On This Day

Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.

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16 July

eden springs posterSCOTTISH GOVERNMENT SAVED ISRAELI COMPANY FROM BOYCOTT WAVE
On this day in 2009, an Eden Springs’ director wrote to the Scottish Government, seeking help against “a wave of protests...that is threatening the future of Eden Springs UK”. Eden Springs sought help to avoid further “termination of Eden Springs’ public sector contracts as a result of this boycott”. The Scottish Government responded by awarding a grant of £200,000 to Eden Springs, which exploits resources in Syrian territory that Israel illegally occupies, a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

 

أنقذت الحكومة الاسكتلندية شركة إسرائيلية من اثر المقاطعة

16 يوليو

في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2009 ، كتب مدير إيدن سبرينغز Eden Springs إلى الحكومة الاسكتلندية ، طالباً المساعدة ضد "موجة الاحتجاجات ... التي تهدد مستقبل إيدن سبرينغزفرع بريطانيا Eden Springs UK". طلب مدير إيدن سبرينغز المساعدة لتجنب المزيد من "إنهاء عقود القطاع العام لشركة إيدن سبرينغز نتيجة هذه المقاطعة". قررت الحكومة الاسكتلندية منح 200000 جنيه إسترليني إلى إيدن سبرينغز ، هذه الشركة الأسرائيلة تستغل موارد الأراضي السورية بشكل غير قانوني والتي تعتبرجريمة حرب بموجب اتفاقية جنيف الرابعة.

 

Eden Springs lost a lot of contracts due to the boycott campaign. At Glasgow University for example

a meeting was arranged between members of the Glasgow University Palestine Society and the Principal of the University, Anton Muscatelli. The meeting took place on 13th March 2012. The Principal assured the Palestine Society that the University acknowledged the concerns of the students and staff, and to this end would make a commitment to refraining from any future contract with Eden Springs.

Letter from Eden Springs to the Scottish Government asking for help to defeat the boycott is reproduced here. The SNP claims to be "pro-Palestine" but the SNP Scottish Government gave taxpayers' money to an Israeli settler company which appealed to them for help against the boycott campaign

Revealing correspondence between SPSC and Jerusalem Post on Eden Springs boycott

"The Jerusalem Post repeatedly claimed that Eden Springs was unconcerned about boycott and SPSC were inventing a successful boycott campaign against that Israeli company, which we now know from Eden Springs own correspondence was very real indeed.

"An honest paper would be interested in the truth and admit its error. You now request that WE print a correction. This is chutzpah! Please let us know, however, which words written by SPSC or any member of SPSC that you ask us to retract and we will view your request sympathetically and sincerely.Will the Jerusalem Post even allow mention of Eden Springs’ 16 July 2009 letter to the Scottish Government concerning “a wave of recent protests…which is threatening the future of Eden Springs UK…being targeted by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign”

Eden loanhead The timing is revealing; the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign had launched a campaign in 2007 to inform the public of Eden Springs’ criminality and had secured a steady rate of contract cancellations. Partly as a result, the company closed their depot in Loanhead in November 2008.

Israeli massacres in Gaza during New Year 2009 then led to student occupations and sit-ins across the UK; during these protests, all the Scottish student groups raised demands during their occupations for their university to end contracts with Eden Springs. Thousands of angry protestors heard the SPSC message to channel their anger into boycott of Eden Springs.

Less than six months later, while the traumatised survivors of Operation Cast Lead were still struggling to survive amidst the rubble of their Gaza homes, MSP Alex Neill of the ruling Scottish National Party offered his support to the Israeli company to cope with the damage caused by the growing boycott. A meeting was quickly arranged between Eden Springs management and two un-named representatives of the Scottish Government, who were “happy...to help” Eden Springs by “providing support”. On January 5th 2010, a meeting took place between Eden Springs’ UK Managing Director Jean-Marc Bolinger and Scottish Minister John Swinney.

It was after this ministerial meeting that Scottish Enterprise announced the £200,000 grant to the company.