WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL AND ISRAELI AUTHORS AND BUSINESSES

Motion Text

That this House condemns the unilateral decision of West Dunbartonshire Council to boycott Israeli authors and businesses; notes that Israel is one of the only democracies in the Middle East where Arab citizens have genuine freedom and the rule of law, with an independent Supreme Court; further notes that there has been no boycott of dictatorships like Syria where the regime has killed many of its own citizens in recent days; regrets that West Dunbartonshire Council has expressed no concern for the brutal crimes of China, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Sri Lanka, or Zimbabwe, which have appalling records on human rights; and therefore urges the people of Dunbartonshire to lobby their councillors strenuously against this offensive decision, which has echoes of Nazi Germany burning books by Jewish authors in the 1930s.