[R-G] UK: UCU Congress supports Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel despite legal warning

[Sid Shniad]

http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/0905/bricup1.html 
UCU Congress supports Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel despite legal warning 
Report by BRICUP 
Published: 28/05/09 


	

British Committee for Universities of Palestine 
27th May 2009 Boycott campaign “now reaching critical mass” say activists 


The University and College Union, representing approximately 120,000 teaching and related staff in colleges and universities in the UK, today passed a number of strongly-worded resolutions in support of the human rights of the Palestinian people and condemning Israeli atrocities in Gaza. 




The motions had been submitted by a range of bodies within the union. 

Motion 24, from the National Executive along with two branches in Further Education colleges, condemned the Israeli military attacks on Gaza and called on UCU to affiliate to the national twinning campaign; to organise events to mark the UN International Day of solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29th November; and to collect information on academics and students prevented from travelling to or from Palestine. 




Motion 25, from the Disabled Members’ Standing Committee, pledged solidarity to Palestinians left injured by the Israeli assault in Gaza. 




Motion 26, from UCU Scotland, agreed to disseminate the report of the President of UCU Scotland, who had recently taken part in the STUC visit to Palestine. That visit had resulted in an endorsement of Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) by STUC Congress. The motion also welcomed the student campaign for disinvestment from arms companies such as BAe. 




Motion 27, from the Black Members’ Standing Committee, called for “recognition of the democratically elected Gaza government” and for Israel to be tried for human rights violations. 




All the above motions were carried overwhelmingly, as was Motion 28 from two regional committees of UCU. This motion demanded that the British government ban “arms sales and economic support to Israel”, called for a ban on imports of all goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the OPT and demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. Controversially, Congress also voted overwhelmingly for an amendment to this motion which affirmed support “for the Palestinian call for a boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign” despite a statement from the General Secretary that on legal advice this amendment would be treated as being “void and of no effect” if carried. 




Motion 29 was brought by two branches at universities and one at an FE college. Tom Hickey, proposing the motion on behalf of a University of Brighton branch, stated that his branch wished to amend its own motion, changing the words “Congress affirms support for the Palestinian call for a boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign” to “Congress urges branches to discuss prior to Congress 2010 the Palestinian call for a boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign”. Hickey explained that this change was only being made in order to accommodate the current legal advice and prevent the motion from being ruled “void” like motion 28. This was accepted by Congress, who voted to support both the amendment and the motion. The outcome is that UCU has voted to host a Trade Union conference in the Autumn to “investigate the lawful implementation of the strategy, including an option of institutional boycotts”. 

Sue Blackwell, a BRICUP member who is on the National Executive Committee of UCU, commented, “This was a smart piece of tactical voting by supporters of academic boycott of Israel and other forms of BDS. We made it quite clear that we support BDS in principle, whatever the law says about implementing it. There is nothing illegal in discussing boycott campaigns, and we will now be doing just that along with activists in other unions, including people from Scottish TUC who have just passed a BDS resolution at their Congress." 




Hickey suggested in his summing-up speech that the time had come for UCU to obtain a court ruling to settle the question once and for all and to put a stop to the legal threats to which the union has been subjected over the past few years. He expressed his “extreme disappointment” with members of his own union who resorted to such threats instead of pursuing their arguments through the union’s internal democratic processes. 




BRICUP members will now be encouraging trade unionists to attend the forthcoming BDS conference in order to broaden the campaign. 




BRICUP’s fringe meeting before the start of Congress heard speeches from Ewa Jasiewicz (co-ordinator of the Free Gaza Movement), Samia al-Botmeh (BirZeit University, Palestine) and Prof. Haim Bresheeth of the University of East London. At the meeting, a statement was read out from a group of Israeli academics who were calling on international colleagues to boycott their institutions. “We are now reaching critical mass”, said Blackwell. “Boycotts, disinvestments and sanctions against Israel are breaking out everywhere, from South Africa to Norway and even within Israel itself. BRICUP is very proud to be playing a part in the growing campaign alongside our Palestinian brothers and sisters and their supporters worldwide.” 




Dr. Amjad Barham, President of the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, is attending UCU Congress as an official guest of the union. He will address Congress on Thursday. 




Notes for Editors 




1. Please note: while we believe that the motions have been accurately summarised above, this press release represents the views of BRICUP and not of UCU. 

2. The full text of all the motions, except for late motions and late amendments, can be read here on the UCU website: 
www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/UCU180.html 

3. The PACBI (Palestinian BDS campaign) press release is here: 
www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1017 

4.The national Twinning campaign website is at: 
www.twinningwithpalestine.net/ 

The Free Gaza Movement website is at: 
http://www.freegaza.org/ 




http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/0905/pcspal1.html 


PCS backs consumer boycott, end arms sales and EU trade agreement - PGFTU address conference 
Report by Gaynelle Samuel 
Published: 28/05/09 


	

To: PSC TUAC 




Dear Colleague, 




For the first time conference was filmed and two of the edited highlights to be viewed on the PCS website are Fathi Naser and Hana Joma's contributions, which you can see at: 




http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/campaigns/pcs_international/ 




(see "related pages" box on the right hand side of the page. 




They receive a standing ovation. This was followed directly with international section, with the first motion on Palestine. The usual arguments for and against were voiced but in the end it was approx. 90% in favour of the motion [below]. 




Regards 




Gaynelle Samuel 
Policy Officer to the Deputy General Secretary 
PCS 160 Falcon Road London SW11 2LN 
t: 020 7801 2821 m: 07788 117 992 

e: gaynelle at pcs.org.uk 
w: http://www.pcs.org.uk/ 


International A39 


Conference deplores the Israeli military incursion into Gaza in December 2008 and the killing of over a thousand innocent civilians – around 1,300 Palestinians, including 400 children and thirteen Israelis, including 3 civilians and the 4,000 more injured as a result of three weeks of attacks on Gaza. Trade unionists and other workers in Gaza’s vital public services have found themselves under attack and unable to undertake their jobs. Hospitals and schools have been destroyed or damaged, approximately half a million people are without access to running water, and 75% of Gaza is without electricity. 

Conference notes that: 




a) The Israeli Government ignored UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009) which called for “an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.” 




b) The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stated that Israeli military may have committed war crimes in Gaza. 




c) The United Nations Human Rights Council (12/01/2009) Resolution on the Grave Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestine Territory called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned “the massive violations of Human Rights of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure.” 




Conference condemns any racist attacks on Jews and Muslims arising from Islamophobia or anti-Semitic activities – but recognises that to criticise the actions of the State of Israel is not to be anti-Semitic. 




Conference is appalled that Israel’s blockade of Gaza has now continued for over eighteen months preventing vital supplies from reaching the people of Gaza and is still continuing despite the destruction of large numbers of homes, work places and agricultural crops. 




Conference noting that the International Committee of the Red Cross has accused Israel of failing to honour its obligation under international law to treat and evacuate injured civilians in Gaza, believes that the Israeli Government has acted and is acting in contravention of the IV Geneva Convention by imposing collective punishment on the people of Gaza. 




We agree that Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against such aggression, but do not support the indiscriminate firing of missiles into Israeli territory. 




Conference condemns the statement of the Histadrut (the Israeli TUC) of 13th January 2009 which expressed support for the Israeli army attack on Gaza in a manner which was in accord with the position of the Government of Israel. 

Essential to the long-term solution for peace in the Middle East is organised workers resistance to war and terror and PCS pledges to continue to build links with both Palestinian and Israeli workers organisations on the ground, stressing the need to take collective action and recognise their common interests to build unity and peace. 




Conference welcomes the NEC statement following the invasion of Gaza. 




Conference therefore instructs the NEC to: 

    • Reaffirm existing union policy in support of the Palestinian people’s right to self determination with two independent states – Israel and Palestine, an end to the illegal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, for the right of return of Palestinian refugees and for the immediate dismantling of the Apartheid Wall. 
    • Demand an end to Israel’s military attacks and to lift its siege of Gaza. 
    • Demand that the British government unequivocally condemns the Israeli military aggression and ends arms sales to Israel noting the sale of more than £18.8 million worth of British arms to Israel in 2008, up from £7.5 million in 2007. 
    • Call for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Agreement providing preferential trade facilities to Israel. 
    • Call on the TUC to condemn the Histadrut statement and to raise this matter in the appropriate national and international forums of the trade union movement to put pressure on them to withdraw this statement. 
    • Encourage our members to boycott goods, and especially agricultural produce, produced in the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. 
    • Campaign for the British trade union movement to support calls for a consumer boycott of Israeli goods from Palestinian trade union and civil organisations. 
    • Encourage branches to affiliate to and support activities of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and other relevant organisations to which PCS is affiliated that have local and regional groups. 


(covers E308-E326) NEC CLG Headquarters 


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