Fringe meeting calls for boycott
of Israeli goods, disinvestment and sanctions
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Dr Samia Botmeh
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Menawel Abdul-al
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By Chris Bartter
A packed STUC fringe meeting heard
a range of Palestinian speakers call on the Scottish
Trade Unionmovement to support boycott, disinvestment
and sanctions (BDS) on the Israeli state.
This followed the horrifying levels
of violence meted out to the civilian population
of Gaza in recent attacks.
And two days later, the STUC backed
the BDS strategy. Delegates had been moved by a
film of an STUC delegation’s visit to Palestine
and Israel, which showed clearly the human rights
abuses experienced on a daily basis by Palestinian
men, women and children, by the actions of an occupying
Israeli government.
The fringe, chaired by UNISON’s Mike
Kirby who was part of the STUC’s delegation to discuss
the BDS calls directly with both sides of the conflict,
discussed this controversial topic.
Menawel Abdul-al, an executive member
of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions
was clear about the need for the adoption of such
a policy to respond to abuses of human rights faced
by Palestinians on a daily basis. In addition to
the recent bloody conflict, he also pointed to the
construction of the ‘apartheid’ wall in the west
bank, built by Israel on the pretext of security,
but which effectively entrapped pockets of Palestinians
in ‘bantustans’.
Dr Samia Botmeh, from the University
of London and a member of the campaign for an academic
boycott, argued that to force Israel to engage with
the Palestinians realistically, major pressure like
that provided by a boycott was required.
“Other attempts to engage with the
Israeli state have failed,” she said, “the boycott
is all we as Palestinians have left.”
Mike Kirby recognised that BDS would
not be an overnight decision, and wanted, as far
as possible, to explain to bodies on the other side
of the argument the rationale behind any decision.
That was part of the reason for the recommendation
for a continuing dialogue with the Histadrut for
example.
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