SEVERAL solidarity demonstrations in support of Palestine have been planned in cities and towns across Scotland this weekend.
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign announced this week that events would be held on Saturday in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
In Glasgow, a Day of Action will be held at Buchanan Steps from 1pm, while a demonstration in Edinburgh will start at Waverley Bridge at 1pm.
A demonstration at Dundee's McManus Galleries will start at 2pm, and one at Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens will start at the same time.
Montrose and Dumfries will see solidarity events this weekend as well.
On Sunday, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) will hold its annual rally and march, which will include calls for a ceasefire and an end to violence against civilians in Gaza.
The event, entitled "From Erskine to Elgin: The Far Right is not Welcome!", is expected to be addressed by First Minister Humza Yousaf.
The march will depart from Glasgow Green at 11am for the Strathclyde University Technology and Innovation Centre, where the rally is planned to start at 12 noon.
Organisers of the Buchanan Steps event have criticised Glasgow City Council for hosting defence contractor BAE at Friday's State of the City Economy conference.
The conference itself was interrupted by protests opposed to BAE's presence, with panellists giving demonstrators an opportunity to speak before they departed.
The firm has around 4000 employees in Glasgow, many of which work at shipyards in Govan and Scotstounhill.
The demonstrations come as a four-day ceasefire in Gaza began on Friday, the first long-term pause in the fighting in the nearly seven week long war between Israel and Hamas.
Brokered by Qatar and Egypt, the pause will – if not violated by either party – see Hamas release 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in stages over the four days.
The pause started at 7am on Friday, with 13 Israeli hostages and 39 Palestinian prisoners released.
