The Trades Union Congress, the umbrella organization for trade unions in the United Kingdom, passed a motion calling for an end to what it characterizes as complicity in Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The organization, which represents more than 5.3 million workers, voted in favor of the measure during its annual conference in Brighton on Wednesday. The vote constitutes the first instance in which the congress has explicitly backed the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, commonly known as BDS.
The motion was put forward by Artists’ Union England and passed unanimously. It describes the situation in Gaza as involving catastrophic destruction and calls for action against Israeli settler violence. Specific measures outlined in the motion include campaigns to cease military cooperation and arms sales with Israel, calls for the government to implement comprehensive sanctions, and support for trade union-led initiatives on behalf of Palestinians.
The development comes as UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced earlier in the week a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, which are deemed illegal under international law. Miliband has characterized certain actors in the West Bank as engaged in ethnic cleansing, though he has stated his opposition to the BDS movement and indicated that the UK intends to maintain trade relationships with Israel that comply with international law.
Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, characterized the vote as reflecting a broader movement of solidarity and suggested that while the UK government has taken some steps, they fall short of addressing what he views as the country’s legal obligations. Peter Leary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign described the vote as marking a significant turning point and called for increased pressure on the government to adopt more comprehensive measures regarding military, diplomatic, and economic relationships with Israel.
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