THE world’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stood in contrast to the reaction to the plight of millions of Palestinians in territories illegally occupied by Israel, trade unionists have heard.

During the annual conference of North West region of the TUC on Saturday, Unison delegate Glen Williams said that “billions of people across the world were truly shocked at the invasion and partial occupation of Ukraine by Russia” and the suffering caused.

But he asked: “Where is the outcry for Palestinians?”

He said Israel was the only country in the world to “systematically prosecute children in its courts, between 500 and 700 each year,” and that the United Nations had recognised that Israel was guilty of the crime of apartheid.

Meanwhile British workers’ pension funds invested millions of pounds in companies complicit in Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, Mr Williams said.

The conference unanimously supported Unison’s call for unions to affiliate to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, lobbying MPs and supporting an International Day of Solidarity on November 29.