Scotland’s Charity Regulator Throws Out Complaint Over Boycott of Israeli Goods

Background on GFT's Boycott

In response to recent events in Gaza, members of Unite Hospitality at the charity-run Glasgow Film Theatre advocated for the cessation of sales of products linked to companies allegedly profiting from human rights violations. As a result, GFT agreed to stop selling Coca-Cola products, citing concerns over the company's business operations in Israeli settlements within occupied Palestinian territories. The cinema is also reassessing its relationships with other brands potentially linked to human rights violations.

A GFT spokesperson stated: “The wider question of the adoption of the BDS movement is still under review by the board, in line with our legal and charitable obligations.”

They added: “At this stage, our Board of Trustees has begun reviewing the Unite staff requests but has not yet completed the process. The goal is to ensure any decisions made do not infringe our legal and charitable obligations and that all staff have their voices heard.”

Unite Hospitality's Strong Advocacy

While GFT's board deliberates, Unite Hospitality is advocating for further action, including the removal of Barclays advertising at the venue due to the bank's investments in arms companies supplying Israel. They are also urging GFT to endorse the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), thereby expanding its support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

A Unite spokesperson said: “As Unite members at the GFT, we celebrate this decision and will continue to encourage the cinema in this positive direction.”

They added: “We believe the removal of Coca-Cola sends a clear message to companies that continue to profit from human rights violations, and we hope this act will encourage similar venues to take a stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza.”

Complaint

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a group known for challenging initiatives supporting Palestinian solidarity, filed a complaint with OSCR against GFT's boycott. UKLFI alleged that GFT's actions violated the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, asserting that supporting BDS was outside the charity's legal purposes and therefore unlawful. They also claimed breaches of section 66 of the Act, the Equality Act 2010, and GFT's Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Notably, UKLFI has previously attempted to suppress support for Palestinian rights. For instance, when over 7,000 authors (including winners of the Nobel, Booker and Pulitzer Prizes, Arundhati Roy and Sally Rooney) signed an open letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions complicit in violating Palestinian rights, (the biggest literary boycott in history), UKLFI tried to suggest that such actions could violate the UK's Equality Act.

Scotland's Charity Regulator Throws Out The Complaint

OSCR assessed the concerns raised by UKLFI and concluded that they did not present a regulatory issue.

An OSCR spokesperson stated: “We have assessed the concerns raised and concluded that they do not present a regulatory issue. The matter is for the charity to decide, and therefore, OSCR will not be taking any further action.” (Inkl)

The Moral Stance

OSCR’s decision reaffirms that charities in Scotland have the legal discretion to take ethical stances, including refusing to engage with companies implicated in human rights violations.

Globally, opposition to Israel’s apartheid system is intensifying, with leading Holocaust and Genocide Scholars, Holocaust Survivors and  human rights organisations, including B'tselem, recognising Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as plausible genocide. Supporting Palestinian human rights in the face of war crimes and ethnic cleansing is not just a moral stance—it is a legal and humanitarian obligation.