PFG must include plans to fully implement boycott and sanctions against Israel
The SNP’s Programme for Government must include a clear plan to fully implement the boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel that the Scottish Parliament voted for, say the Scottish Greens.
Almost a year ago, Green MSPs made Scotland the first country in the world to vote for a boycott of Israel and companies complicit in its occupation of Palestine, through a motion brought by Patrick Harvie MSP.
Yet despite backing that motion, SNP Ministers have failed to take the action needed to implement it. There have been no legislative changes, while Barclays, a company linked to financing Israel’s military, has been named as a partner in the Scottish Government’s bond scheme.
The Scottish Greens are calling for all contracts with companies identified by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as complicit in Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank to be ended.
The party is also calling for councils to be given the powers they need to support the BDS campaign by repealing the Thatcher-era law that prevents procurement decisions being based on geographical origin.
On top of that, Ministers have been urged to issue clear guidance to Scottish businesses urging them to immediately cease trading with Israel, just as they did in relation to Russia in March 2022.
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
“We are one year on from Parliament’s historic vote, and the Scottish Government has failed to turn words into action. In most respects they have done the bare minimum and offered little evidence of meaningful change.
“If a company is profiting from apartheid and genocide, the Scottish Government must use every power it has to ensure it is not also profiting from public money here in Scotland. That requires more than statements of concern or gestures that change nothing. It requires real, measurable action.
“The Programme for Government must be the moment that changes. We need clear commitments and a plan to end Scotland’s complicity in the systemic abuse of Palestinians.
“That means reviewing existing contracts, ending relationships with companies identified as complicit in illegal settlement activity, and giving councils the powers they need to make ethical procurement decisions.
“The Scottish Government has already shown that it can act when it chooses to. When Ministers issued guidance to Scottish businesses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they made clear that the private sector had a responsibility to respond. Palestinians deserve no less.
“The Programme for Government must be the moment that changes. It should set out a clear timetable, concrete measures and a mechanism for accountability, so that Parliament’s vote is finally translated into action.
“We cannot have a boycott in name only. Parliament did not vote for empty gestures. One year on, the Scottish Government needs to deliver.”