Palestine Solidarity Campaign

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales that promotes solidarity with the Palestinian people. It was founded in 1982 during the build-up to the first war between Israel and Lebanon, and was incorporated in the UK in 2004 as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd.[1]

Palestine Solidarity Campaign logo

The PSC says it campaigns for peace and justice for Palestinians, in support of international law and human rights. The PSC's stated goals include the right of return for Palestinians and Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories.[2] It has stated that it opposes both "Israel’s occupation and its aggression against neighbouring states".[3] The PSC has criticised Israel's practices when arresting children.[4] PSC states that it is "opposed to all forms of racism, including anti-Jewish prejudice and Islamophobia".[5]

Whilst recognising differences between apartheid-era South Africa and Israel, PSC promotes the boycotting of Israeli goods as a method that it believes was previously successful in achieving political change.[6] PSC chapters have run workshops on such questions as "How to deal with Zionists' arguments; what to say to those who call us anti-Semitic" and "What are settlements? What will boycotting Israeli goods achieve?"[7]

Activities organised by and statements from the PSC are reported on outlets such as the website The Electronic Intifada.[8]

Structure

Founders and leaders

The PSC has an executive committee of 20 members, plus two members representing the PSC’s Trade Union Advisory Committee, who are elected at the Annual General Meeting by its members. Its current Chair is Hugh Lanning and its current Director is Ben Jamal.[9] Based in London, there are four staff members while the organisation relies on volunteers to perform many tasks, such as running campaigns and managing branch offices.[5]

Most of PSC's directors have not been of Palestinian or Middle Eastern descent. One of its founders, Tony Greenstein, is also a founder of Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods.[10]

Branches

The PSC has about 40 branches in England, Scotland and Wales, listed on its website.[11] The organisation's activity in Scotland is co-ordinated by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a separate organisation set up in late 2001 by established Irish human rights and community activists.[12]

Patrons

The PSC website lists many patrons, including:[13]

Bob Crow and Tony Benn were also patrons of the organisation until they died.

Trade union affiliates

These include:[14]

Boycott Israeli goods campaign

PSC has officially supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement since 2001. A study published in The Jewish Chronicle has been reported as recognising the PSC as one of the main proponents of the BDS movement in Britain.[15]

The PSC organised disruptions of a performance by the Israel Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall in February 2011. BBC Radio 3, which was broadcasting the concert live, was forced to suspend the broadcast several times due to the protesters' shouting and heckling.[16]

On 28 May 2012, when Israel's Habima theatre company performed at the London Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the PSC and other BDS groups organised a protest outside the building. On 29 May 2012, BBC Radio 4 reported that Habima was "being criticised for performing to Jewish audiences in the Occupied Territories." A PSC press release corrected the report, saying that it was criticising Habima "for performing in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank." After six months of pressure by PSC, the BBC Trust upheld the PSC's complaint.[17]

The PSC waged a two-year campaign to block an EU trade agreement, the ACAA, that recognised Israeli pharmaceutical standards as equal to those in Europe. The agreement was ultimately passed in October 2012.[18]

In November 2012, the PSC uploaded a 69-minute film to YouTube entitled The Case for Cultural & Academic Boycott of Israel, introduced by Ken Loach.[19]

PSC has supported the BDS campaign against the French company Veolia. Veolia has been criticised by the BDS movement because of its activities in Palestine and Israel. The allegations made included providing infrastructure and services to illegal settlements and racist recruitment policies.[20]

The PSC led a campaign to block the Israeli government's tourism bureau from advertising in British newspapers, its argument being that Israel was misrepresenting Palestinian territories as its own.[21]

Other activism
  • PSC was part of 2007's ENOUGH coalition to oppose the Israeli occupation of territories controlled since the 1967 Six-Day War.[23]
  • Sarah Colborne, who was then director of the PSC, was on board the Mavi Marmara during the 2010 flotilla raid.[25]
  • The PSC supported and raised funds for the 2010 "Viva Palestina" convoy to Gaza, which sought to focus international attention on the Gaza Strip.[26]
  • Scottish PSC helped coordinate 2011's "flytilla," in which activists flew into Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport as part of a protest. Many activists were detained and denied entry to Israel.[27]
  • PSC cohosted the 2011 event "Complicity in Oppression: Do the Media Aid Israel?" with Amnesty International UK and the Middle East Monitor Online (MEMO).
  • The PSC arranged a 30 March 2012 "Land Day" protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London.[28]
  • The PSC promoted the play I Heart Hamas: And Other Things I'm Afraid to Tell You, which was staged on 17 January 2013.[29]
  • In 2014, the PSC supported a demonstration on Nakba Day that protested against the visit to London of the Israeli politician Tzipi Livni.[30]

See also

References
  1. Duedil. "Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd". Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  2. "PSC aims". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  3. Stop Arming Israel. "About the Campaign". Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  4. "Child prisoners". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  5. PSC. "About". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  6. "Boycott Action- Plymouth PSC". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  7. "Redirecting". www.lexis.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  8. http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-actions-surpassbarbarism-apartheid-south-africa-group-says-after-naeem%5B%5D
  9. Duedil. "Directorships". Archived from the original on 1 July 2013.
  10. CPGB. "Tony Greenstein Biography". Communist Party of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  11. "PSC Branches". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  12. IPSC. "History of the IPSC". Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  13. "Our Patrons". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  14. "Trade Unions & Palestine". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  15. Klaiman, Hagit. "Report: Jews behind campaign to boycott Israel". Yedioth Ahronoth.
  16. Ynet. "Anti-Israel protest disrupts Philharmonic show in UK". Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  17. PNN. "BBC Trust Admits Failings in Accuracy in News Reports on Pro-Palestinian Protests". Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  18. The Jewish Press. "Israeli Pharmaceutical Sales Certified in Europe".
  19. PalestineCampaignUK. "The Case for Cultural & Academic Boycott of Israel with intro by Ken Loach". Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  20. Palestine Solidarity Campaign. "Veolia Takes Severe Blow As It Fails To Win 485 Million Pound Contract In West London". Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  21. "Israeli Government breaks UK advertising rules for fourth time". Independent Catholic News. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  22. PSC. "Prosecution of Brighton solidarity activist dropped". Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  23. Independent Catholic News. "Launch of major coalition to end Israeli occupation of Palestine".
  24. Hill, Ed. "Montpelier to Montpellier Bike Ride for Palestine". Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  25. Reuters. "Cameraman: 4 commandos were captured during flotilla raid". Israel News. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  26. Wafa. "PSC: You Can Help Break the Siege on Gaza". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  27. Press Association (23 January 2008). "12 held ahead of Bethlehem visit". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  28. "Redirecting". www.lexis.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  29. "I Heart Hamas: And Other Things I'm Afraid to Tell You". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  30. "Nakba demonstration". Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
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