- Conference
- 2022 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2022
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference welcomes the comprehensive Amnesty International report, Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity, which sets out how massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to apartheid under international law.
This system is maintained by violations which Amnesty found to constitute apartheid as a crime against humanity, as defined in the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention. The Amnesty report reinforces the previous findings of apartheid by the Israeli Human Rights organisation B’Tselem as well as Human Rights Watch and numerous Palestinian human rights organisations.
Conference is deeply concerned by the Conservative government’s plans to introduce new laws to restrict the ability of public bodies, including local government, to purchase, procure and invest ethically, in the interest of workers and the communities they represent.
Conference recalls that UNISON was one of the first trade unions to respond to the call from Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).
It believes that UNISON must campaign strongly against any such proposed ‘anti-boycott’ laws, working with other organisations as appropriate, and seeking the widest possible support from UNISON members, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus (LGBT+) members.
Conference notes that LGBT+ people have long been a primary target of the Israeli government’s attempts to change Israel’s image from that of a country in a state of war to that of a ‘liberal and modern’ tourist destination and of a campaign specifically aimed at trying to undermine support in LGBT+ communities for the Palestinian people.
Conference further notes that the resolution “Palestine” adopted by 2016 LGBT conference endorsed UNISON policy in support of the Palestinian people and BDS, and in campaigning against laws seeking to silence those who campaign for Palestinian rights. It instructed the national LGBT committee (as it was then) to continue to work with the national executive council (NEC) in various ways, including campaigning to raise LGBT+ people’s awareness as to why they should not go on holiday to Israel, and be sitting on the beach in Tel Aviv or going to Tel Aviv Pride while, just an hour’s drive away, Palestinians are living under siege in Gaza. Subsequent conferences have echoed this support for justice for Palestine
Conference calls on the NEC to work with the national LGBT+ committee and other appropriate parts of the union to:
1. Encourage LGBT+ members to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) campaign against the ‘anti-boycott’ bill;
2. Promote awareness of the Amnesty report;
3. Promote UNISON’s guide ‘Palestine: Is your pension invested in the occupation’ and the guide for UNISON activists ‘Talking about Palestinian Rights’;
4. Continue to encourage LGBT+ members, branch and regional groups to take up actions in support of Palestinian rights.