The coming outlawing of BDS – yet another attack on free speech

Photo: Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor

JVL Introduction

The Bill to outlaw Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel is to be put before Parliament soon.  The proposals beg the question: if the Palestinian call for BDS is considered antisemitic and is to be outlawed – at least for institutions, what protests are allowed against Israel’s brutal military occupation and siege?

Adding this to the clampdown on protest is a significant restriction on our rights to free speech and, as this article illustrates it would almost certainly also be applied to protestors advocating BDS on other issues, most obviously on fossil fuel companies, given the Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion protests were what gave impetus to the government to clampdown on protests that cause “nuisance and/or inconvenience”.

The opposition to the Bill is wide, including Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Trade Unions, Liberty and also the Union of Jewish Students who oppose BDS but do support the right for people to advocate for it. as making it illegal would curtail “the democratic right to non-violently protest”.  Labour Conference passed many motions in support of Palestine, including boycotting arms sales, however the position of the Labour leadership is unclear leading to appeals, such as this one a to push Labour into opposing this dangerous piece of legislation.

This article was originally published by The Guardian on Fri 12 May 2023. Read the original here.

UK anti-boycott bill is attack on freedom of expression, say civil society groups

Boycotts, divestment and sanctions bill, designed to stop public bodies boycotting Israel, will be tabled soon

Plans to stop UK public bodies boycotting foreign countries and British companies that trade with them represent a further attack on the right to freedom of expression, civil society groups have said.

Officials from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have said the boycotts, divestment and sanctions bill, announced in last year’s Queen’s speech and designed to stop actions against Israel, will be tabled soon.

The move, first reported by the FT, comes amid anger over the crackdown against protesters at last week’s coronation of King Charles, days after the Public Order Act was given royal assent.

The bill would outlaw campaigns, including those relating to the purchase of goods and services or investments. The government has previously highlighted a 2014 Leicester city council motion banning goods from illegal Israeli settlements, while the communities secretary, Michael Gove, has claimed the Israel-targeting BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement is fuelling antisemitism.

However, 60 civil society groups under the right to boycott umbrella claim the bill will stifle social and climate justice campaigns.

Ben Jamal, the director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK, said it was “yet another example of this government attacking democratic participation”.

He said: “With support growing around the world for the call issued by Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, the British government seems determined to shield Israel, and companies involved in its occupation, from accountability for its violations of human rights and international law.

“This bill will weaken campaigns against deforestation, environmental pollution, and the exploitation of children and workers. That is why such a wide range of groups have come together, from trade unions, charities and NGOs, to faith, climate justice, human rights, cultural, campaigning, and solidarity organisations. How can we rely on ministers to uphold ethical standards around the world while they chip away our democratic rights at home?”

In February, despite opposing the BDS movement, the Union of Jewish students passed a motion opposing the bill, saying it would curtail “the democratic right to non-violently protest”.

Ruth Ehrlich, head of policy and campaigns at Liberty, said: “For a government that professes to care about free speech, the proposed anti-boycott bill, once again, shows their flimsy commitment to protecting freedom of expression.

“This bill must be seen in the context of wider government attempts to curb our rights to protest and for people to stand up for what they believe in. This bill sets an extremely dangerous precedent, and its potential impact is harmful and wide-ranging. We urge the government to rethink its plans.”

The bill’s opponents say boycotts, divestment and sanctions have been used to confront injustice historically, including the transatlantic slave trade and apartheid South Africa.

Unison said it could “silence any attempt to shame China’s terrible treatment of the Uyghurs”.

Dave Timms, head of political affairs at Friends of the Earth, said fossil fuel divestment had led to institutions with a combined value of more than $40tn (£32tn) diverting their money away from polluting industries. “Banning public bodies from using these vital tactics unless they support UK foreign policy would be a frightening and authoritarian step,” he said.

A DLUHC spokesperson said it would legislate “as soon as parliamentary time allows”, adding: “We are firmly opposed to local boycotts which can damage integration and community cohesion, hinder exports, and harm our economic security.”

Comments (7)

  • Ali H says:

    Will it become mandatory to invest with and purchase from whatever entity the authorities approve of? Will all our transactions be examined for any pattern not to their liking? I thought our neoliberal overlords believed in the free market.

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  • John Morgan says:

    Its funny that the government always state that they believe in the “free market”. But in a free market, the customer is king (or queen). Therefore, if you want to boycott something, then you can.
    So, what the government actually want is to be able to control other people. If the free market helps, they support it. If the free market does not help them, they go against it.

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  • John Coates says:

    This government thinking stinks of hypocrisy.
    No doubt the government supports sanctions against Russia.
    Does this mean that I am required to support such sanctions ?
    What if I don’t agree ?
    From a practical point of view the government’s proposals are full of holes
    and completely unworkable.

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  • Norma Frye says:

    The British Government, it appears, has no problem with the ubiquitous sanctions employed all around the globe by the US, resulting in similar destruction, economic and otherwise, to many countries. Not an entirely unreasonable comparison.

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  • Allan Howard says:

    I see Gove – in the article linked to above – turns reality on its head, as black propagandists do of course. Well, in the first place, if the BDS campaign is ‘an explicitly antisemitic campaign’, then how come it took Gove et al some fifteen years or so to realise it???

    Needless to say it’s the left – Empaths – who mainly support BDS (and the Palestinians), and the Tories (and Starmer & Co) and the Establishment are doing this on the back of the A/S black op carried out against the left during the past seven/eight years, and THAT, of course, is why it has taken them so long to supposedly realise BDS is antisemitic!

    Gove and Co know full well that it’s precisely because we are caring and empathetic that we support the Palestinians, and it is of course totally malevolent garbage that we habour any hatred or ill-feeling towards Jews, and they know full well that it’s the Israeli state (and its propaganda) that we despise for all they have done – and ARE doing – to the Palestinians during the past seventy-five years, which Gove and Co obviously don’t give a damn about.

    And THAT tells you all you need to know about THEM!

    Needless to say, it is the left who have come to the defence of Jewish communities in the past when they have come under threat, as we would if and when it were to happen again. Whereas the right – in their quest to destroy Jeremy Corbyn – conspired in a massive disinformation campaign in which they weaponised antisemitism and, as such, had absolutely no qualms about causing concern and consternation amongst many British Jews. And it goes without saying that had there been even a GRAIN of truth to the claims made about Jeremy, JVL would not have supported him.

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  • Bernard Grant says:

    The Tories are becoming more of a Fascist Government by the day. We will not be allowed to protest or go on strike. This is their reaction to the Working Class that have seen Wage Decline for 13 years, it’s meant that Poverty has risen year on year to where we have 15 million living in Poverty and 3 million forced to use Food Banks, with thousands living on the streets. Over the past year, the Workers have started to fight back as the Tories want Austerity to carry on.
    The Working Class cannot rely on the present Labour Party, which has moved dramatically to the Right and so they are alone and soon they will have no weapon to fight back, which is exactly what the Tories want.
    It wasn’t that long ago that Rees Mogg was saying he would like us to go back to the 1890s. A simple piece of research showed this.
    Striking took us from a 10hr Day, 6 Days a Week, no Sick or Holiday Pay, plus No Company Pension and a life expectancy of 47, to a 37.5hr 5 Day Week, Sick and Holiday Pay, Plus Company Pension and a Life Expectancy of around 80. Since Thatcher’s Anti Union Laws the list of things they fought for are declining rapidly and with the present Government creating strikes like they did in the 70s, so they can bring out more draconian Laws, that will be turning us into a Low Wage Economy (which has been happening for the past 13 years and reducing all the Benefits our Unions fought for, only to make more profits for the wealthy.
    Bringing out these anti Workers Laws, will only make things really difficult for the Working Class.

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  • Steve Richards says:

    We need to know who votes for and against this motion, to point the finger of shame!

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