Oxford City Council has agreed to boycott and divest from companies which are linked to war crimes and violations of international law.
A motion from the Oxford Community Independents called for the council to stop investing in and trading with companies which are implicated in state violence and oppression, war and occupation, and grave violations of human rights, as well as companies involved in using fossil fuels.
It also asks the council to note the International Court of Justice’s rulings on Palestine, which underline United Nations member states’ obligation to “actively avoid complicity in Israel’s occupation of Palestine”, as well as Oxford’s “prominent role” in the anti-apartheid movement.
Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters stood outside Oxford Town Hall in support of the motion holding signs reading “divest now” and “not in our name”.
It was passed unanimously by councillors at the city council meeting yesterday (Monday, March 24.)
Dr Nick Maynard, a surgeon at Oxford University Hospital who has worked in Gaza teaching medical students, gave a speech at the meeting in support of the motion.
He said: “I have spent several weeks in Gaza over the last 18 months leading emergency medical teams, on behalf of Medical Aid for Palestinians, and have witnessed with my own eyes multiple war crimes committed by the Israeli military, which are clear breaches of international law.
“On March 18 alone, 174 children were killed by the Israeli military.
“It is time for our politicians both national and local to stand up and speak out against these multiple breaches of international law.
“Oxford City Council must demonstrate its commitment to human rights and international law by publicly calling out these war crimes and demonstrating support for Gaza.
“In Gaza, I witnessed things that I never would have expected to have seen in any healthcare setting.
“I witnessed deliberate targeted attacks on hospitals.”
Susan Brown, leader of Oxford City Council, said she received a letter from the mayor of Ramallah, Oxford’s twin city in Palestine, and responded to say the council can only condemn Israel’s resumption of the conflict.
She says the council’s “greatest wish” was for attacks in Gaza and the West Bank to cease immediately.
She added that the motion builds on the council’s existing procurement and ethical investment policies.
Speaking after the meeting, councillor Barbara Coyne, who proposed the motion, said: “I hope this motion will be thoroughly implemented, and that its passage may pave the way for other councils to take decisive action.
“It is vital, in this moment, that Oxford City Council act to uphold international law and end local complicity in colonial genocide, and I’m glad all parties could agree on concrete steps towards these ends.
“What we urgently need, now, is what Palestinians have long called for: boycott, divestment, sanctions, including a full arms and energy embargo on Israel.”
Councillor Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, who seconded the motion, said: “Throughout decades of illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, Oxford residents have written to their representatives, organised workplace, community and educational events and actions, demonstrated in their thousands, set up student encampments, participated in health worker solidarity visits and vigils.
“Human rights apply to us all, and Israeli impunity to violate them must end.
“This step in that direction will help us regain our own humanity while answering longstanding calls of the Palestinian people, echoed by many of our residents here in Oxford.”
The motion also called on the leader of the council to write to the Oxfordshire Pension Fund Committee to work towards avoiding investment and procurement in unethical companies.
Several councillors, including Ms Coyne and councillor Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, left the Labour group to stand as independents after October 7, due to the national Labour leaders’ stance on Gaza.
Oxford City Council banks with Barclays, which has provided investment, loans and other financial services to companies supplying weapons, components and military technology to Israel in its attacks on Palestinians.
The section 151 officer for the city council clarified the motion could be put in place where legal, but if there was an adverse financial implication of the motion, then cabinet would be asked to reconsider their decision.
The city council unanimously voted for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza in November 2023.
Oxford is twinned with Ramallah in Palestine.
- Photo: Demonstrators outside Oxford Town Hall