Salma Yaqoob

As the Viva Palestina convoy prepares to leave for Gaza, the annual TUC conference has voted unanimously to “work closely with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to actively encourage affiliates, employers and pension funds to disinvest from, and boycott the goods of, companies who profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and construction of the Apartheid Wall.”

The TUC also called for an immediate end to the siege of Gaza, condemned the Israeli attack on the ships taking humanitarian aid, and demanded a full independent inquiry into the attack on the Mavi Marmara.

The Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Huge Lanning, said:

It is a massive step forward in the movement for justice for the Palestinian people, and reflects growing public anger at Israel's aggression towards the Palestinians and those, such as the humanitarians on the Gaza aid flotilla, who try to help them...Trade unions were pivotal in helping to end Apartheid in South Africa and bring freedom to that country's people. Today's vote shows that Britain's unions are prepared to stand up again in support of an oppressed people - this time the Palestinians - and help them to win their freedom. This is an historic moment for the union movement in the UK, and one that it can be proud of.