SNP must publish secret Israeli meeting agenda, say Scottish Greens
The Scottish Government must publish the agenda for their secret meeting with an Israeli diplomat in August, says Scottish Greens Co-Leader Patrick Harvie MSP.
The call comes following a report in The Ferret that the Scottish Government has refused to publish the agenda from the controversial August 7th meeting as they wish to maintain “good and honest relations” with the Israeli Government.
The International Court of Justice has found Israel responsible for apartheid, racial segregation and illegal occupation during their invasion of Gaza and occupation of the West Bank.
The Scottish Greens have demanded answers about the meeting since it was first revealed, with Mr Harvie leading calls for the Cabinet Secretary and First Minister to apologise for it.
Mr Harvie said: “It's astonishing that the Scottish Government thought that a meeting with a senior representative for a government that is inflicting genocide would be appropriate, and I can see no legitimate reason for refusing to publish details of it. The refusal should be immediately challenged.
“There is nothing ‘good and honest’ about secret meetings like this. It is completely unacceptable to offer legitimacy to war criminals and to give them a smiling photo-op.
“The Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs has claimed that the meeting was used to discuss the assault on Gaza, but by hiding the agenda from public scrutiny, there is no way to tell what was said or where in the agenda it fell.
“The Scottish Greens have demanded an end to public grants and subsidies to companies arming Israel and those that are complicit in the illegal occupation of the West Bank, but the SNP has failed to take action.
“It is time for the Scottish Government to come clean, publish the agenda and allow scrutiny of this secretive meeting.”