Scottish PSC – looking back at 2012

Listed below are some of the events and activities that took place in Scotland during 2012, some involving Scotish PSC branches and members.

January

  • SPSC Glasgow branch coordinated with Dublin PSC  to jointly leaflet audiences of Portuguese fado singer Anna Moura.  Her Celtic Connections concert fans largely supported us urging her not to perform in Tel Aviv the following week.
  • Stop the JNF/Plant-a-Tree delegation.

February

  • Scottish students participate in the most successful Israeli Apartheid Week yet.
  • SPSC branches host Jordan Valley Solidarity speaker and activist from the Bedouin community of Al Auja.

March

  • Stand-up comedians Ivor Dembina & Bill Dewar and ceilidh band Carry on Dancing support Welcome to Palestine 2012 fundraisers.
  • Under the banner 'We Are All Hana Shalabi', Scottish students mobilise in support of Palestinian hunger strikers and rally at BBC offices on Land Day.

April

  • Living Under the Gun: A night of Poetry and Music for Palestine, Scottish musicians and poets organise fundraiser to fund their trip to the Occupied West Bank.
  • We Are All Hana Shalabi protests continue with support from SPSC and other solidarity organisations.
  • SPSC participants among 1,300 people on Welcome to Palestine initiative to expose Israel's strategy to isolate Palestinians from international solidarity.
  • Palestine solidarity activists protest at Manchester airport after Jet2 complies with Israeli immigration authorities order not to allow boarding to “pro-Palestinian radicals”. Participants who landed in Tel Aviv were arrested and detained by Israeli authorities after declaring their destination was Bethlehem in Palestine.
  • On Palestinian Prisoners Day five British women imprisoned by the Israeli government for their part in Welcome to Palestine refuse food in support of the demands of Palestinian political prisoners.
  • Documents obtained by the SPSC show how Eden Springs turned successfully for help from the Scottish Government to deal with what the Israeli company called “a wave of protests...that is threatening the future of Eden Springs UK”.
  • Delegates the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) annual conference voted unanimously and repeatedly against Israeli apartheid.
  • Palestinian human rights campaigners welcome news that the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, The Co-operative Group, will “no longer engage with any supplier of produce known to be sourcing from the Israeli settlements”. The decision came after Co-op members submit motion on the issue to Regional AGMs.

May

  • Stop the JNF campaign organise all day protest at JNF Scotland fundraiser event at Cowan's Law. Rafeef Ziadah and Phil Monsour join Plant a Tree in Palestine fundraiser event. Stop the JNF organise worshop in Edinburgh.
  • SPSC participates in BDS Europe network meeting.
  • Early Day Motion 1677 highlighting 'just cause to consider revocation of the JNF's charitable status in the UK' closes with 68 MP signatories plus 2 MPs who signed parallel statements. Not a single MP withdrew their signature despite JNF UK's appeal for meeting.
  • SPSC branches host a meeting on "Occupation and Water Rights in Palestine" with Zayneb Al-Shalalfeh from LifeSource (Palestinian water rights NGO) as part of her UK tour.

June

  • SPSC, We Are All Hana Shalabi and other Scottish organisations host Lajee Arts Center as part of their UK tour.
  • SPSC, Friends of Al Aqsa protest at Scotland v Israel UEFA U21 Womens game match.
  • SPSC Summer 2012 residential weekend discuss 'Fundamental Issues in Effective Palestine Solidarity'.

July

  • SPSC join Unite Against Fascism protests against the BNP and the Scottish Defence League.
  • Don't Dance With Israeli Apartheid, a coalition of Palestine solidarity organisations, groups and individuals, is formed to organise protests in Edinburgh and across the UK against 'Brand Israel' asset Batshea Dance Company.

August

  • 40 Ministers of Culture from around the world come to Edinburgh to attend the 'World Culture Summit' at the Scottish Parliament. The event is co-hosted by Edinburgh International Festival who are also hosting Israel state-sponsored Batsheva Dance Company. SPSC holds a two day protest outside the parliament highlighting Israel's culture of apartheid, colonisation and occupation and their whitewashing project 'Brand Israel'.
  • Organising for the Batsheva protests continue, including a meeting in Glasgow with visiting Palestinian and & ex-political prisoner from Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine (original village near Jerusalem ethnically cleansed by Zionist forces in 1948) and Student Palestine activist from the 'We Are All Hana Shalabi' network, recently returned from Palestine.
  • SPSC Aberdeen organise 'Aberdeen Against Apartheid: From Johannesburg to Jerusalem' as part of Aberdeen Against Austerity's Summer Lecture Series, featuring talks and discussions on the parallels between the struggle for justice in South Africa and Palestine. Speakers include activists involved in the struggle against South African apartheid in Aberdeen, Tommy Campbell and Harry Bygate.
  • Scottish artists sign letter in support of call to disinvite Batsheva to the EIF.
  • For three nights, SPSC and Don't Dance with Israeli Apartheid partners, join hundreds to protest Batsheva performances at the Playhoue Theatre in Edinburgh. Those who protest inside the theatre in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom were ejected by security and police. There are no arrests.
  • Israel's Ambassador, Culture Minister and the Zionist Federation attend first night of Batsheva performance.
  • Press coverage highlight 'Brand Israel' and debate cultural boycott against Israel and state-sponsored institutions.

September

  • SPSC Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow organise Sabra & Shatilla 30th anniversary commemoration events with eye-witness account of the Sabra and Shatilla massacres from Dr Ben Alofs.
  • Don't Dance with Israeli Apartheid organising continues for protests against 'Brand Israel' asset Batsheva upcoming UK tour.

  • SPSC Aberdeen organise a solidarity delegation to Palestine.

October

  • SPSC and We Are All Hana Shalabi hold joint meeting as part of the Edinburgh World Justice Festival, 'The politics of international aid in Israel/Palestine, what it means for solidarity'.
  • Brighton venue cancel one night of Batsheva performance in anticipation of protests. Don't Dance with Israel Apartheid partners across the UK continue to mobilise for Batsheva tour protests.
  • SPSC join Edinburgh University Students for Justice for Palestine to protest Israeli Ambassador visit on campus. His meeting is postponed and he is chased off campus by students.
  • SPSC supports and participates in the 16th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair. This year events include Sarah Irving with Leila Khaled by video link.
  • SPSC and We Are All Hana Shalabi, Don't Dance with Israeli Apartheid partners, hold two nights of protest outside, and inside, Batsheva performances at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh.

November

  • Fundraiser for Scottish delegation to the World Social Forum - Free Palestine.
  • We Are All Hana Shalabi and SPSC call widely supported demonstration and march to the Scottish Parliament in solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel's latest military attack on Gaza.
  • SPSC supports demonstration in London against Israel's attack on Gaza.
  • The student members of We Are All Hana Shalabi scale the roof of the parliament building to draw attention to the situation in Gaza and calls on the Scottish government to take action.
  • The Scottish Green Party publish a statement in support of the direct action at the Scottish Parliament and call on the Scottish Government to support the Palestinian call for a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Alison Johnstone of the Scottish Green Party lodge motion S4M-04871 on Gaza calling on an end to arms sales to Israel.
  • Israeli diplomat admits that "Every appearance by an official Israeli representative in Scotland is like a visit to enemy territory".
  • SPSC send seven delegates to Porto Allegre in Brazil to participate in the World Social Forum (WSF): Free Palestine to share SPSC, DDwIA, Stop the JNF and Boycott Israel Network (BIN) organising and to network for more effective international solidarity with Palestinians.

December

  • SPSC Glasgow and partners and Edinburgh students host meetings with popular resistance organiser, Mousa Abu Maria who is a farmer from the town of Beit Ommar, Occupied West Bank.
  • SPSC Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee support and jointly helps to organise an exhibition of photographs taken by Palestinian children in the West Bank called We Teach Life Sir which also takes place in the Scottish Parliament. The events include Skype link with Palestine partners in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza.