Several organizations have asked the UK’s Conservative government to withdraw the anti-boycott bill. According to them, the real purpose of the law is to target the anti-Israel BDS movement, he wrote Middle Eastern Eyes.
BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. The BDS movement wants an economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel to end Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. The State of Israel sees the BDS movement as a grave danger, and has for years tried to frame BDS activists as anti-Semites.
The Public Body Economic Activities (Overseas Matters) Bill, to be tabled by the UK government this week in the House of Commons, prohibits governments from making procurement and investment decisions “affected by political or moral disapproval of the behavior of foreign nations.”
Critics say the bill aims to prevent local governments from supporting the BDS movement. In the joint statementpublished Monday, pro-Palestinian unions and organizations said the bill was an affront to freedom of expression and workers’ right to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The head of the UK’s Palestinian mission, Husam Zomlot, called on the British government to withdraw what he considered an unholy bill. The bill, he said, would encourage more violations of international law.
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