The UK wants to ban Israel boycotts, but MPs vow to fight it | Crispin Blunt MP

07/14/23 • 27 min

Could the BDS movement soon become illegal in the UK?

Under a new bill, the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, boycotting foreign countries will become illegal for public bodies, which would include councils, unions and student organisations.

The law specifically protects Israel from being targetted, and bars public bodies from even voicing support for pro-Palestinian BDS initiatives even if they don’t take part.

The bill, spearheaded by Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michale Gove, passed its first two readings in parliament, but a large number of Conservative MPs vow to break away from their party and fight it.

In this episode of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with Conservative MP Cripsin Blunt, who also serves as the director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.

He says the bill will set a dangerous precedent for free speech and will create a dangerous environment for activists as well as Jewish communities.

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Could the BDS movement soon become illegal in the UK?

The law specifically protects Israel from being targetted, and bars public bodies from even voicing support for pro-Palestinian BDS initiatives even if they don’t take part.

In this episode of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with Conservative MP Cripsin Blunt, who also serves as the director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.

He says the bill will set a dangerous precedent for free speech and will create a dangerous environment for activists as well as Jewish communities.

Previous Episode

Israel, the media and the future of Palestinian resistence | Husam Zomlot

Are we witnessing the beginning of a new Palestinian uprising?
The Israeli raid on Jenin this week marked a sudden escalation of violence in an increasingly tense West Bank, with calls for armed insurrections in several Palestinian cities.
12 people, including three children, died in Jenin, adding to the toll of more than 100 Palestinians that have been killed since 2022.
Israel’s far-right government vows the raids will continue, as the Palestinian Authority faces growing anger for failing to intervene, and a young generation ready to take up arms.
In the first episode of our second season of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, who says international media is helping Israel continue to evade accountability, and that Palestinians are frustrated and hopeless.

Next Episode

Narco-Diplomacy: How Bashar al-Assad used Captagon to survive the Syrian War | Lina Khatib

What happens when a dictator uses drug trafficking as a tool of diplomacy?

The psychoactive drug known as Captagon has exploded across the Middle East and Europe, leading many countries to clasify it as an ‘epidemic’. The highly-addictive pill used to be made in Turkey and Latin America, but that slowly changed after the Syrian Civil War.

Today, 80% of the global supplies come from Syria, and many have accused Bashar al-Assad of using the drug to generate billions in revenue for the government, bypassing sanctions, and to put pressure on his neighbours to resume diplomatic ties.

That gambit seems to have paid off in May when, after more than 10 years, Syria was welcomed back into the Arab League.

In this week’s episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with Dr Lina Khatib, head of the Middle East Institute at SOAS University. Dr Khatib says despite years of sanctions and political pressure, Assad has emerged feeling victorious.