LONDON: The UK government is being accused of shutting down free speech after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he plans to ban public institutions from joining boycott movements.
The pledge does not explicitly reference Israel, but the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is the most prominent boycott campaign in Britain touted by some public institutions, such as universities and student unions.
The UK government said the move has been drawn up to prevent “divisive” behavior “that undermines community cohesion.”
This comes after Lord Eric Pickles, former Conservative Party chairman, recently claimed that the BDS movement is a “thin disguise for anti-Semitism.”
In the Conservative manifesto for the Dec. 12 election, which the party won by a landslide, it committed to “ban public bodies from imposing their own direct or indirect boycotts, divestments or sanctions.”
Regular BDS campaigns take place across the British university system. Protestors claim that the movement seeks to confront Israel’s illegal settlements and segregation, with boycotts deployed to pressure governments into demanding Palestinian rights.
The anti-boycott policy has been criticized by pro-Palestine activists, who describe it as censorious.
“This move risks shutting down debate on Israel, but there’s barely any serious debate as it stands,” Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Arab News.
“People will be very skeptical of a government that penalizes those acting to end war crimes and occupation, not least when this government and previous ones have done next to nothing to hold Israel to account.”
FASTFACT
The UK government said the move has been drawn up to prevent ‘divisive’ behavior ‘that undermines community cohesion.’
Pickles, who is also chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, recently explained the government’s plans to hold a conference in Jerusalem.
“BDS is … devoted to boycotting and removing investment from Israel, one of our key allies. We’re going to ensure that the public sector, places like councils and health authorities, can’t work against Israel, can’t prejudice Israel,” he told the audience.
But BDS supporters reject the charge of anti-Semitism, saying it is a smear used to justify censorship against their movement and the campaign against Israeli oppression.
Doyle described the accusation of anti-Semitism used against BDS campaigners as “a dangerous and irresponsible conflation.”
Pickles’ speech comes amid heightened concern regarding Israeli activity, with the International Criminal Court announcing on Dec. 20 that it would investigate alleged Israeli and Palestinian war crimes.
Palestinian rights’ groups have rallied around the BDS movement in light of the UK government’s proposed restrictions.
The Palestinian BDS National Committee tweeted: “Supporters of freedom of expression, human rights and international law should oppose the UK government’s efforts to repress our peaceful movement for freedom, justice and equality.”
It added that “in 1988, (then-UK Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher banned local councils from boycotts and divestment against apartheid South Africa. Now, Johnson is planning to ban local councils from boycotts and divestment against apartheid Israel. It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now.”
The group described the proposed ban as “McCarthyite,” and called on “supporters of freedom of expression and human rights for all” to oppose the policy.
With Johnson’s recently secured parliamentary majority and a shrunken Labour Party — widely considered to be one of the main allies of the Palestinian cause in British politics — following its crushing defeat in the recent election, the prime minister is set to enjoy little opposition to his new plans.
This could give Johnson — who describes himself as a “passionate Zionist” — the freedom to run roughshod over the rights of Palestinian activists.
