THE co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called on the UK to end all trade and forms of support for Israel, arguing that limited sanctions on settlers or ministers are insufficient.
Omar Barghouti made the comments as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband prepares what he has described as a “comprehensive reset” of UK policy towards Israel.
The UK Government is reportedly considering a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and measures to stop British firms financing, building or advertising new settlements.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham meanwhile warned that Israeli decisions over the E1 settlement could “end” the prospect of a two-state solution with Palestine.
Israel has issued tenders for the E1 settlement, which the UK Government has condemned as illegal under international law.
The UK has criticised the E1 plans as they would separate the West Bank from East Jerusalem.
However, Barghouti said such steps would not meet Britain’s legal and ethical responsibilities.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel’s entire occupation of Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and amounts to a violation of the racial segregation and apartheid prohibitions under international law.
“Dozens of UN human rights experts have said to fulfil those obligations a set of minimal steps are required: a full military embargo, export import, dual-use transfer and transit.
“They also said you have to end all trade, diplomatic and economic relations and academic relations that enable Israel’s illegal occupation.”
Barghouti described proposals to target individual settlement groups or Israeli ministers as a “smoke and mirrors cop-out and distraction”, claiming they diverted attention from the wider question of UK support for Israel.
He said the ICJ’s provisional measures in January 2024 placed obligations on other states because the court found a plausible risk to Palestinian rights under the Genocide Convention.
Barghouti added: “Further in January 2024, the ICJ said there is a plausible case of the violation of Palestinian rights under the Genocide Convention.
“The ICJ decided there is a plausible risk of genocide that is sufficient to trigger third state responsibilities. But UK government lawyers seem to ignore that part of the ruling and say the court has not ruled on genocide.
“But the genocide convention is very clear – where there is a risk, the obligation to prevent is triggered, and how do you prevent a genocide? You stop enabling it. You end all forms of complicity.”
He further argued that sanctions limited to settlement goods would have little practical effect, saying Israel’s policies had made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between businesses operating inside Israel and those tied to settlements in occupied territory.
Explaining why he considered UK sanctions “totally performative”, Barghouti said: “They have no concrete effect in holding Israel to account or pressuring it to comply with international law.”
He added: “Israel has de facto annexed the occupied Palestinian territory, making it near impossible [to] differentiate so-called settlement goods and services.”
The Israeli embassy pointed to remarks from foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar, who warned that Israel would respond if Britain acted against it.
Barghouti said international law remained important despite its limitations, but argued that governments and institutions could not wait for courts alone to secure Palestinian rights.
He added: “So, in the BDS movement, we try to hold states, corporations and institutions accountable to end their own complicity in genocide rather than just wait for the messiah of international law to come and save us.
“We definitely need international law, just as we need to maintain the ethical high ground. Both are necessary, but not sufficient. We need people power to achieve liberation. There is no other way.”
