Matthew Hancock was in Israel when he announced that democratically elected Town Councils would be prevented from boycotting firms complicit in Israeli Apartheid.<\/p>\n
He states<\/a> \u201cWe need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts.” <\/a> So a Tory Cabinet Minister does not want to be divisive!\u00a0 Can we expect a repeal of the Bedroom tax, repeal of the anti union legislation? and a repeal of the tax cuts for the super rich on the grounds that they are all divisive?\u00a0 I don’t think so.<\/p>\n Every law is divisive.\u00a0 When they passed a law stating that theft is illegal, all the thieves were discriminated against and rightly so.\u00a0 When we in Palestine Solidarity say Israel has been stealing land since 1948, this is a simple statement of fact.\u00a0 Israel has been using its military, economic and diplomatic muscle to oppress the Palestinians for the last seventy years.\u00a0 In 2005 the bulk of Palestinian Civil Society<\/a> asked us to adopt a strategy of Boycott, divestment and sanctions as a way of putting pressure on Israel to end its repression.<\/a><\/p>\n The demand for BDS is divisive.\u00a0 On the one side stands people with compassion and solidarity for the oppressed.\u00a0 On the other are the oppressors and their allies.\u00a0 It was ever thus.\u00a0 Cameron’s forefathers were slave owners.\u00a0 Opposed to them were the slaves and the anti slavery campaigners like Wilberforce.\u00a0 In the last century white supremacists ran Apartheid South Africa.\u00a0 They were supported by the British and the American establishments.\u00a0 The Blacks organised and resisted supported by the huge Anti Apartheid movement.\u00a0 Even David Cameron says <\/a>that Thatcher was wrong to have called the African National Congress terrorist and to have opposed sanctions.\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n So why do they want to rob local authorities of the right to make ethical decisions? Easy, they would lose the debate.<\/p>\n Whether the Government has the legal power to instruct local authorities to ignore such things as reputational damage is another issue.<\/p>\n <\/a> http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2016\/feb\/15\/councils-and-nhs-trusts-to-be-blocked-from-boycotting-israeli-products<\/p>\n <\/a> http:\/\/bdsmovement.net\/call<\/p>\n <\/a> http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2006\/aug\/27\/uk.conservatives1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew Hancock was in Israel when he announced that democratically elected Town Councils would be prevented from boycotting firms complicit in Israeli Apartheid. He states \u201cWe need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts.” So a Tory Cabinet Minister does not want to be divisive!\u00a0 Can we expect a repeal of the Bedroom … Continue reading Tories attack local democracy<\/span>