INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AND THE PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM

 Vanesa Fuentes, Iain Macdonald, Albie
O’Neill, 

Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, 25.11.13














































see http //www.scottish psc.org.uk


Sheila asked the panel what would the policy of a Scottish
government be on Palestine?







Allan argued that the retreat of the SNP away from their
former more up-front support for the Palestinian struggle, to now welcoming
Israeli ambassadors and government promoters, reflected their retreat into
acceptance of the existing world order, marked by last year’s conference
decision to back NATO. Once the SNP leadership had opposed military
intervention in Kosova, and later in Iraq. Now they praised the role of
Scottish forces in Afghanistan and Libya. This highlighted why we needed an
independent Radical Independence Campaign.









Donny raised the comparison of Israel with South Africa. The
main difference was that Palestinian Arabs formed a minority within Israel,
whilst Black South Africans formed a large majority in Apartheid South Africa.
Palestinian Arabs were excluded form most areas of work, whereas Black South
Africans formed the key element in South African workforce. This is why the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign was even more important. 







Donny also talked about the now dashed prospects of support
for the Palestinians which had originally been raised by the Arab Spring.









Margaret emphasised the need for protest action around G4S,
which was sponsoring the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.







Margaret also outlined the plight of the residents of
Shahada Street in Hebron, who were even denied the use of their own front
doors.









Pat argued that Edinburgh RIC should organise a joint pubic
meeting with the SPSC in the Spring. She praised the hard work done by the
SPSC. It was now much easier to campaign on the streets in support of the Palestinian
struggle, than it had once been.









Talat emphasised the importance of trade union work. There
had ben a huge shift within her union, the ULU. Quite recently anybody raising
the issue of support for Palestine had been accused of anti-semitism. Now the
ULU had an official pro-Palestine position.







Talat also argued that the precedent for the BDS campaign lay
in the anti-Apartheid South Africa boycott campaign, which had been a powerful
adjunct to other forms of struggle, particularly amongst the workforce there.









Vanesa, Iain and Albie in reply said that the accusations of
anti-semitism were the last and increasingly discredited response of the
Zionists. 









Vanesa had been one of the 5 defendants charged by the state
with racially aggravated breach of the peace, when protesting against the Isreali
government-backed Batsheva Dance Company. The judge had ruled that protesting
against the actions of a state certainly did not constitute racist behaviour.
Furthermore, there were Jewish people who were pro-Palestinian and gave their
support to the SPSC.









However, Zionist organisations continued to exert strong
pressure. The Israeli government was paying US students to try and rebut al
anti-Israeli material found on-line. 







In reply to the question about what an independent
Scotland’s policy should be on Palestine, it was quite clear. There should be
recognition of Palestine as a nation and the ending of the Israeli apartheid
state, However, what was needed to achieve this was a political will.









When taking on G&S you were up against a massive
corporation. They were even there in the Marriot Hotel in Glasgow where the RIC
conference was held on Saturday! However such action would be considered by the
SPSC.









One of the early tasks of the SPSC was to set up a trade union
solidarity group.





Already there are many people in Scotland who boycott
Israeli goods. It was now necessary to get more support behind the other
elements of the BDS campaign. Activists in Norway and Canada were ahead in this
respect.









The SPSC in Edinburgh had regular meetings whilst there were
also national weekends away, as well as conferences. The emphasis at the
weekends away was mainly political to ensure that the SPSC continued to
campaign on a principled basis.