So the Pro-Palestinian activists that were convicted of aggravated trespass in a shopping centre then failed to follow police orders to leave, are planning to appeal their convictions (Palestine demonstrators to appeal over shops protest, News, July 16).
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) justified the demonstration as a response to the 2014 Gaza conflict. They claimed that they were entitled to hold what they called a "political demonstration" in order to educate people about the Middle East conflict. All they managed to do was show people going about their lawful business how intimidating, aggressive and vile the SPSC is, as the demonstrators continued to ignore the requests from both the shopping mall management and the police to leave the premises and were therefore arrested.
The SPSC claim that all they are trying to do is help the Palestinians. One may reasonably ask: "How does this type of demonstration help the Palestinian people?"
Sammy Stein
Chair, Glasgow Friends of Israel
It was a pity your article failed to mention the most crucial judgement in the trial of the demonstrators. Both defendants were found not guilty of the more substantive charge of “racially aggravated behaviour”, a charge that resulted in this trial dragging on over three years. This finding yet again affirms that peaceful picketing of Israeli products in Scotland does not constitute an anti-Semitic act.
One wonders why the procurator fiscal chooses to waste taxpayers' money by pursuing this issue through the courts. Cries of "anti-Semitism" have recently been used with monotonous regularity by the small rump of pro-Israeli apologists in Scotland in order to prevent discussion of Israel's human rights abuses. We hope that this case will now, once and for all, see an end of attempts to mute the pro-Palestinian voice through the Scottish courts.
Wael Shawish
Vice-Chair, Association of Palestinian Communities – Scotland
Phil Chetwynd
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