The urgent need to build solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation and its imperialist backers is clear. Why is it then that some within the Palestine solidarity movement in Britain consistently choose division over unity, self interest over common interest and censorship over democracy?
On 8 October, RCG supporters alongside a range of other supporters of Palestine protested outside the Scotland vs Israel match at Hampden Park. Our public report of the protest here called out the sectarianism of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) and its leader Mick Napier, and their censorship of solidarity with political prisoners Dr Issam Hijjawi and the Saoradh 9. Saoradh’s report of the protest here also highlighted this censorship.
On 14 October, the SPSC published a statement on their Facebook page, spreading lies about supporters of Palestine, in an attempt to defend their sectarian and undemocratic approach.
The SPSC state;
‘Shockingly, our event last Thursday was actively disrupted by a small but determined group, who demanded we abandon our agreed list of speakers from the cooperating groups and cede the floor to them.’
This is a lie. An RCG supporter asked SPSC leader Mick Napier if the Zionism is Racism (ZIR) coalition, which the RCG and other groups and activists are active in, could be added to the speakers list. Napier responded ‘no’. There was no demand to abandon the list of speakers, in fact the RCG provided our own sound system, when the SPSC’s stopped working, in order to allow a Scottish Socialist Party speaker to continue addressing the crowd.
The SPSC further state;
‘We assert, and will firmly assert going forward, our right to free association with partners of our choice. We will organize events in support of the Palestinian people according to what we understand to be their priorities. We condemn the disruption of any event organized in response to the Palestinian call for support, whether it is carried out by pro-Israel elements as part of their strategy to silence us, or by anyone else attempting to impose their agenda on events organized by others.’
In asserting their ‘right’ to undermine the unity of those who stand with Palestine and to deny democracy to anti – imperialists and Irish republicans, the SPSC show they have no interest in building solidarity with the people of Palestine. Napier himself refused to confront the SWP/SUTR when they allowed the Confederation of Friends of Israel – Scotland to join their anti-racism marches in Glasgow in 2018 and 2019 , and it was left to ZIR coalition supporters to confront the Zionists and their SWP/SUTR defenders. To Napier, however, anti-imperialists and Irish republicans are no different to ‘pro-Israel elements’. Mirroring their colonial forefathers in the British Labour left, Napier and the SPSC tell us they will determine the ‘priorities’ of the Palestinian people.
True to form, when this SPSC Facebook statement was challenged by dozens of Palestine activists and Irish republicans the SPSC deleted and shutdown all comments, once again lumping together supporters of Palestine with Zionists in stating;
‘This page is only for those who want to build the Palestinian call for BDS and related topics. Just deleted a swarm of posts from a few Zionists and those trying to assert their right to disrupt Palestine advocacy events they disapprove of.’
This latest bout of sectarianism has shown the SPSC’s hostility to the Palestinian liberation struggle itself. By demanding democracy for all supporters of Palestine we can expose and confront these opportunists whose primary purpose is to police and limit solidarity with Palestine in order defend their own privileged existence in imperialist Britain.
Join our public meeting: ‘Ireland, Palestine and the fight for socialism’
Wednesday 21 October, 7pm
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