Amended Motion 106
End Arms Sales to Israel
“That this Congress welcomes the publication of Amnesty International’s report published on 4 December 2024 which concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
“The report documents how Israel has, consistently and with impunity, carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, torture (including sexual violence), causing serious physical and psychological harm and “deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction”.
“Congress notes that a Lancet report (July 2024) suggests the true death toll in Gaza could be as high as 186,000. On 21 November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.
“Congress notes that at least 152 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the International Federation of Journalists
“Congress is horrified that this genocide is being aided by weapons and munitions manufactured in the UK by companies receiving millions in subsidies from the UK and Scottish Governments. A BBC investigation found that over £3 million in public money has been awarded by Scottish Enterprise to weapons firms, including BAE Systems, Leonardo and Raytheon Systems since 2023. We reject Scottish Ministers’ empty claims that the funding to arms dealers supports them to diversify and create jobs and that it has no relationship to their trade in deadly weapons to Israel.
“Congress calls on the STUC to:
- call for the UK government to ban arms sales to Israel and end all funding to arms companies; and
- to actively support the call for an urgent review of the grants process in Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies to ensure the human rights checks are robust and binding.”
“Congress also instructs the General Council to support calls to re-establish and maintain sustainable access to Gaza for international journalists.
Mover: Public and Commercial Services Union
Seconder: National Union of Journalists
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