Scottish Government: inaction on BDS commitment

The Scottish Government, once again, is telling us they are aligned with the establishment 

As Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon travelled to the US to meet with think tanks making sure they understood that Scotland’s approach to foreign affairs, particularly in the Middle East, did not vary much from the UK government. It appears that the SNP government is still committed to reassuring the establishment that they are a ‘safe pair of hands’. 

The SNP has a record of speaking of their support for Palestinian rights, while their actions tell another story. Examples go back to 2009, when John Swinney (then Finance Minister) awarded £200,000 to complicit company Eden Springs after a begging letter from their director complaining of a “wave of recent protests that is threatening the future of Eden Springs UK” due to the company being “targeted by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign”.  

The details of the secret meeting between Israeli officials and Angus Robertson, an enthusiastic liaison between the SNP / Scottish Government and the Israeli government, were recently exposed and demonstrate once again the extent to which the Scottish Government is seeking to collaborate with the genocidal state. During his time as SNP leader at Westminster, Robertson spent hours with the disgraced Israeli official Shai Masot, who helped arrange an official SNP visit to Israel. The highlight of the visit by SNP MPs was a tour of the JNF Balfour Forest. While SNP Deputy Leader, Robertson claimed to an all-party Home Affairs Select Committee that anti-Zionism is a gateway to antisemitism rather than an antidote to it. A report published by the Committee unanimously recommended limits on political free speech. The six Tory MPs, three New Labour and one SNP, were all unanimous in urging that the term ‘Zionist’ be allowed only in an academically neutral or positive tone and that use of the term in an ‘accusatory’ manner should be categorised as ‘inflammatory’ by all political parties and lead to criminal charges. 

In her speech to the Brookings Institute in 2022, Sturgeon emphasised that the Scottish Government ‘support the severity of economic sanctions on Russia’; and they did indeed take decisive action to implement this policy. Yet, despite a genocide taking place and ongoing gross violations of human rights by Israel, the Scottish Government have done nothing.  

We should pay attention and be clear that the SNP administration is not serious about taking effective action. The Scottish Government is on notice that their inaction means they are accountable for their failure to prevent a genocide.