British and Irish boycott of Israel

The UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC), representing more than 5.3 million workers, voted unanimously at its annual conference in Brighton to back a motion supporting the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel -- the first time the umbrella union body has formally endorsed BDS. The motion, put forward by Artists' Union England's Zita Holborne, calls for the TUC to campaign to end UK military cooperation and arms deals with Israel, press the government for wide-ranging sanctions, and back union-led solidarity campaigns, framing the vote as a response to what it called the 'catastrophic destruction of Gaza' and Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti welcomed the vote as evidence that sustained union-backed pressure was pushing governments toward stronger action, while cautioning that more remained to be done.