“…in May 2010 then-First Minister Alex Salmond rightly attacked the idea that Scottish Jews “should be judged or affected by the policies of Israel. The Jewish community is not liable for those policies”. It is therefore troubling that the Lord Advocate has now accepted the Zionist claim that the Israel State represents in some way Scottish Jews. Having officially endorsed this central tenet of Zionism, the Lord Advocate’s office cannot now offer justice to the victims of Zionism, the Scottish-Palestinian community, nor to political opponents of Zionism”.
Today (12 Oct 16) in Glasgo
That now means that four vicious legal attacks over eight years on SPSC members have failed (with two feeble efforts outstanding ). Ally Coutts in Aberdeen is still charged with saying ‘Viva Palestina’ within earshot of an Israeli Dae Sea cosmetics stall that was selling goods made from materials pillaged from occupied Palestinian land. Four members who protested inside Barclays Argyle Street, Glasgow Branch against investments in arms companies face charges of aggravated tresspass that would seem to have little chance of succeeding.
It remains to be seen whether a senior legal official, called a Procurator Fiscal in Scotland, will raise fresh “racism” charges within the next two months but the fact is that Jim and I currently have no racism charges that require to be disclosed. No charges mean bail conditions fall.
Disturbingly, FoI (freedom of information) requests from SPSC to the Procurator Fiscal offices reveal an overly-cosy relationship between legal officers in Scotland and pro-Israel lobbyists. The Israeli Embassy successfully sought a meeting with Scotland’s most senior legal official, the Lord Advocate, and legal experts of the Apartheid State to discuss “Jewish relationships in Scotland” and the “Israeli and Scottish prosecutorial systems”.
It is not clear why the Lord Advocate would meet with the diplomats of a foreign state to discuss issues affecting a Scottish community nor how Scottish legal experts could learn from experts running an openly racist legal system.
It’s one thing for Polish, Chinese or Israeli diplomats to meet Scottish officials to discuss the Polish, Chinese or Israeli communities living in Scotland but in May 2010 then-First Minister Alex Salmond rightly attacked the idea that Scottish Jews “should be judged or affected by the policies of Israel. The Jewish community is not liable for those policies”. It is therefore troubling that the Lord Advocate has now accepted the partisan Zionist claim that the Israel State represents in some way Scottish Jews. Having officially endorsed this central tenet of Zionism, the Lord Advocate’s office cannot now offer justice to the victims of Zionism, the Scottish-Palestinian community, nor to political opponents of Zionism.
At stake is our right to campaign peacefully for boycott against the genocidal State of Israel, a right the Westminster Government has openly said it will try to revoke, building of previous efforts by PM Gordon Brown. The trials of SPSC members past, ongoing and future are our contribution to the worldwide campaign for BDS and the lavishly financed worldwide campaign against BDS being waged by the Israeli Government with, possibly, support from the Lord Advocate on behalf of the Scottish Government.
For the record:
- Between 2008 and 2010 five members of Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign went through an extended legal process before Sheriff John Scott dismissed with ridicule the charge that saying the words “End the siege of Gaza! Genocide in Gaza!” was racist. Two years and a lot of effort and solver were spent to see off this absurdity.
- In 2011 police were forced to publicly apologise to SPSC member Mick Napier for illegal arrest, assault and attempted cover up while pretending to investigate a related complaint. The illegal police assault arose when a dozen or so SPSC members bought tickets on an open-top Edinburgh city tour bus and draped a banner reading ‘End the siege of Gaza’ over the side while travelling around the city centre.
- In 2016, fit-up charges for alleged “assault” collapsed at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court after two members of the Zionist CST (Community Security Trust) gave evidence against Mick Napier. A fierce-looking Sheriff Watson viewed some TV footage of the area during the alleged assault and quickly threw out the charges, ruling that clearly no assault had taken place. The charges had been laid three months after the 2014 day-long protest against the racist JNF (Jewish National Fund) in a remote shooting range in Ayrshire. The annual protests finally succeeded in 2014 in getting these annual fundraisers cancelled. The Zionist CSTs aim was to get a conviction for assault on some technicality; one witness was reduced to claiming there had been a “a bit more than a nudge” inflicted upon him.
Had a guilty verdict been achieved however, the CST and their allies would have run with headlines of “Palestine solidarity activist thug attacked two Jewish men”, frequently recycled by their allies.
