PRO-PALESTINE campaigners have urged the Scottish Government to fully implement the Israel boycott.
On the first anniversary of the vote, which took place on September 3 last year, activists flew Palestinian flags outside of Holyrood and held up large red letters to spell out “75,000+ murdered”.
They also installed a clothing line with children's socks pegged along it, which each bore the name of a child who “has been murdered by Israel”.
Last year, a proposal by the Scottish Greens asking for "the Scottish and UK governments to immediately impose a package of boycotts, divestment and sanctions targeted at the state of Israel and at companies complicit in its military operations and its occupation of Palestine" was passed by 62 votes to 31, with 21 abstentions.
However, 12 months later, ministers have been accused of failing to deliver the basics of the Israel boycott pledge.
Speaking outside Holyrood, Hussein Ezzedine, trade union officer for the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), said: “We're still asking the same basic question, where is the action? How many more times must we stand outside this building before those inside in power understand that we are not going away?
“Did Parliament pass the motion in the hope that by throwing us some token gesture, they would get themselves off the hook because it certainly looks that way to me.”
Ezzedine added that campaigners should “organise” and put pressure on the Scottish Government to implement the boycott.
He added: “We need to build that pressure in our workplaces, our communities, our universities, our organisations.
“We need to talk to our neighbours, our friends, our colleagues, the people we sit down with and have a pint.
“All the people we speak to are not here, because power does not simply give things away because people ask politely. Accountability has to be demanded.
“So today I say this: if we want to make demands of those inside there, we need to make demands of ourselves, and that means we don't go home without doing something.”
Scottish Greens MSP Holly Bruce also spoke at the protest, telling campaigners that she was still pushing to get “human right due diligence done” at Glasgow City Council, where she remains a councillor.
“We are the strongest voice in that Parliament on this issue, and we will not stop talking about Palestine,” she added.
“As a party fighting for peace, a party fighting for the rights of everyone, we will not stop talking about Palestine. So thank you for being here, it's a beautiful demonstration.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay also spoke at the protest.
It comes as the Scottish Government is facing increasing pressure to set out what action it has taken on implementing the boycott. It has even been accused of breaching the boycott.
In June, the Scottish Government confirmed the nine banks which had been chosen to support a £1.5 billion issuance of bonds, with Barclays being one of the organisations to sign up.
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.
