End UK trade with illegal Israeli settlements
JVL Introduction
The British Palestine Project (BPP), formerly the Balfour Project, is organising a campaign to stop trade in goods, services and investments with illegal Israeli settlements.
As its model letter out: “All Israeli settlements are illegal, and on stolen land. OXFAM and 80 other organisations are mounting a campaign across Europe to ban settlement trade. The Britain Palestine Project is among the 80.”
They invite us all to take part in the campaign by send a model letter to MPs for onward transmission to the Foreign Secretary, elaborating the argument.
It’s dead easy to send and we urge our readers in the UK to do so.
It is, of course, not enough and for the avoidance of doubt remind our readers that JVL is committed to support the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which calls for a boycott of all Israeli activities in both the occupied territories AND 1948 Israel.
RK
This article was originally published by Britain Palestine Project on Tue 6 Jan 2026. Read the original here.
Israel/Palestine: ban UK trade in goods, services and investments with illegal Israeli settlements
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As JVL pointed out in the introduction, the BDS campaign includes all investments in all of Israel, not just the illegal settlements areas which is basically the West Bank. The investments in this area are very small compared to the arms firms and companies like Amazon, Google, Barclays, Elbit and BAE systems. Thus calling for divestment from the illegal settlements is only a symbolic gesture. In Southwark the council announced on September 15th this year that they would divest their pension fund from the UN list of illegal settlements, ie, the West Bank. This amounts to less that £5million from a portfolio of £97million in companies linked to Israel. The PSC claim that 30 councils have divested from Israeli linked companies. This is untrue. Even Southwark has not yet divested any money and instead is appealing to companies to disinvest rather than going ahead with their stated intentions. Where councils have pledged to disinvest from arms companies, welcome though that is, Israel is not mentioned, eg in Waltham Forest and Oxford. Across London councils, much investment by local councils is organised in the CIV, Commercial Investment Vehicle. An organisation ostensibly supporting BDS called ‘Shake the Sieve’ (CIV), quotes the ICJ and ICC rulings to propose ‘ethical investment policies’. Yet this reference again relates the demand to the UN list in the July 24th 2024 ruling which relates to the “occupied territories”. These approaches should be contrasted with the demands made in 1983 by the Greater London Council against South African Apartheid:
(1) Cease the purchase of any goods originating from South Africa and Namibia;
(2) Withdraw all investments held by the Council in companies with South African interests or companies with investments in South Africa or Namibia.
This the approach we need rather than the weak demands by the above organisation.
[cut to our limit of 300 words – admin]
I’m in agreement, though in the past I only boycotted settlement goods the situation has darkened immeasurably and we need an all-out boycott.
Unfortunately the first step required — writing to my MP — is pointless because he is Keir Starmer. Any other suggestions?
I am part of the campaign to get Camden’s pension funds disinvested from Israel: attending council meetings, writing to my three local councillors and all members of the pensions committee, protesting outside the town hall, writing letters to our wonderful paper the Camden New Journal.
It’s not been making even a dent as far as I can see, in fact two of Camden’s fiercest Zionist have recently got themselves onto that pensions committee!
I have now joined Camden People’s Alliance and Camden Unites against Racism, to campaign for some honest and brave new councillors in May. I hope that in Highgate more Greens will get into the council too. At present there’s only one Green councillor ,and not one of the current Labour councillors even had the guts to second her motion about Gaza.
PB. I agree it’s certainly a very small part of what is required but as so few institutions/organisations are undertaking any form of boycott this would be much more easily achieved by waverers. It would be a start and could lead to better. Thanks for all (or 300 words of) the info you have on the pariah State. My MP is the former co-leader of the Greens, Adrian Ramsay and I know is already with us on this.