JOHN Swinney is under fresh pressure to stop Scottish taxpayers’ money being used to fund “Israel's genocidal assault” in Palestine – as he has not mentioned Gaza once this parliament.
The First Minister’s contributions on the situation in the Middle East stand in contrast with his predecessor Humza Yousaf, who spoke frequently on the topic and was personally affected by the bombardment of Gaza through his family stuck in the region.
In his acceptance speech on becoming SNP leader earlier this month, Swinney praised Yousaf (below) for his “moral leadership” on the issue.
But the Scottish Greens have said the SNP have failed to match their words with action – pointing to taxpayers’ cash being spent on weapons companies with links to Israel.
Greens MSP Ross Greer said: “Humza Yousaf showed strong and consistent moral and political leadership on the crisis in Gaza at a time when the UK government and others chose instead to arm and support Israel's genocidal assault. I hope that John Swinney continues Humza's important work.”
But he claimed “no progress has been made” by the Scottish Government on calls to ensure it is not indirectly funding the Israeli military.
It comes after The Ferret revealed that Scottish Enterprise has given hundreds of thousands of pounds to defence firms with links to Israel, including BAE Systems, Leonardo and Raytheon which all have bases Scotland.
Greer (below) added: “The Scottish Government has rightly led calls for a ceasefire and for an end to UK arms sales to Israel.
“The former First Minister backed Scottish Greens calls to investigate government funding for arms companies and to ensure that Scottish taxpayers’ cash is not going to companies complicit in Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian West Bank.
“Despite the former First Minister voicing his support for these actions seven months ago, no progress has been made.”
Greer urged the Scottish Government to “back up its moral leadership with concrete actions”.
Swinney must “demonstrate that Scotland's solidarity with the people of Palestine extends to action, not just words”, the Greens MSP added.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government believes an immediate ceasefire is urgently required, along with the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, to prevent further suffering in Gaza.
“The Scottish Government respects international norms and the rule of law, we therefore consider it appropriate that any breach or potential breach of international law, including allegations of crimes against humanity, are investigated by the appropriate international bodies.”
They added it was “incumbent” on the UK Government to consider the implications of the International Court of Justice’s interim ruling – which saw the UN court rule there was a plausible case Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
The spokesperson said UK ministers must impress on Israel that it had “now moved beyond a legitimate response to the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7”.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron made it clear earlier this week the UK Government did not believe there was a “moral equivalence” between the actions of Israel and Hamas.
He rubbished arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Israel and Hamas’s leaders, saying the court’s jurisdiction did not apply either to Israel or Palestine.
