Hello friends and supporters of Palestine,

This month’s newsletter contains an important call to action in advance of the Scottish Parliament elections on May 6th, as well as a short piece on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. We are also saddened to share the news of the passing of a Palestinian comrade, Salah Ajarma.

You will also find information on our next branch organising meeting on April 21st - new participants are very welcome. For joining details, email aberdeen@scottishpsc.org.uk.

If you have any ideas for future newsletter content, or would like to get involved in writing for our newsletter or website (www.spscaberdeen.org), please get in touch!

In solidarity,
SPSC Aberdeen

Scottish Parliament Election 2021 - Right to BDS

Scottish PSC has written to candidates in the 2021 Holyrood elections asking them to assert the ‘Right to BDS’, in other words, the right of public institutions, organisations and individuals to support the campaign of Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). 

In a democratic society, citizens and civil society have the right to support human rights through endorsing, campaigning for or implementing BDS. Whether or not candidates support BDS, we are asking them to support the right to BDS of those of us who do. 

Our question: Do you support the right to BDS? YES / NO 

What you can do: 

1. The SURVEY is available for you to share with your candidates - please ask them to confirm their position by emailing candidates directly and raising the question and sharing the link to the survey at hustings.

2. Let us know if you would like contact details for candidates standing in North East Scotland, email aberdeen@scottishpsc.org.uk

3. Share with us information about hustings you become aware of, email hustings@scottishpsc.org.uk

4. Get in touch if you need background information or need help in responding to any questions you've received on the issue: info@scottishpsc.org.uk

5. Share with us any responses you might receive directly

Background information 

What is BDS? 

BDS is the international non-violent campaign which has been called by Palestinian trade unions, churches, environmentalists and other civil society organisations to pressurise Israel to abide by international humanitarian law. It calls for an end to the occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza; an end to discriminatory laws within Israel; and for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. These are all breaches of international laws and conventions for which Israel has yet to be called to account by international governments. Thus, Palestinians are asking international civil society to support the BDS campaign. 

Why is the right to BDS under threat? 

Israel and those who defend its human rights abuses are seeking to undermine the BDS campaign, which only demonstrates that it is an effective means for citizens to protect human rights and international law. Israel is supporting initiatives around the world to try to make BDS illegal or unacceptable. In Britain, the UK government elected in 2019 declared that it intended to ban public bodies from supporting BDS. While the UK government has no power to ban BDS in Scotland, it is important and necessary for us to protect the right of public institutions, organisations and individuals to support or to implement the BDS campaign. 

One of the tactics used by Israel and its supporters to ban BDS is through the so-called IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism and by accusing BDS supporters of being antisemitic. Meanwhile, the IHRA definition of antisemitism is used to protect Israel from criticism. However, it has been rejected by Jewish academics and experts in antisemitism, and its use for this purpose has been rejected by the person who devised it. Indeed, they argue that the IHRA definition makes it more difficult to challenge antisemitism. Scholars have devised an alternative and more accurate definition called the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, which explicitly states that BDS is not intrinsically antisemitic. 

Who else supports the right to BDS? 

Despite legal and political challenges by Israel and its supporters, the right to BDS has been defended by a significant range of legal, political and academic bodies, including Jewish scholars: 

• European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in 2020 ruling that calling for a boycott of goods from Israel is protected by freedom of expression (Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights) and cannot be considered incitement to discrimination:

  • ‘The boycott is above all a means of expressing an opinion of protest. The call for a boycott, which aims to communicate those views while also calling for specific actions linked to them, therefore falls within the scope of the principle protected by Article 10 of the Convention.’

• John Dugard, Emeritus Professor of International law at the Universities of Leiden (Netherlands) and the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and former U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory:

  • ‘...by taking inspiration from the South African Anti-apartheid Movement and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, BDS practices can be considered fully legitimate.’

• Scots Law in a case against Palestine solidarity protestors:

  • ‘And if persons on a public march designed to protest against and publicise alleged crimes committed by a state and its army are afraid to name that state for fear of being charged with racially aggravated behaviour, it would render worthless their Article 10(1) rights. Presumably their placards would have to read, ‘Genocide in an unspecified part of the Middle East’; ‘Boycott an unspecified state in the Middle East’, etc.’

• A UK tribunal against the University and College Union in 2013:

  • ‘"Fraser vs. UCU" was viewed by activists as a test case for all UK unions’ right to advocate boycott of Israeli universities and products, and firms that operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It also has important implications for free speech on Palestine and Israel on university campuses.

  • After extensive interrogation of claims that a call for boycott was antisemitic, the tribunal concluded that the entire claim was “an impermissible attempt to achieve a political end by litigious means. It would be very unfortunate if an exercise of this sort were ever repeated.”’

• The Scottish Government:

  • ‘We have also been clear that we do not wish to mandate how Scottish public institutions, organisations or individuals approach this issue. We would, therefore, strongly encourage the UK Government to develop their legislation in a manner which restricts the scope of application, and respects the autonomy of Scottish institutions in making decisions on this issue.’

• The Scottish Parliament’s petitions committee in 2020:

  • ‘...there is nothing to prevent the BDS campaign from pursuing and arguing for such an approach with individual institutions … Although it is not for the Scottish Government to direct people, institutions and organisations should be able to campaign in that way if they wish to do so.’

Thus, in the face of a concerted campaign to prevent supporters of Palestinian human rights campaigning for BDS, many institutions who do not advocate such a campaign, have nonetheless explicitly supported the right to BDS. 

RIP Salah Ajarma

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Salah Ajarma, director and founder of the Lajee Center, a community-based grassroots cultural centre in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem.  We were privileged to welcome Salah and other members of the Lajee Centre to Aberdeen on three occasions.  The first occasion was in 2012 when Salah and his colleague Mohammed spoke powerfully about their experiences, including Salah’s time as a political prisoner in an Israeli Occupation prison.  Salah was also the Coordinator of the Palestinian Prisoners Association in the West Bank between 1996-98.  Salah’s talk, and the following visits from groups of young Lajee Centre members were hugely inspirational, making a huge impact on the many people who attended the events.  Exemplifying his kindness and hospitality, Salah also hosted members of SPSC Aberdeen as part of a branch delegation in 2012. 

The Lajee Centre released the following statement:

On behalf of everyone at Lajee Center, we are saddened to share the news that our director and founder, Salah Ajarma, has passed away in the early hours of this morning.

Salah was an incredible person, a husband and father to 4 children, son, brother, and dear friend to many, many people all over the world. He inspired generations of children and young people to celebrate and share the beauty and richness of Palestine, its people, history and culture. Salah was a central figure in our community, his loss is sorely and deeply felt by each and every one of us. In his lifetime, he built and left us an important legacy- to continue to fight for our rights as Palestinians and for Palestine and we can never thank him enough for all that he taught us.

We hope you will share with us our sincere and heartfelt condolences to his family.

Palestinian Prisoners Day

April 17th marks Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, in solidarity with Palestinians imprisoned for standing up to Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid rule.  The prisoner support organisation Addameer monitors the number of political prisoners currently in Israeli prisons and detention centres.  At the time of writing there were a total of 4450 Palestinian political prisoners, including 140 children. 

To mark Prisoners’ Day, Addameer has released a publication, Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in the Face of Apartheid, which outlines the multiple ways in which Israel has continued to flaunt international law through its treatment of Palestinians in the prison system over the past year.  The following excerpt highlights the role of torture within the system:

“To further compound upon the military courts’ grave violations, military courts avoid evidence of torture in collusion with intelligence services, the military prosecution, and the broader apartheid system.  In  recent  times,  and  in  light  of  the  increasing  practice  of  torture  against  Palestinian detainees,  Israeli  military  judges,  approve  the  extension  of  detention  of  detainees  subjected  to torture, despite their acquaintance with the physical evidence of torture on the bodies of detainees, and despite detainees’ verbal testimonies of harsh interrogating conditions. Such negligence and action grant further legitimacy to interrogators’ use of physical and psychological torture.”

As well as torture, Israel continues to routinely practise administrative detention. The practice allows Palestinians prisoners to be kept indefinitely, without charge or trial, with evidence kept secret from the accused and their lawyer.  Of those Palestinian prisoners currently held, 440 of them are administrative detainees; the routine, rather than exceptional, use of administrative detention is illegal under international law.

The recent Addameer report ends by highlighting the apartheid nature of the Israeli criminal justice system, stating that: “…the time has come for the international community to take the necessary steps to declare this  occupation,  and  all  its  policies  and  practices,  an  illegal  reality  that  must  end  immediately, along with an end to prosecuting Palestinian civilians in military courts. The Palestinian people’s right to self-determination must be guaranteed, and the occupying power must be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Aberdeen SPSC – About Us

Aberdeen SPSC has been campaigning for justice for Palestine since 2010, primarily focused on joining the Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.  Past activities have included campaigns against the likes of Wood Group, Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Barclays Banks, as well as organising solidarity delegations to Gaza and the West Bank. The branch is part of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 

Best wishes,

The SPSC Aberdeen Team

We’d love to hear from you!

Get in touch to learn how you can take part, leave a suggestion or a helpful donation.