Urge MSPs to withhold consent for Anti-Boycott Bill

Ask your MSPs to vote in support of the Scottish Government's recommendation to withhold consent to Westminster's “Anti-Boycott” Bill impacting the ability of Scotland’s public bodies to make ethical investment and procurement decisions.

The Anti-Boycott Bill is clearly highly political, with the stated aim of protecting Israel from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).  BDS was called for by Palestinian civil society in 2005, and demands the equal rights for Palestinians living inside Israel, the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, and the end of the occupation. All of these demands correspond to very basic rights enshrined in international law.  This legislation is doing what Margaret Thatcher tried to do in the 1980s – protect an apartheid state, in that case South Africa, from an international solidarity movement.

Recent reports by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem provide a vast body of evidence that the crime of apartheid is committed in all areas that Israel rules over. The Anti-Boycott Bill would therefore prevent public bodies in Scotland from fulfilling their responsibilities to uphold international law.

Urge your MSPs to vote in support of withholding Scottish Government consent to this attack on democracy and human rights.