Letter to East Renfrewshire Councillors

Date: 14 January 2008

Dear Councillor

I am writing to you as an East Renfrewshire Councillor to express alarm at a report that the Council may officially endorse a planned event in May to celebrate the founding the State of Israel, and to urge you to avoid any entanglement in an event such as this. We hope this report is unfounded, for the following reasons:

1. A Scottish Council should not celebrate the founding of a State with such an atrocious human rights record. With good reason, the majority of the MSPs who are now members of the current Scottish Government have signed a motion to send a “message to the Palestinian people expressing Scotland’s disgust at their treatment at the hands of the Israeli Government.” In adopting this position, the Scottish Ministerial majority’s condemnation is no stronger than those of ex-US President Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela and many others who describe Israel as an apartheid state.

2. It would be a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of much of Palestine that was planned and carried out in 1948, and which created the world’s biggest, as yet unresolved, refugee problem.

3. Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine is ongoing; the proposers of a celebration on May 8th are consciously and knowingly intervening in this continuing crime against humanity. All published surveys of public opinion show that there is deep unease at Israel’s treatment fo the Palestinians. There would be no support from any significant proportion of the people of East Renfrewshire or Scotland for such a celebration.

4. It would send entirely the wrong message to people in Palestine, the wider Middle East and beyond, at a time when Britain’s post-Iraq invasion reputation is already at a very low ebb.

5. The foundation of the State of Israel was achieved through the use of terrorism by Zionist gangs not only against the native people of Palestine, but also against the departing British colonial authorities. There would be widespread anger across Renfrewshire if the council were to celebrate the activities of people who kidnapped and hanged British soldiers and who planted bombs in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem which deliberately killed and maimed innocent civilians. This atrocity was organised by a terrorist who went on to become Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, and the 60th anniversary of the bombing was celebrated last year by Israeli ex-Prime Minister, Netanyahu.

We suggest that the above grounds add up to a compelling case for denying the Council’s official approval to any celebration of Israel’s founding.

On behalf of a number of East Renfrewshire residents who have contacted our Campaign, we would like to request that we be permitted to make a presentation to a full Council meeting where we can develop the above points and answer any questions any Councillors might have as to the points outlined in this letter.

This link to a talk by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe explains clearly the ethnic cleansing of Palestine since 1948 and why it is important not to endorse the crimes of the state of Israel.

I look forward to your reply

Yours faithfully


Mick Napier
Chair, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
c/o Peace & Justice Centre
2 Princes Street
Edinburgh EH2 4BJ
www.scottishpsc.org.uk
00 44 (0)131 620 0052
00 44 (0)795 800 2591