‘Racism’ case against five SPSC members ridiculed and thrown out

Criminalising solidarity; 'racism' case thrown out
1st May 2010

A legal attempt to stifle solidarity action with Palestine through boycott fails in Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Five members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign were accused of "racism" after disrupting a concert by Israel's cultural ambassadors, the Jerusalem Quartet.  Sheriff James Scott ruled the protest was “clearly directed at the State of Israel, the Israeli Army, and Israeli Army musicians”, and not targeted at “citizens of Israel” per se. “The procurator fiscal’s attempts to squeeze malice and ill will out of the agreed facts were rather strained”, he said.

 “And if persons on a public march designed to protest against and publicise alleged crimes committed by a state and its army are afraid to name that state for fear of being charged with racially aggravated behaviour, it would render worthless their Article 10(1) rights. Presumably their placards would have to read, ‘Genocide in an unspecified state in the Middle East’; ‘Boycott an unspecified state in the Middle East’ etc
Read full press release...

See also:

• The Herald - Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, rules sheriff
• Sign the open letter in defence of the right to boycott Israel
• Israel Information Centre in Scotland does not concur with Sheriff Scott: "That criticism of Israel descends disturbingly close to antisemitic rhetoric is obvious". One of the main sources of anti-Israeli action is the SPSC...  SPSC has managed to latch on to the odd Holocaust survivor who compares Israel's actions with that of the Nazis..