UK unions to review all ties with Israel

British trade unions have voted overwhelmingly to review links with all Israeli organisations, including with Histadrut, in an amendment to a Middle East motion at the annual conference in London. Delegates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC), representing 6.5 million workers in the UK, on Wednesday also deplored the 'anti-democratic law' passed by the Israeli Knesset banning individuals and organisations in Israel from calling for a boycott of Israel. The motion reaffirmed existing policy to 'work closely with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) 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 vote was hailed as unprecedented by Hugh Lanning, the deputy general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which proposed the amendment to review all-bilateral relations with Israeli organisations, including the main Israeli union. “Today British trade unions have decided not to buy into the Israeli occupation - not to buy goods from firms or work with organisations complicit with Israel's illegal occupation, settlements and wall,” said Lanning, who is also chair of the PSC. “Israel must be made to honour international law. The UN, Obama and the EU should be making Palestine a reality not blocking their freedom,” he said. The trade union movement was a central pillar of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and last year the TUC stepped up its action against Israel by endorsing the international Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions campaign against the Zionist regime.