The UK BDS effect: Is divestment from Israel gaining momentum?

The UK's Palestine solidarity movement is continuing to ramp up its actions to support the Palestinian people's fight for justice.

Currently, one of the most prominent forms of activism is the campaign advocating for divestment from Israel. These principles have long been pushed by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has achieved significant successes in recent weeks.

In early August, Britain’s largest private sector pension fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme or USS, announced that it would sell £80 million of Israeli assets in "response to the financial risks that became apparent".

In doing so, USS joined a wave of global pension funds selling Israeli assets, including Norway's largest pension fund. 

Islington Council in London has also committed to divesting £2.6 million from its pension fund from companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

Furthermore, the council will also review its procurement policies concerning its banking services, including with Barclays Bank.

Activists have accused Barclays of investing in and profiting from arms companies that fuel “Israel’s plausible genocide and atrocities across the occupied Palestinian territory”.

In July, Cllr Diarmaid Ward, the council's finance chief, said it had received "no satisfactory answer" from Barclays about its "complicity in human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestine Territories". The council's banking contract with Barclays ends in 2025.

BDS in the UK enters a new era

To harness growing momentum, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) held a conference titled "Divest for Palestine" on 10 August.

The event addressed divestment campaigns in the UK targeting banks, local government pension funds, and universities, and attendees discussed future planning and actions pushing for divestment from companies complicit in sustaining Israel's apartheid system and military occupation.

Organisers highlighted how "Israel's genocidal assault has killed many tens of thousands and displaced 90% of Gaza's population" and pointed out that Israel couldn't have carried out its devastating attacks all over the Palestinian-occupied territories if it weren't for the companies and financial institutions supporting it all over the world.

This included companies selling Israel weapons and military technology used against the Palestinians, as well as those providing the basic infrastructure - such as roads and facilities - which underpins Israel's illegal military occupation of Palestinian territory.

PSC Director Ben Jamal told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab's Arabic-language edition, that hundreds of supporters, including leaders of the global solidarity movement, had participated in the conference. 

Jamal pointed out that while the "unprecedented size" of the regular demonstrations protesting Israel's war on Gaza indicated an extraordinary rise in solidarity with the Palestinian people, what is needed is "meaningful solidarity", which puts an end to "the complicity of our government, our public bodies, our companies and our corporations".

PSC has more than 100 branches throughout the UK. These branches, along with student organisations in their universities, are working together to build local grassroots campaigns.

According to Ben Jamal, the PSC is already seeing the results of their hard work. The conference brought together activists from various campaigns to plan the next steps and maintain the momentum. "Today's conference focuses on channelling street energy into campaigns targeting universities and local councils, urging them to divest from companies complicit in supporting Israel's system of oppression."

On 31 August, there will be a "National Divestment Day of Action" encouraging protests outside council offices across the UK, advocating for divestment from Israel. This is in light of upcoming local authority elections in the next two years. The aim is to make divestment from Israel an election issue, similar to how Palestine became an issue in the UK general election.

The BDS movement's current momentum is part of a broader struggle regarding the boycott of Israel in the UK. The previous UK government, led by the Conservative Party, tried to pass a law known as the "Anti-Boycott Bill".

The proposed law aimed to stop local institutions like councils and universities from cutting ties with companies involved in human rights abuses in Israel. However, the bill was shelved when early elections were called and the parliament was dissolved.

This has enabled local campaigns to gain huge momentum in recent months as global outrage over Israel's relentless bombardment of civilians in Gaza has soared, and these campaigns are seeing results.

For example, Waltham Forest Council in London announced in July it was divesting its pension fund from companies exporting arms to Israel after reviewing the ethical terms of its investments. The Labour-run council currently invests around £773,000 of pensioners' money in companies exporting arms to Israel.

In the same month, King's College London (KCL) announced it was halting investments in arms firms supplying Israel, following widespread student protests at the university in solidarity with Gaza.

Hitting the bottom line

Barghouti explained that although some investors were Zionists and invested due to ideology, most were looking for profits. He pointed out that it's hard to make profits in an economy that could collapse.

When the Norwegian fund divested around $500 million of Israeli government bonds, it alerted other investment funds that there was a problem with the Israeli economy, which had made the Norwegians uneasy.

He argued that this illustrates the economic argument that can be used alongside ethical and legal arguments to advocate for divestment.

Barghouti also referenced statements made by former Head of Israel's National Economic Council, Eugene Kandel, who had warned that Israel's economy was facing either a slow or quick death and that radical changes were needed for any hope of recovery.

"The Israeli economy is a sinking ship. We can liken it to the moment the Titanic hit the iceberg, and we are not exaggerating," concluded Barghouti.

This is an edited and abridged translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here.

Translated by Rose Chacko   

This article is taken from our Arabic sister publication, Al-Araby Al Jadeed and mirrors the source's original editorial guidelines and reporting policies. Any requests for correction or comment will be forwarded to the original authors and editors.

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