Motion passed at TUC Congress Sunday 12 September 2021
The TUC General Council was supporting the motion and added this explanation:
The TUC supports the motion which is in line with longstanding policy to actively encourage affiliates, employers and pension funds to disinvest from, and boycott the goods of, companies who profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and the construction of the Wall.
The TUC supports efforts towards genuine peace, justice and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis, based on a two-state solution, with respect for the collective right to self-determination and the right to return.
The General Council notes that the crime of apartheid is increasingly discussed in respect of its definition under international law. The TUC’s 2020 motion considered the term apartheid, and significant human rights organisations, including Btselem and Human Rights Watch, now use the term.
The TUC reiterates its support for an end to the arms trade with Israel, a ban on trade with the illegal settlements and suspension of the UK Israel Trade and Partnership agreement until Palestinian rights are respected, and calls on the UK Government to recognise the State of Palestine.
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Palestine
Congress:
i. stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people following the latest attacks by Israeli state forces on the people of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the occupied territories
ii. condemns the bombing of media offices in Gaza and pledges solidarity with all media workers reporting on the conflict.
Congress notes:
a. 233 Palestinians, 66 of whom were children, and 12 Israelis, including two children, were killed in May.
b. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza with homes, schools, roads, medical facilities and other vital services destroyed or disrupted.
c. The Gaza blockade, annexation of Palestinian land, settlement expansion, and forced evictions of Palestinian families have been condemned by the United Nations as breaches of international humanitarian law.
d. B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have concluded that the Israeli regime is guilty of apartheid, with HRW stating that the authorities have “dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated, and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity” and that, “in certain areas, the deprivations are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”
Congress calls on:
1. the British government to work towards a full and lasting peaceful solution to the conflict that recognises Palestinians’ right to self-determination
2. the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute individuals credibly implicated in crimes against humanity
3. the General Council to reaffirm policy to “boycott the goods of companies who profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and the construction of the Wall”.
National Education Union
AMENDMENT › At end of the final paragraph, after “Wall”, add “and to take meaningful action to highlight UK pension funds that hold shares in investment funds and companies that aid Israel’s breaches of international law.” Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association
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