OXFAM has called on Scottish ministers to explain how they are preventing public money from supporting companies linked to serious violations of international law – including Israel.
It comes as the Scottish Greens will use an opposition debate at Holyrood today to force a vote on strengthening the Scottish Government’s boycott of Israel.
The motion on Wednesday will call for any company, parent company or subsidiary involved in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine to be automatically disqualified from public procurement, grants and all other forms of public support.
A year ago, Scotland became the first country in the world to back Palestinian civil society’s calls for a range of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) measures against the state of Israel amid the genocide in Gaza.
But despite backing that motion, SNP ministers have been accused of failing to take the action needed to put it into practice – notably after confirming that Barclays was one of nine banks chosen to support a £1.5 billion issuance of bonds.
But the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement notes that Barclays has an agreement with Israel to act as a “primary dealer” for its government bonds.
The global bank has also been accused of holding more than £2bn in shares and providing more than £6.1bn in loans and underwriting for nine firms whose weapons and technology are being used by the Israeli military against Palestinians.
Oxfam Scotland has also previously raised concerns that key information about how safeguards are being implemented has yet to be published.
Ahead of the vote, Katherine May – the head of Oxfam Scotland – said: “When history asks whether Scotland did everything it could in the face of the immense suffering in Gaza and the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, we should be able to answer with confidence.
"At the moment, Scottish Enterprise’s revised human rights due diligence policy remains behind closed doors and impenetrable to public scrutiny. Scottish Ministers should be able to demonstrate that the commitments they announced are being properly implemented and making a real difference.”
She added: “Without transparency, confidence isn’t possible. When governments make promises in response to atrocities, people have a right to know whether those promises are being kept."
