For a select group of campaigners, there is one country which constitutes such a unique evil in this world that it must be pursued in any arena possible. So evil is this country that it must be singled out in every forum and targeted by boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS). Of course, it’s the one Jewish state. Israel.
For years now we have seen attempts to push BDS in civil society organisations such as students’ unions and trade unions. However, a particularly concerning trend has been attempts to push BDS in public bodies such as universities and local authorities.
Public bodies are publicly funded organisations – we the taxpayers pay for them. They are not responsible for our nation’s foreign policy and they certainly shouldn’t be pursuing an independent one. That is why it is so important that the government has this week introduced legislation to crack down on the abuse of public bodies by anti-Israel BDS campaigners.
The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill will prohibit public bodies from being able to boycott countries in contravention of UK foreign policy. The bill was a Conservative Party manifesto commitment and is consistent with guidance first published by David Cameron’s government in 2016. When that guidance was challenged in the courts, it became clear that new legislation would be required and I am glad we are now making vital progress.
The bill will prohibit politically motivated boycotts against any foreign state or territory. The government will be able to disapply this law against certain countries and, as part of this, it is understood that public bodies will be able to continue taking strong stances against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Crucially however, the government recognises the unique nature of the BDS campaign against Israel. The bill therefore explicitly names Israel meaning that it will not be possible for future governments to use this bill to legalise boycotts of Israel in the future.
Israel is by no means above criticism. We have seen in recent months passionate discussion within our community regarding the current government. As the world’s only Jewish state and a place where many of us will have close family and friends, it is a country we care deeply for even when we don’t always agree with its government or ministers.
But it is also important to separate our passion from the anti-Israel obsession expressed by BDS campaigners. Where we engage with Israel from a place of love, they see it as a global pariah which must, uniquely, be given no legitimate place in any forum. The hypocrisy which BDS proponents show towards egregious human rights abuses globally shows why the bill is correct to expressly prohibit BDS against Israel in public bodies.
While it is not the place of public bodies to set their own policy on Israel, it is their place to have a regard for community cohesion here in the UK. By needlessly importing foreign conflicts, public bodies risk opening-up or even exacerbating existing inter-community tensions. There is a clear correlation between periods of high levels of antisemitism and periods in which Israel is in conflict. Our public bodies should be using their resources to make a positive impact here in the UK, not opining on foreign issues at the detriment of their own communities.
When BDS is implemented, it is often applied in ways directly harmful to Jewish and Israeli people in the UK. Examples include a Sainsbury’s in Central London temporarily removing kosher products from their shelves and West Dunbartonshire Council having to row back on a policy of removing books by Israeli authors from libraries. We have even seen calls in the past for racist academic and cultural boycotts which would target Israelis purely based on their nationality. It is clear that our public bodies should have no engagement with the BDS movement whatsoever.
This is why it is so important that we welcome and support this landmark bill. While I am sure parliamentarians will consider the bill carefully and seek to improve it in the coming months, I hope they will be able to support its overarching aim to remove the threat of BDS from further poisoning our public bodies.
