SCOTTISH PALESTINE SOLIDARITY CALL TO ACTION

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls for
• mass welcome for Palestinian Archbishop Atallah Hanna at Edinburgh Airport tomorrow night (Monday) at 9.00pm
• City Centre assemblies tomorrow (Monday 14th) 6.00pm
Glasgow - Donald Dewar statue on Buchanan Street
Edinburgh - Princes Street at Foot of Mound
others - t.b.a.
• Gaza Emergency Action Coordination Committee meetings on Tuesday night, 7.30pm:
Edinburgh - venue to be confirmed tomorrow morning
Glasgow - venue to be confirmed tomorrow morning
others - t.b.a.

Opinion in Scotland and around the world is hardening against Israel’s repeated massacres of defenceless Palestinians, which punctuate the dispossession, occupation, mass kidnapping, general brutality and humiliation of the entire Palestinian people.
Thousands marched yesterday in Scotland as elsewhere and the mood was defiant. Thousands of young Scots joined seasoned campaigners, all burning with anger at the open support of the Westminster Government for Israeli massacres, and the increasing alignment of the Holyrood Government with these positions.
While governments are complicit in Israel’s crimes, citizens must mobilise in support of the people of Palestine and in opposition to that complicity. We do not concede “Israel’s right to defend itself” against the victims of its ethnic cleansing, where this “defence” is the callous and planned application of massive violence to further the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign notes that
1. Israel makes no secret of its wish for a Palestine without Palestinians and has always acted to further this programme, a plan which was initiated under British protection and which could not continue for a single day without massive US military and EU economic support.
2. Scottish politicians are massively out of step with public opinion when they
•welcome the Israeli ambassador of blood and torture in our name to Glasgow City Chambers, the Scottish Parliament, and the First Minister’s residence .
•donate £200,000 of Scottish taxpayers’ money to Israeli settler company Eden Springs.
•deny the apartheid nature of Israel.
•pledge the Scottish Government to fight our commitment to the growing peaceful and democratic movement for boycott divestment and sanctions (BDS) to pressure the Israeli state to obey international law and concede Palestinian rights in accordance with it..
3. Scottish Government offers of medical aid to the victims of Israeli violence are welcome but are tainted by the Scottish Government’s alignment with Westminster and it’s political support for the apartheid state.

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls for
• demonstrations in Scottish cities next Sunday July 20th, to send a warning to the Scottish and UK Governments that we will use the platform provided by the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, when Glasgow will attract worldwide attention, to mobilise in our thousands in support of the injured people of Palestine.
• the setting up of local Gaza Emergency Action Coordination Committees across Scotland to activate and coordinate intensified opposition to Israeli massacres by civil society bodies, including campaigning groups, trade unions, churches and mosques.
• mobilisations from across Scotland and beyond in support of Palestine throughout the Commonwealth Games, even if Israel’s killing rate of Palestinians goes back to the ‘normal’ level the BBC ignores.
• closing down the Israeli Information Office in Scotland
• an end to Scottish trade missions to Israel and Scottish Government meetings with Israel’s Minister of Trade and Economic Affairs while Israel field tests its weapons on the bodies of the Palestinians to secure a competitive edge on international arms markets.

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls on
• all supporters of Palestine to seize the initiative in their localities and reach out to other bodies and individuals to come together in an emergency committee to coordinate ACTION in support of the Palestinian people.
• all Scottish Local authorities to follow the examples of
o West Dunbartonshire, Stirling, and Clackmannanshire and adopt a policy of boycott of all Israeli goods and services.
o Dundee City and fly the Palestinian flag permanently above the City Hall in support of Palestinian freedom and dignity.