Motion 110
Escalating Crisis in the Middle East
“That this Congress notes the bombardment of a series of targets in sovereign Yemen, by the United States and the United Kingdom, has significantly raised the risk of an escalation of the terrible conflict beyond Gaza and inflamed tensions in an already hugely volatile region.
“The Middle East has faced Western imperialist economic and military intervention for over a century. Britain controlled colonies, including Yemen and Palestine. Since the Second World War, the US has played a central role in strategic and economic decisions centred around the importance of oil in the region.
“Trade unions have a right to oppose wars and have a long history of promoting peace. In the context of a cost-of-living crisis and with public services and education in disarray, the labour movement has a special interest in campaigning against increased spending on foreign wars.
“Congress recognises conflicts create new and significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and allow polluting practices to flourish, which increase people’s vulnerability to displacement and statelessness.
“Congress calls on the General Council to:
- Defend the right to boycott, divest and sanction, by launching a campaign to oppose the Anti-BDS (Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters)) Bill;
- Call for no increase in military spending with an immediate freeze at present levels and planned reduction to necessary levels of conventional forces for defence purposes;
- Demand an end to Scottish public funding for companies complicit in Israeli Government apartheid;
- Campaign against the renewal of the Trident nuclear submarine programme at an estimated cost of £31 billion, and for this cost to be instead invested in a green industrial strategy with socially just jobs;
- Host opportunities to facilitate international learning and practically support trade union and grassroots organisations across the globe by being actively involved in days of action held.”
Mover: STUC Annual Black Workers’ Conference
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