British architects back Israel boycott

A group including some of Britain's most prominent architects is considering calling for an economic boycott of Israel's construction industry in protest at its illegal annexation of Palestinian land.

Some 60 members of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine were reported Friday to have met secretly in London for the first time this week to condemn the continuing construction of illegal settlements and Israel's so-called security barrier.

According to the Independent newspaper, the group accused architects, planners and engineers working on Israeli projects in the occupied territories as being "complicit in social, political and economic oppression," and "in violation of their professional code of ethics."

"Planning, architecture and other construction disciplines are being used to promote an apartheid system of environmental control," the meeting was told. Discussions reportedly included a boycott targeting Israeli-made construction materials and Israeli architects and construction companies - as well as possibly calling for the expulsion of Israeli architects from the International Union of Architects.

The meeting comes after the Church of England's general synod voted on Monday to divest church funds from companies, including Caterpillar of the US, profiting from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

Last year, Britain's main lecturers union also voted for an academic boycott of two Israel universities, but this was overruled by the governing board after the intervention by British Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells.