon all students who are committed to anti-racist work and who support the Palestinian struggle for liberation to demonstrate their refusal to be silenced by joining the Student Day of Action, called for 17th February.