SPSC condemns the escalation in police aggression and abuse of power in Scotland and will continue to challenge attempts to erode our rights to assemble, to protest and act against Israel’s ongoing genocide. Protestors have been charged with ‘threatening and abusive behaviour’ inside a Lidl supermarket in Dundee, and Aberdeen demonstrators stand accused of ‘failing to stop procession’ after months of peaceful marches. Prominent activists have been singled out and dragged through pointless, endless, court trials in Edinburgh and Glasgow, while journalists are threatened with arrest for doing their job. The intimidation of Willie Black of the Edinburgh Gaza Emergency Committee, of which SPSC is a component, ended at least for now when his case was dropped by the prosecution at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. In July 2024 Police Scotland officers used violence against young activists, sending one to hospital with a cracked-open scalp from an ambush at a subway station in Govan.
Over the last ten months, thousands of people across Scotland have demonstrated against Israel's genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, escalation of violent ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, as well as attacks on Palestinian citizens of Israel. Demonstrations, actions and campaign protests have also highlighted the complicity of our governments, institutions and corporations in these crimes. Clearly Police Scotland, and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, are committed to protecting the interests of those who are complicit. SPSC has been monitoring Police Scotland’s response to pro-Palestine protests with increasing concern. Recently, we were horrified but not surprised as news emerged of violent Police Scotland tactics against a group of demonstrators returning from a peaceful picket of arms manufacturer Thales Group in Govan over its partnership with Israel’s largest arms company Elbit Systems. Eleven people were brutally arrested, adding to the three previous arrests that happened earlier in the day.
After forcefully breaking up the peaceful blockade at the Thales site, the police reportedly insisted on escorting the protestors to the subway station, preventing the activists from dispersing safely. Videos released on social media show Police Scotland’s violent and disproportionate behaviour in Govan, where they can be seen tackling activists to the ground and shouting ‘run for your lives’. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses describe beating, suffocation, broken noses, bruised ribs, and pepper spray wounds - as well as a 26-year-old woman who was knocked unconscious and rushed to the hospital with an open scalp.
The disconcerting events in Govan come after a UK-wide escalation in ‘cracking down’ pro-Palestine resistance in Britain, especially in England and Wales where, according to a recent NetPol report, “police forces have been heavily influenced by an increasingly coordinated campaign of public pressure by the media, government ministers and pro-Israeli opponents of Palestine solidarity”. While policing in Scotland is a devolved matter, we can still see the traces of a unified attempt to oppress those fighting not only for Palestinian liberation but also against the complicity of our governments, institutions and corporations.
We call on SPSC members and supporters and wider Scottish civil society to stand in solidarity with those being criminalised for campaigning against a 76-year-old racist, genocidal regime, and who work to pressure those who are complicit for as long as they refuse to uphold their obligations under international law reiterated by the recent ICJ and ICC decisions. We will not stop, and we will not rest until Palestine is free.
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