On 18 March, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI / RCG) joined the lively and well supported Zionism is Racism (ZIR) coalition protest in George Square, Glasgow, to once again oppose Zionist participation in the annual march of the ‘Stand Up To Racism’ (SUTR) campaign. The SUTR march marks the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to remember the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville massacre in Apartheid South Africa. This is the fifth year that the Confederation of Friends of Israel Scotland (COFIS) and Glasgow Friends of Israel have been allowed to march by SUTR and its Socialist Workers Party (SWP) organisers. FRFI, a founding member of ZIR, have actively boycotted and protested online and on the streets every year since this became an issue (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023).
The ZIR coalition committed to ensuring a popular protest went ahead this year bringing together activists from Glasgow Palestine Human Rights Campaign (GPHRC), Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, Unite The Community Tayside, International Solidarity Movement Scotland and several other unaffiliated activists. West Dunbartonshire Supports the People of Palestine and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network also expressed their support for the protest.
The ZIR protest was also joined by a contingent of Young Communist League (YCL) activists, and many other anti-racists from across Scotland including two Palestinian women who took up the open mic to encourage us all to keep protesting. A contingent from the Fire Brigades Union joined ZIR’s counter protest. An FBU speaker later highlighted from the SUTR platform the racism facing the people of Palestine. However, while statements of solidarity for Palestine were heard from the SUTR platform no opposition to the accommodation of Zionists on the SUTR march was expressed. To anti-Zionists in the square, the silence was deafening! As in previous years the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), and its affiliate organisations, boycotted the SUTR march but did not support or join ZIR’s counter protest.
Many SUTR marchers were unaware of and shocked to hear about Friends of Israel participation, some of them even left the march to join the ZIR counter protest. The Zionists themselves were shepherded by a line of SUTR / SWP stewards, in what was apparently the point of separation between the ‘official’ and the ‘unofficial’ march. SUTR / SWP refuse to exclude and confront the Zionists to avoid conflict within the Labour left who head the SUTR campaign nationally. Capitulation to Zionism – dressed up in terms of ‘opposing antisemitism’ – is a measure of SUTR / SWPs determination to see a Labour government returned to power; ‘Tories Out’ is their tired old chant whilst solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle is side lined, harassed and betrayed.
A leading SUTR / SWP steward and organiser assaulted a ZIR supporter twice, barging her deliberately and later grabbing and throwing her phone, whilst she filmed. Anti – Zionists were accused of being ‘police spies’ and ‘splitters’, while SUTR / SWP speakers were placed at either side of the ZIR protest blaring out music and a drumming band (SheBoom) played over our open mic. Despite all this our chants of ‘Your march is covered in Palestinian Blood’, ‘Zionism – is Racism!’ could not be ignored. The ZIR protest took inspiration from the growing resistance in Palestine despite the Zionist state and settler violence being unleashed on the people in the occupied West Bank.
Footage of the ZIR protest was captured by a Thought Crime reporter
FRFI supporters in ZIR will now be working to build from this successful protest to ensure anti-Zionist voices are heard louder and clearer, until Palestine is Free!
