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A committee of British MPs heard oral evidence on a controversial bill targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel this week, but The New Arab could not identify any Palestinians among the witnesses.

BDS movement co-founder Omar Barghouti has slammed the UK government's anti-boycott bill, calling it 'extremely repressive', 'anti-democratic' and 'McCarthyite' in an exclusive interview with The New Arab.

The values of the UK government's anti-boycott bill are 'very, very un-Conservative', Tory MP Crispin Blunt has said.

Ismail Patel, chair of British pro-Palestine group Friends of Al-Aqsa, said the UK government's anti-boycott bill intends to 'stifle valid criticism of Israel's apartheid policies'.

Ryvka Barnard, deputy director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, called the UK government's anti-boycott bill 'repressive'.

The proposed legislation, officially titled the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, is due to have its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday in the next step in the legislative process.

Conservative Friends of Palestine provides a 'platform to engage and learn beyond the narrow remit' of Conservative Friends of Israel, said Tory Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.