The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is an activist organisation in England and Wales. It was incorporated in the UK in 2004 as Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ltd.^[1] They officially support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.^[2]

Structure

Founders and leaders

The PSC has an executive committee of 20 members, plus two members representing the PSC's Trade Union Advisory Committee, who are elected at the Annual General Meeting by its members. Its current chair is Hugh Lanning and its current director is Ben Jamal.^[3] Based in London, there are four staff members while the organisation relies on volunteers to perform many tasks, such as running campaigns and managing branch offices.^{[4][non-primary sources needed]}

Most of PSC's directors have not been of Palestinian or Middle Eastern descent^{[citation needed]}. One of its founders, Tony Greenstein, is also a founder of Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods.^[5]

Branches

The PSC has about 40 branches in England, Scotland and Wales, listed on its website.^[6] The organisation's activity in Scotland is co-ordinated by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a separate organisation set up in late 2001 by established Irish human rights and community activists.^[7]

Boycott Israeli goods campaign

PSC has officially supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement since 2001. A study published in The Jewish Chronicle has been reported as recognising the PSC as one of the main proponents of the BDS movement in Britain.^[2]

The PSC organised disruptions of a performance by the Israel Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall in February 2011. BBC Radio 3, which was broadcasting the concert live, was forced to suspend the broadcast several times due to the protesters' shouting and heckling.^[8]

On 28 May 2012, when Israel's Habima theatre company performed at the London Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the PSC and other BDS groups organised a protest outside the building. On 29 May 2012, BBC Radio 4 reported that Habima was "being criticised for performing to Jewish audiences in the Occupied Territories." A PSC press release corrected the report, saying that it was criticising Habima "for performing in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank." After six months of pressure by PSC, the BBC Trust upheld the PSC's complaint.^[9]

The PSC waged a two-year campaign to block an EU trade agreement, the ACAA, that recognised Israeli pharmaceutical standards as equal to those in Europe. The agreement was ultimately passed in October 2012.^[10]

The PSC led a campaign to block the Israeli government's tourism bureau from advertising in British newspapers, its argument being that Israel was misrepresenting Palestinian territories as its own.^[11]

Other activism

• PSC was part of 2007's ENOUGH coalition to oppose the Israeli occupation of territories controlled since the 1967 Six-Day War.^[12]
• Sarah Colborne, who was then director of the PSC, was on board the Mavi Marmara during the 2010 flotilla raid.^[13]
• Scottish PSC helped coordinate 2011's "flytilla," in which activists flew into Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport as part of a protest. Many activists were detained and denied entry to Israel.^[14]
• The PSC arranged a 30 March 2012 "Land Day" protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London.^[15]

Chair banned from entering Israel

Hugh Lanning, the chair of PSC was barred from entering Israel, which the Israeli embassy in the UK said was in part due to his connections with Hamas, which that the EU has declared a terrorist organization. The article in the Jewish News, shows a photo of Lanning standing on a stage along with Ismail Haniyeh, one of Hamas' senior political leaders.^[16]

See also

• Economic and political boycotts of Israel

References

External links

• Palestine Solidarity Campaign