A petition to divest from Israel, set to be heard by Brent Council, London, on 19 September, is illegal, according to UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).

The petition to divest from Israel was placed on the Change.org platform by Brent & Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign and has garnered 768 “signatures”.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to Brent Council raising the following issues:

1. Under Brent’s Standing Orders, the petitioners should not be permitted to address the Council unless the petition has 200 valid signatures by individuals who live, study or work in Brent. Anyone, anywhere can “sign” the petition on Change.org and the platform does not verify their street addresses. UKLFI queries whether this condition has been met.
2. The petition makes seriously false allegations against Israel which stir up hatred against Israelis, Jews and Zionists (all of which are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010). The Council has an obligation under section 149(1)(c) of the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard when exercising its functions to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Even if the petition has received the required 200 valid “signatures”, UKLFI argues that Brent Council should decline to permit the petitioners to amplify their false allegations inciting hatred by an oral presentation.
3. The Petition is based on false allegations.
   1. Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip is not “genocidal”. The then President of the Court, Judge Donoghue has confirmed in a BBC interview that the court has not found that Israel was guilty of genocide;
   2. The allegation that Israel “has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians – almost half of them children” is based on fabricated and manipulated figures produced by Hamas-controlled ministries in Gaza. The proportions of women and “children” are exaggerated and the “children” include teenage combatants up to including 18-year olds.
   3. The allegation that “Palestinians in Gaza are facing famine due to Israel’s blockade and its targeting of life-sustaining infrastructure” is also false: see https://www.uklfi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Review-of-Gaza-Famine-Reports-8.8.24.pdf.
4. The petition’s demands are illegal as Brent Council is not free to boycott companies such as Barclays in its procurement of goods or services or to divest from such companies on political grounds.
   1. As regards procurement, section 17 of the Local Government Act 1988 and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 remain in force and require procurement decisions to be taken on the basis of economic and technical considerations, subject to very limited exceptions.
   2. As regards divestment, the Council and managers of its funds are bound by fiduciary duties to maximise the return on investments consistently with financial prudence and may only take into account non-financial considerations if the decision would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the fund and there is a consensus among stakeholders on the issue.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UKLFI commented:  “The issues relating to the war in Gaza are clearly controversial. In these circumstances the fiduciary duty of the trustees and managers of pension funds, as well as other funds held by the Council, is to focus on the financial factors, not foreign policy, as observed in the Law Commission’s report.”