The Scottish Government has been urged to ensure a boycott of Israeli goods and services one year ago does not apply "in name only".
On September 3 last year the Scottish Parliament backed a motion to "immediately impose a package of boycotts, divestment and sanctions targeted at the State of Israel and at companies complicit in its military operations and its occupation of Palestine”.
The motion was passed by 62 votes to 31, with 21 abstentions.
Since then however the SNP government has come under scrutiny for how that boycott is being applied in practice, not least after choosing to partner with Barclays on upcoming government bonds.
The bank holds more than £2billion worth of shares in companies such as BAE Systems, Boeing and Raytheon which supply, directly or indirectly, the Israel Defence Forces.
The bank says it makes investments at the direction of clients and is therefore "not a ‘shareholder’ or ‘investor’ in these companies in that sense".
Barclays also provides loans and underwriting to various companies which supply Israel with weapons and military technology. It says it does not directly invest in those companies.
The bank also helps Israel to sell government debt on the bond markets. It says it connects countries, including Israel, "to the international capital markets through weekly debt auctions" but it does not directly invest.
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 steps to the ones it took against Russia, exercising a trade, cultural, and sporting boycott.
The Scottish Palestinian Society and Scotland for Palestine say there is little evidence of the Scottish Government taking the necessary steps needed to end complicity, calling its failure to act a “shameful chapter in Scottish history".
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.”
The 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.”
Patrick Harvie told the National earlier this week: "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.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "As one of the first governments to call for a ceasefire, the Scottish Government has been a clear and consistent advocate for peace, justice and human rights in Gaza.
