OPINION: Time to finally bring pernicious BDS movement to heel

‘Boycott Israel’ stickers were plastered everywhere. A lecture theatre had been occupied with students demanding the revocation of an honorary doctorate for Shimon Peres. The Vice-Chancellor had circulated an email calling for an end to abuse of Jewish students.

It was January 2009 at King’s College London and Israel and Hamas were engaged in conflict thousands of miles away.

Noisy protests are part and parcel of university life but this felt different. The rage and rhetoric were vitriolic.

As a non-Jew, it was a startling introduction to BDS and how easily it erupts into outright antisemitism.

It troubled me that the moment I left campus I could flick an off-switch and be entirely unaffected by what was occurring on campus, while my Jewish friends had no such escape.

BDS has long-since moved from campuses into mainstream politics, reaching the very heart of taxpayer funded bodies. The movement had even been on the cusp of entering the door of 10 Downing Street through Jeremy Corbyn a few short years ago.

Recognising the harm BDS has caused to the Jewish community, the Conservative Party has persistently sought to tackle the division it sows. Repeat attempts, however, to issue guidance for public bodies against BDS have been quashed by UK courts, leaving the Government with no other choice but to legislate.

Making good on its 2019 Manifesto commitment, the long-awaited Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons last Monday.

The Bill has generated a lot of interest but it appears that there is much misunderstanding around it.

BDS has long-since moved from campuses into mainstream politics, reaching the very heart of taxpayer funded bodies. The movement had even been on the cusp of entering the door of 10 Downing Street through Jeremy Corbyn a few short years ago.

Lost in the heat of the debate is a simple principle underwriting the whole legislation: foreign and trade policy is a reserved power for the elected Government of this country. The clumsy, politicised, foreign policy grandstanding of public bodies undermines this age-old principle and muddies Government foreign policy.

Accordingly, the legislation is universal – public bodies will not be able to boycott any country unless the elected Government of the UK chooses so.

Of course, sanctions remain a crucial foreign policy tool. The Government has already publicly committed to introduce secondary legislation to enable public bodies to continue enforcing their boycotts against Russia. Existing legislation also means that public bodies can consider human trafficking and modern slavery, which is an important tool against China’s abuse of the Uyghurs.

Make no mistake though, the Bill is also a deliberate and targeted response to BDS. After all, BDS’ trademark is its very specific obsession with Israel. No other country – however blatant or grotesque their human rights abuses may be – is deserving of the wrath and fury of BDS activists. Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, China’s systematic persecution of the Uyghurs, Assad’s butchering of Syria? Not a single one managed to raise an eyebrow. The UK is by no means alone in wanting to tackle BDS – the German Parliament has passed a resolution unequivocally condemning BDS as antisemitic.

It is for these uncomfortable truths that the UK Government has seen fit to apply an extra legislative hurdle in relation to Israel – an insurance policy, if you will. Critics have claimed this puts Israel beyond reproach, but this misses the point that a future Government will be able to disapply Israel from the Bill through primary legislation.

The Labour frontbench may be claiming that it is opposed to BDS, but last week’s debate suggests that many of its backbench MP’s remain keen supporters of the pernicious movement. If anything, some of the divisive, unpleasant rhetoric simply reinforced the need for this landmark legislation.

The real-world harm that BDS has wrought on community cohesion is incontrovertible. That it has been done by public bodies using taxpayer’s money necessitates Government action. Strong headwinds and a long legislative road lie ahead, but the Bill’s founding principles are right and just. It is time to act before any more harm can be done.

• James Gurd is executive director of Conservative Friends of Israel