The United Kingdom issued new guidelines on Monday barring city councils from undermining national policy by targeting Israel for boycotts.
Issued by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, the guidelines strive to “stop councils from introducing restrictions on the companies and countries they use – particularly by introducing boycotts on goods from Israel,” the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) announced in a statement. They will “make following the British government’s foreign policies a legal requirement when buying goods and services – effectively outlawing locally-imposed boycotts.”
The move helps the UK comply with rules imposed by the World Trade Organisation, which require member countries to treat suppliers without prejudice. It strengthens guidelines issued last year discouraging local councils from adopting boycotts of Israel.
“We need to challenge and prevent divisive town hall boycotts which undermine good community relations,” Javid stated. “No council should be boycotting any company or country unnecessarily – instead their main focus should be delivering the value for money taxpayers rightly expect. … We will clampdown on these inappropriate and needless boycotts once and for all.”
The DCLG explained in its statement that these boycotts “damage Britain” and have “led to the removal of Kosher food from the shelves of supermarkets, or calls for Jewish films to be banned.”
“Attempts to boycott Israel are bad for Israelis, Palestinians, and the British economy, and are deeply damaging to community relations,” said Sir Eric Pickles, chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel. “These new regulations are to be warmly welcomed. The measures will further prevent politically-motivated council boycotts, which run counter to government foreign policy.”
Jewish Human Rights Watch, an organization that has fought locally-imposed boycotts of Israel, told The Jewish Chronicle: “For too long BDS Jew-hate has been allowed to fester in the UK. It has spread from certain councils to universities, which is unacceptable. Today we are congratulating the UK government for announcing this new law to stop Jew-hate.”
“Frankly, it just doesn’t wash anymore that with dozens of disputed conflicts around the world it is only the Jewish state that is once again singled out for another boycott. History should have taught us this lesson,” the group added.
A spokesman for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has strong anti-Zionist ties and sympathies, denounced the new guidelines as “an attack on local democracy.”
In related news, the London Assembly, a branch of the city’s government, unanimously adopted the international definition of anti-Semitism last week. The assembly followed the lead of the UK government, which adopted the definition in December of last year.
“The recent rise in antisemitism is utterly obscene,” Labour Assembly Member Andrew Dismore said when introducing the motion. “We have a large Jewish population in London and they, like everybody else, should be protected from the words and actions of the intolerant and ignorant .… In recent months we’ve seen Jewish people, and their properties, become the target for acts of hatred. If we’re to weed out antisemitism, we need to be clear about the challenge on our hands. These guidelines leave no room for doubt about the many ways in which antisemitism manifests itself. By adopting them we’re issuing a warning that any expression of antisemitism will not be tolerated.”
The guidelines define anti-Semitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” and which may also “include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.”
[Photo: Richter Frank-Jurgen / Flickr ]