Greens increase pressure on SNP over Israel hypocrisy
The SNP must stop their hypocrisy on Palestine and finally ban companies complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation from receiving public money in Scotland, say the Scottish Greens.
Following a controversial meeting between Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK and SNP minister Angus Robertson, Green MSPs Ross Greer and Patrick Harvie have written to the First Minister demanding that the Scottish Government take action to ensure it is not supporting any business involved in the violent and illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a list of companies that it had identified as linked to Israeli building programmes in the West Bank, land which is internationally recognised as Palestinian but large parts of which are occupied by illegal Israeli settlers. The Scottish Greens first proposed to then First Minister Humza Yousaf in November that such companies should be banned from receiving public grants or contracts in Scotland. Mr Yousaf agreed in principle but no action was taken despite a further exchange of letters and a meeting between Green MSP Ross Greer and the relevant Scottish Government Minister.
Party co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP more recently raised the issue with John Swinney at First Minister’s Questions and was met with more positive words but no further action.
In the letter to the First Minister, the Green MSPs said:
"In November, your predecessor Humza Yousaf agreed in principle to our proposed ban on eligibility for public grants and contracts here in Scotland for the then ninety seven companies identified by the United Nations as complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation and settlements in the West Bank. Humza rightly stated that no company profiting from occupation should profit here in Scotland too. Since then however, the Scottish Government has taken no action. That is despite repeated correspondence and a meeting eventually being arranged between Ross and the relevant Minister and officials, as you highlighted in your correspondence. Potential specific actions were identified at this meeting.
Following revelations of an initially secret meeting between the Scottish and Israeli governments, the letter continues:
“We are deeply concerned that, concurrent to this inaction, your Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs met with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK to discuss ‘mutual interests’ including energy and culture. It is impossible to envisage a similar meeting taking place with representatives of the Russian or Syrian regimes and yet the Scottish Government has apparently seen fit to build closer ties with an apartheid state as it commits genocide against the Palestinian people.
“This meeting came after the International Court of Justice ruling which found that Israel is committing crimes including apartheid and illegal occupation and long after the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor began seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed against the people of Gaza.
“Relevant to our proposal, the ICJ ruled that Israel should stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and end its illegal occupation of those areas and the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. It is incumbent on the Scottish Government to ensure that it is not complicit in this occupation, an objective which can be most effectively achieved through our proposed ban on complicit companies.”
Commenting on the letter and meeting between Mr Robertson and Israel’s deputy ambassador, Ross Greer said:
“There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy when it comes to the gulf between the SNP’s words and their actions on Israel and Palestine. Humza Yousaf deserves respect for his leadership in calling for a ceasefire and a ban on arms sales to Israel, but when it comes to areas within the Scottish Government’s direct control we’ve seen months of inaction, now followed by worrying revelations of attempts to build closer ties to Israel.
“The Scottish Greens made proposals months ago to ensure that Scotland’s public money does not end up in the hands of companies complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Not only have the SNP failed to act on these proposals, we now know that they have been discussing areas of ‘mutual interest’ with representatives of Israel’s apartheid government. That is inexcusable when we can all see the genocide being inflicted on the people of Gaza.”