British government tries to intimidate Palestine solidarity campaigners

David Cameron’s Conservative government in Britain has published new public procurement guidelines in an attempt to stop local council and public authorities supporting “town-hall boycotts” of Israel.

The move is part of increasingly strident attempts in Israel, Britain, France, Europe and the USA to counter the growth and successes of the Palestine solidarity campaign.

The government claims that boycotts “undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarising debate, weakening integration and fuelling anti-Semitism”. The claim that expressing solidarity with Palestinians fuels anti-Semitism is a favourite canard of Israel apologists, one which repeatedly has been denounced by Jewish supporters of the Palestinian solidarity campaign.

Like South African anti-apartheid campaigners in 1988, Palestine solidarity campaigners in the UK have vowed to continue the struggle.

In a statement issued on 18 February, Riyah Hassan, the European Campaigns Officer for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, noted that, while Palestine solidarity groups would seek further legal advice, “it appears that it remains perfectly legal for councils and universities to take ethical stances that reflect the views of their communities and exclude companies that violate human rights from tender exercises.”

The tone and language of the new guidelines, however, are an “underhanded attack on local democracy”, which were “clearly designed to intimidate councils”, she said.

The Cameron government’s move has been condemned as an attack on local democracy and democratic freedoms by British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as Amnesty International. It has been compared to Margaret Thatcher’s attempt to curtail the political activity of local councils in regard to the South African anti-apartheid movement, as well as the struggle for gay and lesbian rights, in the 1980s.

The South African anti-apartheid boycott campaign had gained the support of more than 120 local councils across the UK by 1985. The councils represented 66 percent of the British population. In March 1988, in order to limit the political activity of councils, the Thatcher government passed the Local Government Act.

While Section 28 of the Act notoriously prohibited local councils from “promoting homosexuality”, Section 17 also prohibited political activity in regard to boycotts, preventing local councils from excluding companies from the competitive tendering process on political grounds.

Like South African anti-apartheid campaigners in 1988, Palestine solidarity campaigners in the UK have vowed to continue the struggle for a Palestinian self-determination and justice, refusing to be intimidated by yet another right wing government that supports apartheid.