2011 March 8th: International Women’s Day

Tuesday 8th March 2011

 

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign: Media Release

 

PALESTINE THEME FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY


Edinburgh Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) are to host a public meeting tonight with an all-woman panel, as part of International Women’s Day.

 

Speakers include Rafeef Ziadah - a Palestinian refugee, poet and activist; and Terry McLaughlin and Vanesa Fuertes, Palestine activists from Derry and Edinburgh.

 

Mick Napier, SPSC chair said, “Women are at the forefront of struggles all over the world, including in the ongoing revolutions in the Arab World. This meeting is an exciting opportunity to hear from three leading activists in the fight for justice for Palestine.”

 

The 7pm meeting, which is open to the public and free to enter, takes place in Edinburgh University’s Appleton Tower at George Square.

 

Full details can be found on the SPSC website: www.scottishpsc.org.uk

 

 

ENDS

 

 

Notes for editors:

 

 

1. The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign started in autumn 2000 in response to the Palestinian second uprising against Israeli occupation (Intifada). The SPSC has branches and groups of supporters in several Scottish cities and universities, as well as individual members across Scotland and elsewhere.

 

For further information, contact:
SPSC Chair, Mick Napier: 0131 620 0052; 07958002591

Email: media@scottishpsc.org.uk
Website: www.scottishpsc.org.uk  

 

 

2. For information on Edinburgh Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), see:
SJP Website: www.sjp.eusa.ed.ac.uk

Email: edinburghsjp@gmail.com

 

 

3. For details of the event, see here

 

The meeting takes place at Edinburgh University’s Appleton Tower at George Square, and starts at 7pm. It is open to the general public, and entry is free.
Venue map here: http://tinyurl.com/AppletonTower

 

A similar event is planned in Glasgow the following day:

9 March @ 7.30pm

STUC, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6NG

Organised by SPSC Glasgow branch

 

 

4. Rafeef Ziadah is a Toronto-based Palestinian refugee, spoken word artist and activist.
Rafeef is speaking on behalf of the Palestinian civil society National Committee for the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the state of Israel.

 

 

5. Terry McLaughlin was involved with the Derry Anti-War Coalition when 9 women activists were acquitted of breaking into and damaging the Raytheon arms factory in Derry during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.

 

The jury agreed with the women’s claim that they had done so in order to protect the lives and property of people in the Gaza Strip and to stop alleged war crimes being committed by the Israeli forces.

 

A statement from the group after the acquittal read, "The verdict represents an acceptance that what we did was not a crime but an attempt to prevent crime, a crime against humanity which continues to be inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces."

See “Nine acquitted at Raytheon trial”, 4 June 2010: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10241052

 

 

6. Vanesa Fuertes is an Edinburgh-based SPSC activist. In April 2010, she and 4 other SPSC members had charges of “racially aggravated conduct” against them thrown out.

 

According to the Herald newspaper, Sheriff Scott “ruled that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism after Palestinian protesters disrupted a recital of the Jerusalem String Quartet in Edinburgh.”

 

“They had cried out “they are Israeli army musicians ... end genocide in Gaza ... boycott Israel”.

The sheriff said: “It seemed to me, with respect, that the procurator-fiscal’s attempts to squeeze malice and ill will out of the agreed facts were rather strained.”

 

See The Herald, 9 Apr 2010, “Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, rules sheriff”:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/crime-courts/criticism-of-israel-is-not-anti-semitism-rules-sheriff-1.1019415

 

According to the BBC, “Sheriff Scott said it was clear the accused were engaged in political protest against the Israeli state and an organ of that state, the Israeli army, concerning crimes allegedly committed by the Israeli state and its army in Gaza.”
See BBC News: April 8th 2010, “Israel protest at concert 'was not racist'”:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8609737.stm

 

Also see “De-criminalising solidarity” on the SPSC website:
http://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3328;de-criminalising-solidarity-qracismq-case-thrown-out&catid=332;trial&Itemid=200248