{"id":88089,"date":"2016-02-20T19:47:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T03:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=88089"},"modified":"2016-02-20T19:47:40","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T03:47:40","slug":"israel-boycott-ban-shunning-israeli-goods-to-become-criminal-offence-for-public-bodies-and-student-unions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=88089","title":{"rendered":"Israel boycott ban: Shunning Israeli goods to become criminal offence for public bodies and student unions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Independent<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Local councils, public bodies and even some university student unions are to be banned by law from boycotting \u201cunethical\u201d companies, as part of a controversial crackdown being announced by the Government.<\/p>\n

Under the plan all publicly funded institutions will lose the freedom to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Any public bodies that continue to pursue boycotts will face \u201csevere penalties\u201d, ministers said.<\/p>\n

Senior government sources said they were cracking down on town-hall boycotts because they \u201cundermined good community relations, poisoned and polarised debate and fuelled anti-Semitism\u201d.<\/p>\n

But critics said the move amounted to a \u201cgross attack on democratic freedoms\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: \u201cThe Government\u2019s decision to ban councils and other public bodies from divesting from trade or investments they regard as unethical is an attack on local democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have the right to elect local representatives able to make decisions free of central government political control. That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Government\u2019s ban would have outlawed council action against apartheid South Africa. Ministers talk about devolution, but in practice they\u2019re imposing Conservative Party policies on elected local councils across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Significantly, and underlining the main target of the ban, the formal announcement will be made by the Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock when he visits Israel this week.<\/p>\n

Israeli companies, along with other firms which have investments in the occupied West Bank, have been among those targeted by unofficial boycotts in the past.<\/p>\n

In 2014 Leicester City Council passed a policy to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank while the Scottish Government published a procurement notice to Scottish councils which \u201cstrongly discourages trade and investment from illegal settlements\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Independent: Local councils, public bodies and even some university student unions are to be banned by law from boycotting \u201cunethical\u201d companies, as part of a controversial crackdown being announced by the Government. Under the plan all publicly funded institutions … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-israel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t