Pro Palestine groups call SNP’s failure on Israel boycott vote “a shameful chapter in Scottish history”

A year on from the unanimous vote in the Scottish Parliament where MSPs voted for a full boycott of the state of Israel and companies complicit in genocide, pro Palestine groups, the Scottish Palestinian Society and Scotland for Palestinian say there’s little evidence of the Scottish government taking the necessary steps needed to end Scotland’s complicity in the ongoing Palestinian genocide, calling its failure to act a “shameful chapter in Scottish history.”

The boycott and sanctions measures available to the Scottish government under devolved powers include procurement contracts for the NHS worth millions of pounds and similar to the steps it took against Russia, exercising a trade, cultural, and sporting boycott of Israel.

The SNP has also been accused of breaching the boycott vote by choosing to partner with Barclays on upcoming government bonds, which according to a joint report by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Campaign Against Arms Trade and War on Want, owns shares worth over £2 billion – and provides a further £6.1 billion in loans and underwriting – to nine companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.

Earlier this week, the Scottish Greens also reinforced their call for the Scottish government to honour the boycott vote and urged Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney to fully implement sanctions against Israel in his Programme for Government.

READ: Scottish government urged to fully implement sanctions against Israel

In a statement released by the Scottish Greens, 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.

He added: “…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.

“…We cannot have a boycott in name only. Parliament did not vote for empty gestures. One year on, the Scottish government needs to deliver.”

In a statement released by the Scottish government in response to the Scottish Greens it said that it was “one of the first governments to call for a ceasefire, and that it has “been a clear and consistent advocate for peace, justice and human rights in Gaza”.

Scotland for Palestine said: “This is yet another example of the SNP government choosing not to answer questions on its business deals and use of public money. Instead, it has responded with the usual woolly lines around Palestine, the genocide and the responsibility it has to do the right thing and enforce the boycott vote in full.”

Scottish Palestinian Society said: “The SNP calling for a “ceasefire” and saying they “advocate for peace, justice and human rights in Gaza” while using public money to fund businesses complicit in the Palestinian suffering is disingenuous. It’s also a blatant disregard for democracy and hard-working Scots who want their taxes to fund vital services and infrastructure such as better buses, schools and hospitals, not the horrors being committed against Palestinians.”

READ: Palestinian commission records 2,030 Israeli army and settler attacks in West Bank in August