ISRAEL’S military assault on Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, injured more than 90,000 and displaced over 75 per cent of the population.

The illegal war has destroyed housing, hospitals, schools and universities. And this is before we look at the growing aggression in the West Bank and now in Lebanon.

This was the context to the recent TUC Congress when delegates unanimously passed a motion that clearly revealed the inadequacy of the new British government’s approach to Israel’s illegal war — unfortunately, something that has not been discussed at this conference.

In particular, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight how the union movement further upped the pressure on the government with regard to arms sales to Israel by calling for an end to all licences for arms traded with Israel.

The motion also recognised — as the International Court of Justice has — that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to a plausible case of genocide and should be met with a principled foreign policy that, under the genocide convention, requires all steps be taken to prevent genocide and punish those responsible. It called for sanctions against individuals and entities that have incited genocide.

Furthermore, the TUC motion recognised Palestinians are subjected to a system of apartheid. As was the case with South African apartheid, this requires a concerted effort from the labour movement to dismantle it.

The TUC therefore called for sanctions and building boycott and divestment campaigns. Local Labour Parties, Labour councils and other bodies should immediately engage in such campaigns and actions.

Recent uplifting examples of successful Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaigns include Waltham Forest Council committing to divesting its pension fund from arms companies, and Islington Council will not renew its banking contract with Barclays due to Barclays’ investments in Israeli apartheid.

As Craig Mokhiber, a former senior UN human rights official, puts it, the ICJ ruling makes BDS “not only a moral imperative and constitutional and human right, but also an international legal obligation.”

This is also the context to the passing of the historic UN motion recently, which Britain shamefully abstained on, that called for sanctions on Israel in order to end the illegal occupation. Israel must face real consequences when it doesn’t abide by international law.

Now, we must ramp up our solidarity. This means that those who support Palestinian rights within the Labour Party should echo the concluding calls of the TUC on the British government in their entirety, namely to:

1. Immediately recognise the state of Palestine, contributing to a two-state solution.
2. End all licences for arms traded with Israel, meeting international law.
3. Demand a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages and Palestinian political prisoners.
4. Ensure safe access to essentials, including water, electricity, and food, and restore funding to UNRWA.
5. Following the ICJ and ICC statements, impose sanctions upon individuals and entities who have made statements inciting genocide against Palestinians.
6. Revoke the 2030 Road Map for UK-Israel bilateral relations.
7. Ensure decent work and quality public services are embedded in the reconstruction of Gaza.

We will not rest until Palestine is free.