SNP breaching Israel boycott vote with Barclays link
The Scottish Government is breaching its commitment to boycott Israel and the companies complicit in its occupation of Palestine with its decision to include Barclays in their upcoming bond scheme, say the Scottish Greens.
A motion introduced by the Greens almost 12 months ago made Scotland the first country in the world to agree to support a range of boycott, divestment and sanction measures against Israel and companies linked to the genocide in Gaza.
Barclays has been a long-term target of human rights and boycott campaigners.
Research from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign alleges that Barclays Bank holds over £2bn in shares and provides over £6.1bn in loans and underwriting for 9 companies whose weapons and technology are being used by the Israeli military against Palestinians.
Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie, who introduced the motion for BDS said:
“This isn't good enough. When a company is so directly linked to arming Israeli forces then they should clearly be covered by any boycott worthy of the name.
“The Scottish Government agreed to our motion to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel and companies linked to the atrocities being carried out against Palestinians.
“By any reasonable understanding they are breaching this commitment by choosing Barclays as a provider for their new bonds scheme.
“Paying lip service is not enough. Tens of thousands of Palestinian people have been killed, while Barclays have supported those profiting from the destruction.
“If a company has profited from apartheid and genocide then they should not be able to profit here in Scotland.
“It is almost a year since the Scottish Parliament voted for our motion, but the Scottish Government has failed to turn words into action.
“The Scottish Greens will do everything we can to ensure that BDS measures are implemented correctly and not breached or ignored in the name of profit.”