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Post by Admin on Dec 17, 2019 6:49:59 GMT
Johnson’s Conservative Party – which won 365 seats in last week’s election – is expected to pass legislation preventing local councils from boycotting products made abroad. The legislation was initially revealed in the party’s manifesto which was published last month.
“We will ban public bodies from imposing their own direct or indirect boycotts, disinvestment or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries. These undermine community cohesion,” the document read.
Speaking in Jerusalem Sunday night, Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues, Eric Pickles, slammed the BDS movement while addressing the Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s conference.
"BDS is anti-Semitic and should be treated as such," Pickles said.
Such a measure is expected to prevent Labour-led councils from targeting Israel and boycotting products made in the Holy Land. Had Labour won the election, it is almost certain it would move forward with its promise to stop selling arms to Israel and recognize a Palestinian state.
As for Johnson, he’s been a longtime advocate against the BDS movement. Ever since 2015, Johnson was quoted as dismissing the movement as a “completely crazy” carried out by “lefty academics.”
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Post by Admin on Dec 17, 2019 22:30:01 GMT
 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ban public bodies from boycotting foreign products from countries including Israel, a move seen as targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Lord Eric Pickles, Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues and a former Conservative MP, confirmed the move, saying: "BDS is an organisation devoted to boycotting and removing investment from Israel, one of our key allies. We're going to ensure that public sector, places like councils and health authorities, can't work against Israel, can't prejudice Israel. "BDS is just a thin disguise for anti-Semitism and we as Conservatives should always tackle racial discrimination. BDS is one of the worst, wink wink, nudge nudge, piece of racialism that we know." His message, posted in a video on the Conservative Friends of Israel lobby group's Twitter feed, has stirred concerns among experts and activists who see BDS as a non-violent protest movement aimed at pressuring Israel to comply with international law and stop oppressing Palestinians. Specifically, BDS seeks to break down Israel's illegal wall and settlements. Its supporters demand equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel and call for the rights of Palestinian refugees to be upheld. |
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Post by Admin on Dec 22, 2019 18:30:42 GMT
Plans to outlaw boycotts of Israeli goods and institutions
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement seeks to pressure the Israeli government to end its 52-year military occupation of Palestinian territories and its daily infringements of Palestinian human rights. But Eric Pickles, former Conservative Party chairman, summed up the feelings of many Tories by calling it "a thin disguise for anti-Semitism".
Johnson went on to speak out against it in Parliament on Thursday:
The Conservatives have also proposed a commission to study the nation's "constitution, democracy and rights", sparking fears of potential gerrymandering, reducing the independence of the judiciary and the repeal of the Human Rights Act.
There were also proposals in the Queen's Speech to bring in a voter ID law, despite warnings it could disenfranchise voters, particularly those who are low-income, vulnerable or from minority communities.
"All of the government's public commentary, and a carefully worded Queen's Speech, shout 'Look at what we say, not what we do'," said Dr Shanahan of the University of Reading.
"The promises of a new, hopeful UK are actually bounded in by a more executive-dominated style of politics that favour the Conservatives' friends - and promises, longer-term, a more libertarian UK. We won't see big changes until the spring, but the devil will be in the detail with this government - and those details may not favour those from outside London who helped create the new 'Great Blue Wall'."
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