Scotland Declares War on Israel!

Some fabulous news from Scotland:

1- Israel cricket match in Glasgow cancelled.

2- Edinburgh International Film Festival Returns Israeli Money in response to Boycott Plans.

1- Israel cricket match in Glasgow cancelled

Media Release by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign

2 August 2006

Antiwar campaigners have been informed by police that tomorrow’s scheduled cricket match involving Israel in Glasgow has been cancelled. The organisers were unable to find a venue large enough for the planned protests. However, the matches on Saturday and Sunday are still on, though antiwar groups are maintaining that they should be cancelled given the ongoing situation in Lebanon. Commenting, Osama Saeed of the Muslim Association of Britain said: “This is fabulous news, though we would wish that the decision had been taken earlier by the organisers on the grounds of principle rather than practicality. There’s a war taking place at the moment, with Israel as the aggressor, and it’s insensitive for them to being playing cricket in Glasgow at the moment. We hope that the same decision will be taken on the weekend matches.” Nicola Fisher of the Stop the War Coalition said: “We’re pleased the match has been cancelled as we don’t believe Israel should be afforded the legitimacy of taking part in these sporting occasions. The European Cricket Council should cancel the other matches involving Israel too.” Bilal Anwar of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies said: “This is a victory for peace-loving Glaswegians who have tried to stop this match. The message to all Israeli institutions is that they’re not welcome in Glasgow.” Mick Napier of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “Twice in the same day, amidst concerns for the security of their games, the Israeli cricket team in Glasgow has cancelled the venues it had been allocated to play. They shifted yesterday to the Glasgow Academicals ground, protected by a brutal two metre spiked fence perimeter, and then cancelled even this arrangement. “The security concerns are the result of widespread revulsion among the public over the massacres by Israeli soldiers of Lebanese and Palestinians – they fear, correctly, that the appearance of off-duty Israeli soldiers in cricketing whites will provoke widespread protests. They are right. The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls for intensified pressure to have this tour cancelled by the cricketing authorities and the Israeli soldiers asked to leave Scotland.” [ENDS]

2- Edinburgh International Film Festival Returns Israeli Money in response to Boycott Plans.

Presee Release by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign

2 August 2006

The organisers of the Edinburgh International Film Festival have cancelled an official Israeli Embassy sponsorship of their programme and returned the Israeli cheque following a huge public outcry over Israeli Embassy involvement. Shane Danielsen, the Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival wrote to all those who complained that he had "almost had my bottom teeth knocked out with the butt" of an Israeli rifle recently in Occupied Palestine, and that he was eager to assist those Israeli filmakers who stood "above all the gunfire, and the shouting of thuggish soldiers."

Writers, actors and members of the public inundated the organisers with mail and phone calls demanding the financial support from the Israeli Embassy be ended and warning that they would boycott Edinburgh's flagship event if this were not done.The Edinburgh Branches of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Stop the War Coalition had planned to picket all major Film Festival events and shame the organisers if the link with the Israeli Embassy had been maintained.

The Film Festival website carries the following: "this funding was secured some three months ago, well before the commencement of current hostilities in Lebanon. Of course we acknowledge that the situation has altered dramatically since then, and with this in mind, took the decision early yesterday to decline any funding from the Israelis."

Scottish PSC welcomes this late conversion of the EIFF organisers to opposition to human rights violations: it is regrettable, however, that the EIFF allowed the link to be made in the first place. It is simply not good enough to respond to the most recent massacres in Qana. Israel, after all, has been violating Palestinian human rights for decades. Israeli killing in Palestine, and Lebanon, continued yesterday.The Edinburgh StWC and SPSC never at any time called for the banning of the Israeli film or film-maker in question. We will engage artistically and politically with all film-makers who deal with the issues of Israel's past and ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine and invasion of neighbouring countries.

[ENDS]

I wish I were Scottish not Useless Arab!