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Israeli Settlements: Trade Ban

For my constituents in West Dunbartonshire, a community geographically far removed from Palestine, the horrific injustice being inflicted on the Palestinian people resonates deeply. They look at the systematic confiscation of Palestinian land, the draining of Palestinian water resources and the suffocating restrictions on movement, and they quite rightly see an intolerable violation of human dignity via the illegal Israeli settlements.

In 2009, when I was a councillor, my West Dunbartonshire local authority became the first council in Scotland to pass a unanimous trade ban on anything made or grown in Israel. The ban was extended in 2010, and again in 2011, to discourage investment and trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and it remains in place today.

Later, as provost during the 2014 Gaza war, I made the decision to fly the Palestinian flag from Dumbarton town hall—the municipal buildings. We were the first council in Scotland to do so. Yes, that was met with a backlash, but it sent a message of hope. It raised awareness of the suffering and deaths of people in Gaza and the west bank, and it showed that they were not forgotten. We must not forget them here in this place either, 12 years on. It was a simple act of solidarity from a small local authority thousands of miles away from the occupied territories, but a combination of acts can make a real difference. That is why I support today’s call for a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.