Scotland’s Green Party has called on the country’s first minister to fully implement boycott and sanctions measures against Israel in the upcoming government program. Various media reported the call Monday.
Scottish daily The National, quoting Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie, reported that the government’s program must be the moment when change comes. “We need a clear commitment and a plan to end Scotland’s complicity in the ongoing systematic oppression of Palestinians,” news agency Anadolu reported.
The Scottish Greens have repeatedly called on First Minister John Swinney to cancel contracts with companies identified by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk as being involved in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
To that end, the party has called for repeal of a British law dating to the Margaret Thatcher era, which bars public-procurement decisions from being based on a product or company’s geographic origin.
Harvie said the Scottish government has failed to turn its words into effective action. He claimed that in most cases, the government has taken only minimal steps, and that there is “little evidence of meaningful change” on the issue.