Official Report 1010KB pdf
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-18686, in the name of Angus Robertson, on Palestine.
15:39
The Scottish Government has, since the start of the conflict, repeatedly called for a ceasefire and for the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have also condemned unreservedly Hamas’s brutality in October 2023, including the murder of the Scottish Jew Bernard Cowan, and have called for hostages to be released. Hamas must have no future in Gaza. We have called on the United Kingdom to end arms sales to Israel and to ensure that there is accountability for those who are responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The First Minister has made it clear that the Scottish Government shares the concern of other Governments and international leaders that genocide appears to be unfolding in Gaza. We recognise the gravity of such a conclusion. Genocide is the gravest of international crimes, and Governments must act when they believe that it is happening.
As the First Minister set out, the ministerial code requires the Scottish Government to follow international law and to meet international treaty obligations. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the Labour amendment explicitly and specifically recognises the importance of international law to the question whether support for arms companies can continue. It is right to do so and, as the First Minister also set out, it is in taking account of international law and the ministerial code that we have paused new support.
It is, of course, ultimately for international courts to decide whether genocide has occurred, but Governments cannot wait until it is too late; history has taught us that harsh lesson. The last genocide in Europe took place in Srebrenica in 1995. However, it took until 2007, 12 years later, for the International Court of Justice to recognise that situation as genocide. History will judge all decision makers on what we have done to react to the facts that we can all see. Doing nothing, prevaricating or seeking to avoid difficult decisions is not an option.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found a prima facie case that the Israeli Government was committing genocide, and it issued provisional measures. In May 2024, following the Israel Defense Forces’ assault on Rafah, the court issued additional orders, to halt military operations that might inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions that could bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part.
The alarm has been raised. Evidence is on television daily. More than 63,000 people, most of whom were women and children, have died. Famine has been declared, while thousands of truckloads of aid are blocked and desperate Palestinians risk death in trying to access the meagre supplies that are being distributed under gunfire by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. United Nations leaders have expressed fears of a genocide.
Does the cabinet secretary recognise, as I do, that the evidence for the continuing outrages perpetrated by the Netanyahu Government have prompted former Likud Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to say that Netanyahu’s proposals for a “humanitarian city” in Gaza are tantamount to “ethnic cleansing”?
I agree with the intervention that Alex Cole-Hamilton has described; it is one of a number of interventions that point to the facts that we can all see. They are there for us all to see—the question is whether we act. The First Minister has, today, set out not only the actions that the Scottish Government is taking, within our powers, but what we expect the UK Government to do, including joining South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice.
The United Kingdom bears a unique historical responsibility, as the former colonial power, over a territory that is so bitterly contested. The First Minister’s statement sets out what the Scottish Government can do within our powers. In effect, the pause on new support for arms companies linked to genocide constitutes the Scottish Government’s divesting its investment, exactly as the Scottish Greens’ amendment calls for. It is clear that the vast majority of the actions that the amendment calls for, such as sanctions, are outwith our powers and are—as the amendment itself notes—matters for the UK Government.
The motion for debate refers simply to the need for the state of Palestine to be recognised, and it is for the United Kingdom Government to take that decision. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK would recognise the state of Palestine at the General Assembly of the United Nations, unless the Israeli Government declared a ceasefire, allowed humanitarian access, halted West Bank annexations and showed genuine commitment to peace and to a two-state solution.
Although the Scottish Government has welcomed that decision, having repeatedly called on the UK Government to recognise Palestine, we are clear that recognition should not be conditional but should instead be a first step towards a two-state solution in which Palestinians and Israelis live peacefully, side by side. Recognition is the right of every Palestinian in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Let us be clear. Netanyahu’s Government has rejected the United Kingdom’s conditions. The Israeli Security Cabinet took the chilling decision to seize Gaza City, which is home to around 900,000 civilians and is where the United Nations has declared that famine conditions exist. Israeli forces have since attacked Gaza City suburbs, killing civilians and ending humanitarian pauses. Those actions directly contradict the UK’s demands.
On 20 August 2025, the Israeli Government approved the massive E1 settlement project, which would likely make a two-state solution unviable. Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich said:
“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise”.
Those chilling words will resonate through the ages. We have been warned.
The UK, having authored the Balfour declaration, bears historic responsibility to uphold the principle of equitable rights—something that recognition of Palestine unconditionally would help to restore. Palestine is recognised by 147 United Nations member states, is a UN observer and is accepted by the International Criminal Court as a state entity. The UK’s history imposes a moral duty. The Balfour declaration’s promise of mutual rights cannot be realised without Palestinian statehood. That must be the starting position.
As well as genocide in Gaza, we see worsening settler violence in the West Bank. According to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1,000 settler attacks have been recorded in this year alone. On Monday this week, the First Minister and I spoke to the Palestinian head of mission in London, Husam Zomlot, and he described to the First Minister and me, in heartbreaking terms, what he has witnessed recently in the West Bank. He was clear that the Israeli Government’s aim is to settle the entire West Bank. He described the West Bank’s economic strangulation of more than 50 per cent unemployment, of roadblocks and of Palestinian communities penned in behind walls and behind wire. That is his and nearly 3 million Palestinians’ home. Can any of us imagine what it must feel like for them to be systematically removed from their homeland and to have their homes and livelihoods destroyed and their children’s futures stolen while the international community fails to act decisively?
Is the minister familiar with the case of Palestinian Awdah Hathaleen, who was shot dead in the West Bank only a few weeks ago? Does he agree that, under this Netanyahu Government, Israel has become a lawless state? A man, whom we have all seen if we have watched the footage, shot Awdah Hathaleen dead, but there will not be a trial or any kind of accountability. Can we see now that Israel is not a democracy if it does not have a court system?
The case that Pauline McNeill raises is shocking. What is perhaps more shocking is that it is not isolated. Unfortunately, two-tier justice or non-existent justice for Palestinians in the occupied territory is but a symptom of the wider challenge. I acknowledge Ms McNeill’s long-standing involvement in this issue, and I thank her for raising this particular case, but I am sure that she shares my view that it is one of many and that they are all totally unacceptable.
The First Minister has announced actions that the Scottish Government will take and what we want the United Kingdom Government to do, the latter of which includes following Ireland’s example of banning goods produced in illegal settlements and increasing sanctions against those who promote such settlements. This wave of settler violence appears to be systematic and escalating, and it is going unpunished by the Israeli Government and the Israel Defense Forces. It forces Palestinians off their land, erases livelihoods and communities, and intensifies the humanitarian crisis. There is no time to waste. The UK Government must act now, before it is too late.
On Monday, I joined the First Minister in meeting representatives of Scotland’s Jewish community to make clear the esteem in which they are held and the value that we place on the community’s contribution to our nation. They must not suffer antisemitism because of the actions of Netanyahu’s Government.
I thank the cabinet secretary for the expression of that sentiment. He will know about the extraordinary efforts that have been entered into here in Scotland, not least through the Drumlanrig accord, which was promoted by Edward Green and Imam Dr Sayed Razawi. He will also know that, in response to the meeting that he had with the First Minister and the Jewish community, there are concerns. Among them is concern that such measures will fuel prejudicial action against the Jewish community in Scotland, and not least from the parents of pupils at Calderwood Lodge, in my constituency, which is Scotland’s only Jewish primary school and the world’s only Jewish-Catholic campus. How will he give effect to that sentiment?
Jackson Carlaw is as committed to his Jewish constituents as I am to mine. I represent Edinburgh’s synagogue, the central mosque and the churches of our main Christian denominations. Scotland’s Jewish community is a much-valued part of our national life, as the First Minister has made clear. I recognise—as we all do—how difficult things are for the Jewish community, not only because Hamas is still holding hostages, but because of the fears and charged emotions that exist in light of the appalling situation that is being meted out to Palestinian people. I acknowledge the Mr Carlaw’s point. We all need to be mindful of that aspect.
In drawing my contribution to a close, I highlight that the Israeli Government’s approach to delivering aid via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has failed tragically. The Israeli authorities must immediately allow humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East—UNRWA—to complete their work unimpeded and at scale.
Since the conflict began, the Scottish Government has committed £1.3 million for Gaza and the wider middle east, including £750,000 for UNRWA and a further £550,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal, Mercy Corps and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund—£250,000 in total was announced in November 2024 and £300,000 was announced on 22 April 2025.
The First Minister announced today that the Scottish Government will provide £400,000 of funding to Kids Operating Room to establish the Gaza HOPES field readiness hub in Scotland. That will unlock $15 million of funding to deliver a rapid-deployment field hospital in Gaza that will provide essential services. The hub, which will be based in Dundee, will also be used to support field hospital deployments in future humanitarian crises. We will also donate £600,000 to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs-led humanitarian fund for the occupied Palestinian territories to provide life-saving health services, supplies and shelter for those who are most at risk. We have also committed to providing medical support for up to 20 injured children from Gaza. We expect the first arrivals, along with their families, in mid-September.
We face a defining moment in our lifetimes. As the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, said one month ago, we are witnessing the
“incredible, incredible destruction of an entire people”.
The international community must act, Scotland must act, and the United Kingdom Government’s special responsibility places on it the unenviable but necessary burden of leading that endeavour.
Motion moved,
That the Parliament agrees with the recognition of the State of Palestine and that peace in the region must be pursued by all.
15:52
The Scottish Conservatives are open to supporting the motion that is before the Parliament today. It has been quite carefully drafted; one can add different interpretations to it. Whether that is to accept all the content from the Scottish Government is a separate matter. We will be listening with care to the way in which the debate is conducted and in relation to any amendments that might be passed.
The chamber is once again debating the middle east, a region that is too often characterised by tragedy, and today by the conflict in Gaza. We remember that we are not speaking in abstract terms but of human lives—of Israeli families who live under the terror of rocket fire and of Palestinian families who are trapped between the cruelty of Hamas and the failure of international institutions to protect them.
Every statistic that we hear represents men, women and children whose lives have been torn apart, and far too many of those statistics are the lives of men, women and children in Gaza.
Let me be absolutely clear in the context of the unfolding of this event that Israel, like any sovereign nation, had the right—indeed, the duty—to defend its citizens. Hamas is not a government and it is not a liberation movement; it is, as Anas Sarwar recognised, a terrorist organisation. Its massacre of Israeli civilians, its kidnapping of the innocent and its relentless rocket fire are not acts of resistance; they are acts of terror. No responsible state could have sat idly by in the face of such atrocities.
As I posed in my question to the First Minister, we should also reflect on the language that is used to describe the conflict. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it was rightly called Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and when Iraq was invaded, what was spoken of was Saddam Hussein’s war against Kuwait, but when Israel is attacked and forced to respond, it is too often referred to as Israel’s war. Rightly or wrongly, that phrase implies for many, and particularly for the Jewish community, that an entire people—the Jewish people—are responsible for the decisions of their Government. That is a dangerous double standard.
Jackson Carlaw talks about the right of the Israeli state to act. Does he agree that, given that it is an occupying force, it has responsibilities under international law to allow food, aid and other support and to allow daily life to go on in the occupied territories, which it has systematically failed to do, not just for two years but for decades?
I agree with the substance of Ms Chapman’s point and I will return to it.
I simply want to assure Jackson Carlaw that, every time I have written about this, which I have done often, I have made it plain that Hamas’s actions were atrocious and that it is Netanyahu, not the Israeli people, who is at fault in his actions. I say that to assure the member that those of us who are writing about this make that distinction very loud and clear.
Unfortunately, that is not necessarily generally and commonly the case. In fact, we talk about Hamas’s atrocity in Israel, not Gaza’s atrocity in Israel. The parallel is to be seen. It is not the Jewish people who are responsible for the decisions of their Government. There is a dangerous double standard that blurs the line between legitimate criticism of Government policy and the prejudice of antisemitism that some will exploit. We have to be vigilant about the distinction being erased. I thank the cabinet secretary for his remarks as he paid tribute to the Jewish community in this country and directly addressed their fears.
Hamas’s evil does not stop there; it embeds itself among the very civilians it claims to represent. It has launched rockets from schools, hidden weapons in hospitals and stored explosives beneath homes. It has turned the people of Gaza into human shields. The suffering of civilians in Gaza is real, but the moral responsibility is not only that directed at Israel; first and foremost it is with Hamas. Some blame Israel for the shortage of aid—I have heard that said, and I think that there are legitimate arguments that need to be explored. However, the reality is more complex and more damning of the international system. Israel has opened border crossings and convoys are ready, and yet, too often, food and medicine sit idle because the United Nations refuses Israeli escorts to guarantee safe passage from looting. We know that reports suggest that as much as 88 per cent of aid was intercepted and that what does get through is often stolen by Hamas and diverted away from the children and families who need it most.
Let me be absolutely clear: this is a shortage that is caused not only by Israel’s blockade but by Hamas’s brutality and the inaction of the United Nations. It is the innocent who pay the price.
Will the member take an intervention?
I will have to make some progress, but I will be closing for our side, and I will take as many questions as I can at that point, as I have no written remarks prepared.
Britain must speak with both clarity and compassion, yet if we are to speak seriously about peace, we must look beyond Gaza, because Hamas does not act alone. Behind Hamas, behind Hezbollah in Lebanon, behind the Houthis in Yemen, stands the same hand: Tehran. Iran has spent decades arming, funding and directing a network of proxies. It thrives on conflict and instability, exporting chaos to entrench its own dictatorship. Every rocket fired into Israel and every drone launched across borders bears the fingerprints of the Iranian regime. So, that means pressing the United Nations for action there, too. It means working with allies to stop Iran’s weapons from flowing into the region, and it means refusing to let those who seek to delegitimise Israel from dominating the narrative. Compassion for the innocent does not weaken our resolve.
That is why Britain and Scotland cannot afford to be naive. This is not simply about territory or religion; it is a struggle between a democratic state with a Government with which people may have issues seeking peace and a terror network that is fuelled by an authoritarian regime that despises peace. If we are serious about stability, we must be serious about countering Iran’s malign influence diplomatically and economically where necessary, alongside our allies.
In this chamber, we might differ on emphasis, but we should not differ on the principle that Israel has the right to live free from terror and that Palestinians have the right to live free from fear and in peace in a state that can be recognised. Britain has the responsibility to stand always on the side of peace, security and the rule of law. That means solidarity with our allies, compassion for civilians caught in the crossfire and confronting those powers that profit from endless war.
This conflict should remind us of a simple truth, which is that the values that we cherish—democracy, security and the sanctity of human life—are defended not by words alone but by resolve. Our resolve must be clear. We stand for Israel’s right to exist. We stand for peace and a renewal of hope for all the Palestinian people. We stand against those, from Hamas to Tehran, who would see both destroyed. That is the moral duty of our nation. That is the path to a future that is worthy of the peoples of the middle east.
I move amendment S6M-18686.3, to insert after “Palestine”:
“at the appropriate time and as part of a wider and lasting peace settlement in which the Palestinian people are free from the control of Hamas,”.
16:00
I rise to move the amendment in my name and make clear that the Government’s unamended motion is also in our name: we support the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine.
Today, I want to speak of one people, humanity, not two; one set of values, justice, before we talk of two-state solutions; and one goal, peace, before we apportion names to crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, where there have been so many, by so many.
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”
is a verse from the book of Exodus, which is shared by Christians and Jews, in the Old Testament. It is also a verse in the Qur’an. It is not, as some might think, an encouragement to violence; it is instead an exhortation to limit it, for retaliation to be proportionate and to end the code of vengeance that called for an eye for an eyelash.
No one who calls themselves part of humanity can say that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not breached that living text, which was shared in his response to the indefensible atrocities of Hamas. Yes, Israel had the right and duty to defend itself after Hamas had murdered and kidnapped its children, but the Israeli Prime Minister does not have the right to slaughter. He has turned the clock back, rather than building a new future for his nation and region. The peace of Israel depends on the peace of Palestine.
I say in response to Jackson Carlaw that I believe that Netanyahu represents his Government—his coalition perhaps—but not the Israeli people. We must all acknowledge that, particularly in our own communities, where our protests cannot be allowed to sow division. My leader and my friend Anas Sarwar has called the Israeli Government’s recent actions genocide, and I agree. Other colleagues have talked of war crimes; I do not demur.
I thank Neil Bibby for his contribution so far. I also welcome Anas Sarwar’s statement that a genocide is taking place. David Lammy called it a moral outrage and Keir Starmer called it horrifying.
On that very point, assuming that Neil Bibby agrees with his colleagues, how on earth can it be justified to sell one single arm, weapon or F-35 component to the very country and regime that is committing that moral outrage, that horrifying situation, that genocide?
I respect Mr Yousaf’s passion and his campaigning on the issue. He will be aware that the UK Government has restricted arms sales, and we have called for the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise to look at what we can do in a Scottish context. That needs to be kept under constant review, and we need to take all the actions that we can to stop those crimes from happening. As Mr Yousaf is aware, the killing is still on-going and needs to stop. Although there needs to be accountability, our priority must be to call for an end to those crimes now, to stop the killings with the bullets and bombs and the killings by the barriers that are preventing food from getting into children’s mouths and medicines to people’s wounds.
In biblical times, famine was seen as a matter of weather or the will of God; today, the famine in Gaza is man made, on the edict of Benjamin Netanyahu. It must be lifted, which is why, across the chamber, along with people across this land, our continent and the globe, we have called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and the free flow of humanitarian aid. However, the question that we face as Scottish parliamentarians is, “What can we do?”
The Scottish Labour Party has argued for more than half a century for a two-state solution, and I recognise that other parties have long supported that, too. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people, and alongside a wider settlement, it is the only way for a lasting peace to be secured between Israel and Palestine.
I believe that every member in this place wants an end to the killing and a lasting peace. We might not all agree on the appropriate time to recognise the state of Palestine, but I believe that that time is now.
We might also not agree on what other actions should be taken to bring about that peace, but any action needs to be effective, involve international pressure and co-operation, and be under constant review. Important actions are already being taken by the UK Government, as set out in my amendment, in relation to restoring funding for UNRWA and respecting the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. Action is being taken by the Scottish Government, too, which is welcome.
Although we, in these islands, cannot alone end the killing in Gaza and the West Bank, we can help to make a difference by how we act and how we speak. We can further help to make a difference by clearly and immediately signalling our support for the recognition of the state of Palestine. Today, let us send out a clear message that we believe in peace and in a two-state solution. That does not mean that we need to take sides, other than to be on the side of those who wish to live against those who wish to take life—those who seek to make peace against those who seek conflict.
Let us speak of solidarity for peace, for a ceasefire and for a two-state solution, as we have always argued. Let us argue not for division for our own ends but for peace for those who suffer for no reason.
I move amendment S6M-18686.2, to insert at end:
“; welcomes the actions taken by the UK Government to respect the jurisdiction and independence of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, restrict arms sales licences to prevent breaches of international law, issue sanctions on Israeli ministers and settlers in the West Bank and commit to recognising a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly; calls on the Scottish Government to update the Parliament on the due diligence checks carried out by Scottish Enterprise during investment decision processes to ensure that defence products are not used in breaches of humanitarian law in Gaza or elsewhere, and considers that there must be an immediate ceasefire, with delivery of humanitarian aid and food into Gaza, the release of all the hostages and a pathway to a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, secured by a two-state solution.”
16:06
I welcome this opportunity for Parliament to endorse the recognition of Palestine. It is more than 50 years since the United Nations recognised the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and sovereignty. Over those five decades, the failure of the international community to make that right a reality has been one of the greatest injustices in modern world history.
The urgency is clear for anybody who can bring themselves to look. For generations, Palestinians have endured a brutal occupation, and for almost two years now, they have been subjected to war crimes on a grotesque scale. The weight of legal opinion is absolutely clear: this is genocide. The recent resolution of the International Association of Genocide Scholars provides one example. It sets out that
“the actions of the Israeli Government against Palestinians have included torture, arbitrary detention, and sexual and reproductive violence; deliberate attacks on medical professionals, humanitarian aid workers and journalists; and the deliberate deprivation of food, water, medicine and electricity”.
It also sets out the explicit statements of intent, which are genocidal in nature, from senior members of the Israeli Government.
It is unquestionable that, to achieve justice for Palestine, action must be taken. There is action that Scotland can take. During the recess, my colleague Ross Greer wrote to the Scottish Government to set out the actions that it can and should take now—on boycotts, divestment and sanctions. There are actions that do not rely on waiting for permission from the UK Government, such as disapplying part of the Local Government Act 1988 to allow councils to boycott companies that are complicit in the occupation, calling for public pension funds to divest from complicit companies, urging businesses to cease trading with Israel—exactly as the Scottish Government did in relation to Russia—and stopping giving public moneys to arms dealers that supply Israel. I very warmly welcome the announcement today that some of those steps will be taken; we will continue to press for others.
The UK Government should do the same and can do far more. The UK talks of the right of Israel to defend itself but says nothing about the right of Palestinians to resist occupation. Labour’s amendment to the motion that we are debating recognises some positive steps, so we will not oppose it, but it takes too much credit for half measures and is a reminder of just how lacking the UK Government’s response has been.
Respecting the ICC is an important principle, but there are those, including the Prime Minister, who have used it as an excuse for not describing the situation as genocide. Obviously, we support restoration of UNRWA funding, but arms export restrictions have been extremely limited. The UK has continued to provide other forms of practical and political support to the Israeli Government.
Sanctions on Israeli ministers are welcome, but the UK has not taken any steps against UK citizens who have travelled to Israel, fought for the IDF, killed a few Palestinians and returned home to face no legal consequences.
Calling for a ceasefire, aid, hostage releases and a two-state settlement is the easy bit. However, the Labour Government has not used the international voice of the UK to condemn the United States and Trump’s explicit proposals for ethnic cleansing.
This issue does not stop with state recognition. There is further action that the international community must take, including co-ordinated international sanctions. The world must work together to deliver what it voted for at the UN 50 years ago: the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine. The Palestinian state that emerges must have global support to rebuild what Israel’s violence has destroyed, and it must have robust security guarantees against future incursion, invasion or occupation. Recognition of the state is long overdue, but it is only the first step towards justice for Palestine.
I move amendment S6M-18686.1, to insert at end:
“, and calls on 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.”
16:11
I am grateful to the Scottish Government for making time for this very important debate. The debate takes place against the backdrop of immense humanitarian suffering and our historical culpability, which I raised with the First Minister in response to the statement earlier.
In Gaza, what families are enduring is nothing short of a catastrophe. Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions have been displaced and basic necessities such as food, water and medicine are desperately scarce. There is a famine raging through that land. The images of starving children should be burned into the retinas of all our eyes. At the same time, Israeli families still wait in agony for the return of their loved ones who were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in the atrocities of 7 October. We must never lose sight of either tragedy—both demand urgent action. I echo those who say that a Palestinian life is worth as much as an Israeli life.
In that spirit, it is incumbent on all of us to remember, think, speak and act on behalf of all those Israelis in whose name Netanyahu does not act, and those Palestinians whom Hamas does not represent. The motion speaks to the recognition of a Palestinian state. For the Liberal Democrats, recognition is not an abstract gesture; it is a vital, practical step towards peace and a two-state solution that ensures dignity and security for both Palestinians and Israelis.
We have heard the Prime Minister finally announce that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly later this month unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and allows aid into Gaza, among other conditions. That marks some progress. The Liberal Democrats accept and welcome that, but the Prime Minister can go much further. The Liberal Democrats are in no doubt that the actions of the Israeli Cabinet and the IDF are in breach of international law. We have repeatedly called on the Government to go further in imposing a full arms embargo, sanctioning all members of the Cabinet—including Netanyahu—who are complicit in the illegal aid blockade and the targeting of civilians, and supporting the gathering of evidence for future accountability of these crimes against humanity.
Recognition should have happened months ago. By doing it in the way that the Prime Minister intends, we are treating recognition as some kind of bargaining chip. Of the 193 member states of the United Nations, 147 already recognise Palestine. Countries such as France and Canada are moving in that direction, too. If Britain believes in a rules-based international order—and we should do so—we should be part of that majority. We should recognise Palestine immediately and, in so doing, give renewed momentum to the cause of peace. Recognition affirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination—a right that they have long been denied.
Recognition would be more than just symbolic; it would allow for full diplomatic relations. A Palestinian ambassador in London and a British ambassador in Palestine would help to build the trust that is needed to advance peace. Recognition for Palestine is one of the most effective ways of disempowering Hamas, too, because it would make clear that the future of Palestine belongs not to the terrorists but to the democrats, to peace builders and to those who are committed to the two-state solution—something that Hamas has no interest in. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. It has no genuine interest in a Palestinian state, and it has no future in the governance of Gaza or the West Bank. Recognition is not a reward for Hamas; it is a rejection of it.
However, recognition alone is not enough; we need urgent action in order to stop the humanitarian disaster that we are seeing in Gaza. That means pressing for an immediate ceasefire, ensuring that aid flows freely and using every diplomatic lever that we have to secure the unconditional release of the remaining Israeli hostages. It also means Britain going further than the Prime Minister’s limited plan. We must end arms sales to Israel and apply targeted sanctions against members of the Israeli Cabinet who are responsible for violations of international law.
At the same time, we must work with international partners to identify and support democratic leaders of Palestine and to prepare for swift elections that can unite Gaza and the West Bank under one legitimate representative Government. Only then can a Palestinian state be stable and enduring. We must invest in that peace. The international fund for middle east peace, which my party supports, is one way to bring together communities across the divide.
Mr Cole-Hamilton, you need to conclude.
The road to peace is long, and it will not be easy, but recognition of a Palestinian state is an essential step along it.
Thank you, Mr Cole-Hamilton. We move to the open debate, with back-bench speeches of up to four minutes.
16:15
On Saturday morning, I attended a Gaza protest in Haddington, in my constituency, where around 200 people were present. Last night, I was at another event in North Berwick, which was attended by around 75 people. People from all backgrounds were present at both events. They were angry, distraught and frustrated at the on-going genocide in Gaza. Let us call it what it is: state-sponsored genocide.
An estimated 60,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Government’s actions. That figure rises every day.
I condemn the actions of Hamas on 7 October 2023. We all do.
Israel is using famine as a weapon in this war. The facts of the famine in Gaza are simple. Palestinians cannot leave, war has ended farming and Israel has banned fishing, so practically every calorie that the population eats must be brought in from outside.
Israel knows how much food is needed—it has been calibrating hunger in Gaza for decades. The co-ordinator of Government activities in the territories—COGAT—is the Israeli agency that still controls aid shipments to Gaza, and it calculated that Palestinians needed, on average, a minimum of 2,279 calories per person per day, which could be provided through 1.836kg of food. Today, humanitarian organisations are asking for an even smaller minimum ration from 62,000 metric tonnes of dry and canned food to meet basic needs for 2.1 million people each month, which represents around 1kg of food per person per day.
Gaza slid into famine this summer. Israeli officials have vigorously denied the existence of mass starvation and claimed without evidence that food is being stolen or hoarded. They have blamed hunger on UN distribution failures and shared pictures of aid pallets awaiting collection inside the border.
Data that Israel’s Government has compiled and published makes clear that it has been starving Gaza. Between March and June, Israel allowed just 56,000 tonnes of food to enter Gaza. COGAT’s records show that less than a quarter of Gaza’s minimum needs for that period were being provided.
UN-backed food security experts recently said that
“the worst-case scenario of famine”
is now unfolding in Gaza and that food deliveries are
“at a scale far below what is needed”
amid
“drastic restrictions on the entry of supplies”.
In response, Netanyahu has promised only “minimal” extra aid. The number of food trucks entering the territory has risen, but it is still well below the minimum that is needed to feed Palestinians there, much less reverse a famine.
Gaza’s ministry of health says that more than 17,000 of the 60,000 Palestinians killed are children. Israel says that it seeks to minimise harm to civilians. The children of Gaza have the same rights as children anywhere—rights to water, to food, to shelter, to education, to play, to hope, to joy and, most important, to life.
We have seen the bombing of hospitals described as a mistake. We have seen the killing of journalists, which, again, has been described as a mistake. Since October 2023, many hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli strikes and military operations.
According to a May 2025 report from the?World Health Organization, 94 per cent of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.?Attacking hospitals, medical staff and the sick is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva conventions, which Israel has signed. Attacks on hospitals in Gaza have drawn condemnation from the UN, the WHO and other international bodies.
This is state-sponsored genocide. I welcome the commitment to recognising Palestine. The Scottish Government also needs to?support a total boycott of Israeli goods and to support sanctions on the state of Israel and a complete ban on arms sales to Israel. The genocide needs to stop.
16:20
I have said in this chamber before that, when we take away the issues that we create to divide us, such as colour, creed, religion and sexual orientation, people the world over are the same. We want the same basic things—to have a happy childhood, to spend time with friends, to get a good education, to be immersed in our community, to make a decent living, to meet somebody, to have a family and to live in peace without fear—and we all grieve loss.
However, it is those proposing to exert power, ideology and control who create division, hatred and violence. Today we are debating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza—and it is a humanitarian crisis—but in recent times, we could have been talking about atrocities in Rwanda, Mariupol, Srebrenica, Aleppo, Bosnia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. In such conflicts, it is always the civilians who bear the brunt of politicians and religious leaders’ misplaced ideology.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters launched their assault on Israel, indiscriminately killing 1,200 Israelis in the most brutal and sickening ways. I was on a call with other MSPs, some of whom are in the chamber today, when we were unexpectedly shown footage from the body cams taken from the terrorists. I know that I was not the only one who was unprepared for the level of brutality that had been heaped upon the most innocent of people, and I cannot ever unsee it. What about the footage of those terrorists beating and abusing that young German woman—the only woman, incidentally, seen in all that coverage? She died the most horrendous death. The 251 hostages were taken by Hamas as bargaining chips and human shields against every humanitarian law we might wish to mention.
We must never lose sight of that, and under no circumstances can Hamas in any way profit from their actions or fail to be held to account—nor can the Houthis, Hezbollah or the Iranian Government, for that matter. They have all stated categorically that they wish the purging of all Israelis—the very definition of genocide.
We all share the member’s reflections on the events of 7 October—the First Minister has been very clear about that in his statement—but does Brian Whittle believe that they justify genocide by the Israeli Government?
Ivan McKee pre-empted what I was about to say. The world was outraged at that atrocity, and most people supported Israel’s right to defend itself. After all, the safety of a country and its people is the first duty of any government. In acknowledging Israel’s right to attempt to retrieve its citizens and supporting its right to defend itself, the world asked for restraint. We asked for the Israeli Government to protect the innocent. Netanyahu has pursued a war that in no way protects the citizens of Gaza. Hamas may have committed the most brutal of atrocities, but one atrocity does not justify another. Netanyahu must be held to account.
However, as I raised with the First Minister, what I cannot get my head around is why supplies are not getting through to the people who desperately need them. There is no shortage, after all. Both sides might blame each other, but there is no doubt in my mind that Hamas is intercepting supplies where it can and is diverting them. Because of its actions, we can safely surmise that it cares little for the Palestinian people.
Will the member take an intervention?
The member is concluding.
My question is: where is the UN in all this? It cannot be outwith its ability to ensure that supplies get to where they are needed. It has shown itself to be toothless and useless.
Netanyahu is not Israel, and Hamas is not Palestine. Both of the civilian populations have spoken out against their respective leaders. I do not excuse the actions that have been taken, nor do I condone the choices that have been made, but there can be no lasting peace until both sides are willing to face up to the consequences of their actions and accept that neither side has a monopoly on the moral high ground. Neither the Israeli Government nor Hamas can claim to be innocent victims, but their choices have created many among their citizens.
I remind members that back-bench speeches are up to four minutes.
16:25
This is a difficult and emotional speech for me to make in this debate. I am an emotional person, as we all know, and my first thoughts were to go down that route.
I listened to Jackson Carlaw and have considered how he put his point of view across, and although I disagreed with much of what he said, I am glad that it was Jackson Carlaw who was expressing that point of view for the Conservatives. I do not think that it would have been handled as well by any of his other colleagues.
I am aware of how difficult peace in the middle east is. It will not happen overnight. I believe that Scotland’s voice has to be heard, and it is right that Scotland’s Parliament should discuss this issue.
There is also the inhumanity of what Hamas did in October 2023 to take into account. However, there comes a time, regardless of our own views and regardless of our politics, when we say, “Enough is enough.” The genocide in Gaza has to end. Earlier today, I mentioned the targeting of 247 journalists during the conflict. We must understand how wrong that is.
This debate is not just politics for me—the plight of the people of Palestine has been a major issue for me for a very long time. I have been demonstrating on the streets for Palestine for decades; I remember taking my children to demonstrations when they were young. Jessica and James loved the colour of the spectacle. They grew up with chants for justice in their ears, flags in their hands and an understanding that silence in the face of injustice is never an option. Now they have their own children, and yet we are still shouting, marching and demanding the very same things.
More than 63,000 people—women, men and children—are gone, wiped out by bombs and bullets, and now by hunger. Families have been slaughtered while queuing for food. Let me say that again: families have been slaughtered queuing for food. Parents in Gaza have been forced to choose between their children starving to death or being shot trying to find a loaf of bread. That is not defence—that is barbarity.
Paisley for Palestine has kept the struggle alive in our community. Its members have marched, held vigils and stood shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people. One of the most powerful moments was the presentation of “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack” that they had. That film lays it bare: doctors, the very people who are trying to save lives, are being deliberately targeted. That is not random—it is a systematic attack on the professional classes of Palestine. If the doctors, the teachers and the lawyers are killed, that makes statehood harder. Even worse, it crushes hope itself, and that is unforgivable.
That is why recognition of Palestine is so important. It is not a gift to be handed out. That recognition must be unconditional and irreversible, and it must come with consequences for those who have continued this horror. More than 140 countries, including Ireland, Norway, Spain and Slovenia, have recognised Palestine, yet the UK still drags its feet. Keir Starmer talks about recognition and then ties it to conditions dictated by the very state that is starving children in Gaza. That is shameful and weak.
More than 63,000 lives have been lost. Women and children have been starved, bombed and buried while the world looks on. Recognition of Palestine is not charity—it is justice. There should be a ceasefire now. Stop the arms sales and recognise Palestine as a state, unconditionally and irreversibly. Nae mair excuses, nae mair delays—Palestine must be free, and Scotland stands with it.
16:29
I welcome the fact that the motion has been lodged by the Scottish Government, and that the debate is taking place in Government time. I also welcome the earlier statement from the First Minister.
I appreciate that there are those who say that this Parliament should not be debating international issues, but I believe that it is right that we are holding this debate, as it affects all of us and our security, and we cannot stay silent as we watch the carnage and the multiple breaches of international law.
The main argument against the Scottish Government’s position seems to be that now is not the time. Given the slaughter that we have all seen, now is the time—in fact, we should have recognised Palestine many years ago.
The UK Parliament voted in favour of recognition of the Palestinian state in 2014, in a non-binding vote. However, successive UK Governments have failed to recognise Palestine. As the cabinet secretary and Alex Cole-Hamilton have said, the state of Palestine has been recognised by 147 of the 193 member states of the UN, and it has been a non-member observer state since 2012. As Anas Sarwar pointed out earlier, France, Australia, Canada and the UK recently stated their intention to recognise Palestine by September 2025—this month. This debate is therefore timely, and I urge the UK Government to recognise the state of Palestine without condition.
The backdrop, of course, is the extensive media coverage of human suffering, the mutilation and slaughter of children, the levelling of Gaza and destruction of infrastructure, starvation, famine and a blockade. Nobody can say that they are not aware of the human misery. Since the horrific events of 7 October 2023, there have been at least 20 UN votes expressing concerns and condemnation of Israel’s actions and calling for a ceasefire and for self-determination of the Palestinian people—but Israel is not listening. Israel annexed land by force in 1948 and 1967; illegal Israeli settlements have been built on Palestinian land since 1967; and the Israeli state has a formal system of legalised discrimination against Palestinian people.
Over the past two years, there have been some of the highest known death tolls among journalists, health and humanitarian workers and UN staff. Hundreds of Palestinians have been detained and have been subject to arbitrary detention in the West Bank. Children in Gaza have borne the brunt of the war; thousands of children have been killed and many more are living with life-changing injuries. There are verified reports of children dying from starvation and disease.
Any plan for peace must include Palestinian voices. I hope that the political groupings come together—it would be disappointing if the vote today were not unanimous. The Scottish Parliament must support the Palestinians and must support recognition today.
16:33
I whole-heartedly voice my support for the motion while, at the same time, rejecting those voices that would seek to silence Scotland’s right to speak on such important issues. Such voices echo hollow with hypocrisy, on the one hand calling for the vocal condemnation of the atrocities of 7 October 2023—a condemnation that I have repeatedly made and make again today—and, on the other hand, calling for silence on the atrocities that we have witnessed since then. I agree with the sentiment that words alone are no longer enough and I believe that, almost two years on, it is time for action. The UK Government must, without delay, put its words into practice and recognise the state of Palestine.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, I believe—and I hope—that Scotland can play a meaningful role in furthering efforts to achieve a lasting and just peace between Palestinians and Israelis. This Monday, as part of the Scotland forum 2025, which promotes international co-operation and understanding, Scotland welcomed elected representatives from across the Nordic nations. We gave them the time, space and opportunity to discuss and agree on a joint position on the question of Israel and Palestine.
The resulting Nordic initiative on Israel and Palestine, adopted in Edinburgh this week, calls on all Governments to recognise the state of Palestine. I understand that that historic declaration, which is the first joint declaration by the Nordic states, will be published this week and be open for all parliamentarians to support. I will happily share it with colleagues across the Parliament. The declaration also calls for the restoration of the two-state solution to the centre of the international agenda.
Even though the two-state solution is not only central to, but essential to, a just peace for all parties—Palestinians and Israelis—it is much misunderstood in today’s world. Many see it as simply entrenching division through the creation of hard borders between two nations. Nothing could be further from the truth. The proposal envisages an interim period during which negotiations on final status would take place. At that point, there would be no hard borders. Instead, there would be a joint administrative body—something more akin, in my mind, to a confederation of co-operation and shared interests. Let us be clear that the proposal and its specifics have already been comprehensively explored and documented. The idea of a two-state solution is not embryonic but is ready for implementation, down to the smallest of details.
That brings me to what I believe is a central and recurring theme in this debate—that of education. If we are to form opinions and make informed decisions, education is key. Too often, young people—and, indeed, many of us, as well as Israelis and Palestinians—feel helpless, believing the situation to be intractable. That leads to hopelessness when, in fact, hope is justified. I understand that steps in Scotland to provide schools with materials on the wider context of the situation have been stalled. I urge the cabinet secretary and the Scottish Government to take steps to remedy that impasse and to inform and offer hope to our young people.
Action must be taken now. I urge the UK Government to follow through on its promises. I believe that Scotland can play an important role by facilitating dialogue, bringing together diverse voices and providing the space for them to be heard.
16:36
“Never again.” Those are the words that we repeat every year when we attend Holocaust memorial day. We rightly gather and promise to honour the memories of the 6 million Jews and all those who were killed during the evil of the Holocaust. “Never again,” we say.
I am not sure whether, in the annals of human history, we have ever told ourselves a bigger lie. Try telling the parents of the 17,000 children who have been murdered in Gaza, “Never again.” Look into the eyes of the tens of thousands of children who have become orphans and tell them that we really meant it when we said, “Never again.” Tell the families of all the hospital workers, journalists and aid workers who have been massacred with absolute impunity, “Never again.”
So awful is the genocide that we are witnessing that we are having to create a new lexicon just to describe the horrors that we are witnessing. Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a Canadian paediatrician who has worked in Gaza, tells us that doctors had to create a new abbreviation for the children they were treating: WCNSF—wounded child, no surviving family. What has become of us that we can allow ourselves to be so divided by the geopolitics when a massacre of tens of thousands of children is happening in front of our very eyes and the world does virtually nothing about it? Shame on us. Gaza is the cemetery upon which our collective humanity has died.
We should be in no doubt about what we are witnessing. It is a genocide. That is the opinion of the world-leading authority on genocide, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which has declared that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition of genocide. It is not the only organisation to have done so. Amnesty International, MSF, Oxfam, Israeli human rights organisations such as B’Tselem and many more voices of authority tell us that genocide is taking place in Gaza. Predictably, one of the most vocal voices to oppose that suggestion is the very man who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It has been to my astonishment that, over the past 48 hours, some members in the chamber have expressed the view that we should not have this debate in our nation’s Parliament. That was never, by the way, an argument that they made when we debated Ukraine, and I wonder why Palestinian lives matter less. They have said in their arguments in the past couple of days that foreign affairs are reserved to the Government in London. To them, I ask: is your compassion reserved? Is your humanity reserved?
We have an absolute obligation in this place to tell the stories of those who do not have the privilege of the platform that we have. In that vein, let me end by telling the chamber about my wife’s cousin, Sally. She is in Gaza with her husband and four children. As I tell her story, I want members to think of their children, their nieces and nephews and their grandchildren. Sally, her husband and their four children are being starved. When Sally hugs her children, instead of feeling a warm embrace, she feels instead their spine, their ribs, protruding through their skin. They are becoming quite literally emaciated in her arms, and while they cry through the pain of not eating or drinking, she has to try to comfort them while starvation grips her body.
I say to members: imagine that that was your child. Imagine your child suffering the catastrophic effects of a man-made famine while thousands of tonnes of food were simply across the border, and you could do nothing about it.
The author Omar El Akkad wrote:
“One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”.
I urge members across the chamber not to wait until that day but to examine their consciences and ensure that, when our children ask us what we did when a genocide was occurring, we can at the very least say that we were on the right side of history.
16:41
I thank the Government for bringing this debate to the chamber. In a previous debate, in June, I said that we need more serious discussion of our country’s role in these conflicts and how we can alter our actions to limit the likelihood of war. However, let us be honest: this has gone far beyond war. It is outright aggression on an entire population of people, who have been bombarded with bombs in what is—let us be frank—a planned and targeted operation. Netanyahu’s regime seeks to cleanse Gaza of its people, and there must be consequences. We cannot stand by. This Parliament needs to challenge that, and I am glad that the Government has brought this debate to the chamber in Government time.
I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion and the amendments. It is our duty to speak out and expose what is happening in the hope that, ultimately, it makes some difference to those who are suffering an unimaginable life.
I receive constituent correspondence about this issue every single day, in every form that you can imagine. Scots are disgusted by what they are seeing, and they see only a fraction of what has gone on. We can be sure of that, as journalists have been stopped from entering the besieged strip, and those who are already there have faced starvation, severe malnutrition, deliberate targeting and, ultimately, death. That is a sombre thought about brave people who merely seek to tell the truth to the rest of the world. I believe that it is my duty to be clear about those crimes and to push all Governments to take action so that those who elected me know that their voice is being heard in the Scottish Parliament.
Our constituents expect Governments to take peaceful action that creates consequences for the regime. Failure to act makes us complicit, and it is to my eternal shame that many people in positions of power have been slow to act and have taken a route of simply saying as little as possible. I am well aware of just how impotent we are, as MSPs, to stop this genocide. However, that should not mean that we fail to use every ounce of influence that we have to make it clear that these atrocities are not in our name.
I support the actions of the UK Government, as laid out in the Scottish Labour amendment. I want the UK Government to be robust in its approach, and I will continue to lobby it, as many in my party and others do, to urge it to do more.
A Palestinian state must be recognised without condition. In Scotland, we need to be assured that no public money is reaching arms parts that may reach Gaza, and the Scottish Government must continue to track that money. I welcome today’s statement from the First Minister.
We must use every opportunity to strive for peace, which can be hoped to be achieved only once Palestine has the same recognition that all sovereign states should have. Palestinians have the right to statehood and a life free from fear. However, at the moment, many simply need food and clean water. What does that say about humanity?
There is no war left to fight. Gaza has been destroyed, and the West Bank has once again been turned into an open-air prison. We have all seen the images of babies and mothers who are emaciated and on the brink of death. How much longer must that go on? History has its eyes on us. The conflict must end, and we must all play our part in ensuring that that happens now.
16:46
War is seldom the best way of solving problems, and, undoubtedly, there have been far too many deaths in all three of the current major conflicts—in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza. However, to say that any of those three amounts to “genocide” is a step too far and does not help to resolve the present situation. Apart from anything else, genocide requires intent, and I do not see evidence of intent on Israel’s part to destroy the population of Gaza.
Where we see intent to commit genocide is when people use phrases such as “from the river to the sea”, which implies genocide with the removal of all Jews from Israel.
We need a longer-term plan and we need peacemakers.
Will the member take an intervention?
No—I am sorry. I have only four minutes.
If we could get all parties to agree on a longer-term plan, even if only in broad outline—be that a two-state solution or something else—it might be easier to achieve short-term improvements such as the release of the hostages and a ceasefire. Essential to that is that all parties must accept each other’s right to exist. That includes Iran and Hamas, or any replacement for Hamas that Iran might put in place, recognising Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
The UN is often known for peacekeeping—with, I fear, mixed success historically. However, what we need now are peacemakers rather than peacekeepers. We desperately need international statesmen, such as former President Jimmy Carter, who would be respected by all parties and who might seek common ground and a space for compromise. That is the role that I would like the UK or Scotland to play. We have plenty of people cheering on either side, and we do not really need any more of that. Norway has shown in the past what even a small country could do by way of moving negotiations along.
The present Israeli Government faces considerable opposition within Israel, not least from those who want the release of the hostages—there is no real progress in that regard. I do not believe that Israel can actually defeat Hamas. Even if it did so, a new group, backed by Iran, under a new name, would likely arise. I know that the situation in Northern Ireland was different, but it showed us that, however much we detest the other side, eventually we need to hold talks and negotiate.
Sadly, I fear that Israel is steadily losing friends, the longer that the one-sided war goes on, while opposition to Israel is strengthening in Gaza, Palestine and beyond. At the cross-party group on building bridges with Israel, and elsewhere, I have asked representatives of the Israeli embassy what the Israeli Government’s aim is in the conflict, but I have never had a clear answer.
We all need to ensure that we judge Israel by the same standards that we apply to other countries around the world, where there is horrendous abuse of minorities and others by a variety of states—such as Afghanistan with women; China with Tibetans, Uyghurs, Christians and Falun Gong; Myanmar with Muslims; and North Korea with any religious group. However, it seems that some people hold Israel to a different standard, potentially because it is the only Jewish state. We have to be very careful about doing that, as both Europe and the Arab world have a long history of treating Jews as second-class citizens. We need to be careful not to repeat those historical injustices.
The Scottish Government seeks immediate recognition of Palestine as a state. I fear that that has no real meaning in practice and would not really move us forward. However, I still think that a two-state solution is probably the best solution that we can aim for. Therefore, let us see increased medical and other aid getting into Gaza but, primarily, let us see both the UK and Scotland doing more to encourage, promote and help to make peace.
We move to closing speeches.
16:50
This debate has not simply been a question of foreign policy; its purpose is to confront a question of humanity. In Gaza, tens of thousands of children, women and men have been murdered, whole families have been erased and hospitals, schools and places of worship have been reduced to rubble. A people have been systematically starved, displaced, blockaded, bombarded and subjected to collective punishment.
That is not an accident of war or a tragic misfortune—it is the deliberate machinery of genocide, and Scotland, whether we wish it or not, is entangled in that machinery. At least £8 million of public money has gone from Scottish Enterprise into the hands of arms manufacturers such as Leonardo, Raytheon and others: merchants of death who have supplied weapons and equipment that is used in Israel’s assault on Gaza. Not a single one of them has failed the so-called human rights due diligence test—that is a damning indictment of a system that pretends to neutrality while enabling atrocity.
Let us be clear: we cannot wash our hands of this. Every £1 of public money that supports those firms is £1 of complicity in the death of a child in Gaza. Every political equivocation, and every refusal to name apartheid and genocide for what they are, is complicity. I therefore welcome the First Minister’s statement earlier today, but we must go further. The Parliament must find the courage that too many Governments across the global north have lacked. We must not avert our eyes. We must not let the words catch in our throats—apartheid, genocide. Those are not rhetorical flourishes; they are legal and moral realities.
We must also recognise the decades of injustice that the Palestinians have faced. The recent famine that Paul McLennan highlighted is only the latest atrocity inflicted on a people by the Israeli state. The Palestinians have suffered illegal settlements, the silencing of their politicians and journalists and the constraint of their rights for four decades, as we have heard this afternoon.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who knew apartheid in its most despicable forms, told us plainly that those who continue to do business with Israel
“are contributing to the perpetuation of a profoundly unjust status quo.”
Jimmy Carter told us, nearly 20 years ago, that apartheid exists in Palestine in its most despicable form. They were not afraid to speak the truth and nor should we be.
George Adam said earlier today that
“silence in the face of injustice is never an option.”
That is absolutely true, but that truth, and the truth that Tutu and Carter spoke, demands action—not only recognition of the state of Palestine, though that is a necessary and urgent step, but real solidarity. That means not normalising a genocidal state. It means boycott, divestment and sanctions—the very tools that helped to topple apartheid South Africa and that can, once again, be the instruments of justice. Recognition without action is hollow, and words without consequences are just another betrayal.
I ask colleagues to think of one family—or what used to be a family—in Gaza. A mother is walking back through the ruins after a temporary ceasefire. She does not search for her home—it is gone, as is her husband. She searches instead only for the bodies of her children. That is the scale of this horror—that is what our silence, our complicity, sustains.
That is why people gather in Aberdeen and Dundee, and in villages, towns and cities around the world. They gather in protest—not out of hate, but out of love: love for justice, love for peace and love for life itself. We are here for accountability, for integrity, for justice and for peace. We are here for Palestine. I call on this Parliament not only to recognise the state of Palestine, but to stand where history demands that we stand—against apartheid, against genocide and with the global movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions—because, if we fail to act, all our words and all our debates will be nothing more than whispers over graves.
16:55
Amir walked 12km to a food distribution point, barefoot, to get food for his family. He kissed the hand of an American soldier, thanking him for a bag of lentils. The Israel Defense Forces killed him right in front of the soldier—executed him in broad daylight. He was five years old.
The dignity of the Palestinians is unmatched in the world. In the middle of acute famine, they remain dignified and hopeful. A former US special forces officer resigned from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation because he had not in his entire career witnessed such brutality and use of indiscriminate force against an unarmed population, including the use of quadcopters and artificial intelligence-assisted killing.
Six-year-old children in Gaza are planning their own funerals. They know that they face death, and many are scared that they will not die with their parents. Israel and its Government have crossed a clear line into the darkest crimes. Death by deliberate starvation is a war crime—there is hardly a serious journalist who does not now accept that it is deliberate. Bombing hospitals and targeting doctors and medical staff has become commonplace. Dr Hussam Abu Safiyah is being held in an Israeli jail, and his lawyer said that he has been tortured and they do not know why.
Two hundred journalists have been killed trying to hold Israel to account. Israel has gone to extreme lengths to prevent the world from witnessing its genocide and it is committing multiple war crimes. The famine is the ugliest aspect, because it leaves permanent damage to the health of the population, and we have perhaps reached the point of no return. Back-to-back strikes on Nasser hospital caused outrage because journalists were murdered when they found a spot on the rooftop of the hospital that had a good internet connection. Evidence shows that missiles were directed at that spot. A double-tap hit, as it is known by those in the military, means that you fool the victim into thinking that they survived the hit only to carry out a bigger hit thereafter.
Israel is not held to a higher standard. Israel is held to the standards of international law, and all of those things are breaches of international law. It is not a war. It is clear that it is a deliberate plan to obliterate the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip or force them to flee. The Israeli Cabinet does not equate Palestinian lives to Jewish lives and it openly states its genocidal intentions. If you have been reading closely, you will know that even the chief of the IDF is saying to Netanyahu, “We cannot do this.” There are voices in the army trying to argue with Netanyahu, and there are many Israeli voices on their streets saying “This does not represent the Israel that we fought for.” That is the most important thing about the question of Israel’s future.
Humza Yousaf is quite right to talk about the impunity that Israel has been allowed since the occupation started in 1967. No one has been willing to hold Israel to account for its occupation. It has been acting in contravention of international law by occupying the West Bank and putting the Gaza Strip under siege for 18 years. If you have been paying attention to what is happening in the West Bank, you will know that Israel’s Administration has made it a lawless state. I mentioned earlier to the minister that Awdah Hathaleen was known by many people who go to Hebron because he was the person who shows people around and shows what Hebron is really like under occupation. He was shot dead in his own land, and there will be no accountability for that.
Like Katy Clark, Neil Bibby, Carol Mochan and others, I believe that we owe the Palestinian people nothing less than the immediate recognition of their sovereign state, without any conditions whatsoever. We must give the Palestinians the dignity that they deserve by having their country be a full member of the United Nations, and I dearly hope that there can be unanimity on that tonight. The Scottish Parliament speaking with one voice on recognition is a very powerful thing. Like many other speakers, I passionately believe that peace can come about for Israel and Palestinians only when we settle that question. The whole region depends on settling that question, and I hope that we can ensure that the occupation comes to an end.
There must be consequences for the state of Israel. It has already faced some, such as the suspension of trade negotiations and the banning of goods that have been imported from illegal settlements, which has been a policy for quite a long time. I broadly support the Scottish Government’s statement—it was really good. Nothing can be off the table to prevent the genocide and bring about compliance with international law.
In a good speech, Patrick Harvie said that
“the world must work together”,
and I do not think that there has ever been a truer statement. If we are to make up for the ways that the Palestinian people have been failed, which the world has made happen, we must ensure that whatever action we take is targeted so that we can do something about the genocide and bring an end to the occupation. I believe that the UK Government should go further on that.
The brave people in Israel who are marching and challenging their own Government also need to be recognised in the debate.
Please let the Parliament speak with one voice tonight. Let the Parliament show that Scotland—all of its parties—believes in justice for the Palestinians. Peace can only come about if we add our voice to those of the other 147 countries, because isolating some of the big powers will be a very powerful thing.
I call Jackson Carlaw to close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives.
17:02
I will begin by speaking about the powerful speech from Humza Yousaf. In all the years that we have served together in this Parliament, we have always engaged together with mutual respect and—I hope—in a way that is constructive, irrespective of whether we agree or disagree.
Humza Yousaf was right when he said, “Never again.” In Holocaust memorial day speeches that I have made in the chamber, I have said that it is a conceit to say, “Never again.” Genocides have happened in Cambodia, Rwanda, Srebrenica and Bosnia; they have been a permanent way of the world since the Holocaust. There has been a failure by the international community to recognise that and put in place the structures that would effectively intervene and deal with these matters much earlier.
I also say to Humza Yousaf that, in expressing my view in my speech, I did not deny that there should be an opportunity for the chamber to participate in the debate. I recognise the strong feelings that have been expressed. Although, clearly, there have been speeches with which I cannot agree this afternoon, the debate has not been held in the terms that I feared it could have been, and I thank members for that.
Alex Cole-Hamilton talked about the historical perspective. In 2018, we celebrated—or commemorated, rather—the centenary of the Balfour declaration and the failure of the whole international community to act. It has taken more than 100 years to grapple with and resolve the issue of the middle east and Palestine. It was implicit in the Balfour declaration that there would be not only a state of Israel but a state of Palestine, too. That has been a failure, and it has not been arrived at without effort; lots of people have made efforts, but there has sometimes been an intransigence.
The nearest that we got was under President Bill Clinton, when he produced the Oslo accords. Yasser Arafat was on the verge of potentially agreeing what would have been a settlement on which a future peace could have been built, but, unfortunately, he was unable to sustain the agreements that he had potentially arrived at when he arrived back in the middle east. Those efforts fell apart and, really, for 30 years we have made no progress whatsoever.
Does the member recognise that the polarisation that was driven by the current Prime Minister of Israel was a key element in the collapse of the Oslo accords?
I have just recognised that there was an intransigence on all sides that stopped them from finally implementing an agreement that would have taken matters forward. It was not an intransigence from one side; ultimately, the accords collapsed because the negotiations between the lead parties could not be supported by the communities that they represented.
Mr Cole-Hamilton also said that there should not be a reward. One of the chilling things that I heard over the summer was a representative of the Palestinian people saying that
“one of the fruits of October 7”
was the decision of Governments to unconditionally recognise the state of Palestine. That is chilling, because it implies that the actions of 7 October were justified and have brought about a successful outcome. I think that we should all be concerned by that, irrespective of the view that we might come to in the debate.
Patrick Harvie rose—
Will the member take an intervention?
I need to make some progress.
I thank Neil Bibby for drawing the distinction that I asked for by not equating or conflating the current Administration in Israel with the entire people of Israel or, indeed, the entire Jewish community. I have the letter that I know the First Minister has received in response to the meeting that he and Mr Robertson had on Monday. In it, there is an underlying concern that I think it will be important for us to address, which is that, by accepting the situation, we have not suddenly found fault with the Jewish community and there is not a need for additional security for the community. It is important to understand why. When I attend Yom HaShoah commemorations each year in my constituency, the names of those who were massacred in the Holocaust, belonging to almost every family in the community in Eastwood, are on the screen. Those families live in fear of that reality as they see the prosecution of events in the middle east. Our duty is to ensure that that community—and all our communities in Scotland—remain safe and free and are treated fairly and with respect.
I take the opportunity to reinforce the point that I made to the representatives of the Jewish community on Monday, which is that they are valued members of our society and are a valued community. Their safety and security is as important to me as the safety and security of any other citizen in Scotland. We will work with them to support their security and safety.
The First Minister knows how much I appreciate his comments.
I take issue with one thing that Pauline McNeill has said, although I possibly understand her motivation. She said that Israel is no longer a democracy. A key right in a democracy is the right to protest. There have been widespread protests in Israel involving hundreds of thousands of people who are challenging the actions of the current Government. I doubt that anyone who is protesting in Gaza against Hamas is treated with the same leniency or tolerance, should they choose to protest.
Will the member take an intervention?
I will, in a second.
Among those protesting are the hostages’ families. They have the obvious concern that the prosecution of events in Gaza by the Netanyahu Administration is not designed to return their loved ones alive. It is clear that that is no longer a priority of Netanyahu, which is shameful. It began as a conquest to get back the hostages who were taken, which should be the fundamental aim of any Israeli Government action.
The point that I was making was that, if a Palestinian is shot and there is no accountability, surely the member would accept that that is not compliant with what a normal country would do in holding criminality to account. That is my concern. Does he understand where I was coming from?
I appreciate that point, but I expect that the Netanyahu Government will have to face not just the judgment of the international community but that of the people in Israel, too, many of whom are deeply concerned by the actions of that Government but, nonetheless, believe in their implicit right to exist as a state.
Presiding Officer, I realise that I am out of time. I have listened carefully to the debate and to the speeches that have been made. Unfortunately, I believe that, in supporting a motion without timing, our side would be seen to be supporting the immediate recognition of Palestine, when we believe that that should be in the context of a wider settlement. We will not vote against the motion, but we will abstain.
17:09
This has been a powerful and sobering debate. The contributions from across the chamber reflect the depth of concern that is felt in Scotland about the unfolding catastrophe in Gaza, and they reflect our shared conviction that words must be matched by action.
In January 2024, the ICJ found a prima facie case that the Israeli Government was committing genocide, and it issued provisional measures. As the First Minister and cabinet secretary stated, we have taken account of international law and the UK’s international treaty obligations, which we are required to do, not least by the ministerial code. Ultimately, it is for international courts to decide whether genocide has occurred, but—this is very important—Governments cannot wait until it is too late. History has taught us that hard lesson. We need to use every lever that is available to us: economic, humanitarian and political.
Scotland is not waiting for others to lead. Alongside calling for the UK Government to act, we are taking steps to ensure that our actions match our values. We will pause new awards of public money to arms companies whose products or services are provided to countries where there is plausible evidence that a genocide is being committed by that country—that will include Israel. Defence companies that seek support from the Scottish Government will have to demonstrate that their products are not involved militarily with Israel.
We are instructing relevant delivery bodies not to provide support to the facilitating of trade between Scotland and Israel, where possible, and we are calling on the UK Government to go further. The suspension of new trade negotiations with Israel was a start, but it is time to withdraw from the existing UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement altogether, given the human rights situation in Gaza. We call for an end to all arms exports, which are being used against Palestinians in serious violation of international humanitarian law, to Israel. We are also urging the UK to follow Ireland’s lead and prohibit the import of goods that are produced in illegal Israeli settlements. Those steps symbolise our commitment on the matter. However, they are not only symbolic gestures; they are targeted, practical measures that are designed to prevent Scotland’s public resources from being complicit in the suffering of civilians.
Regarding our humanitarian response, Scotland has a proud record of global solidarity. In Gaza, that solidarity is being put into action. To date, we have committed £1.3 million in humanitarian aid, which has supported UNRWA, the Disasters Emergency Committee, SCIAF and Mercy Corps. Today, we go further, as we commit another £1 million in support: £400,000 to establish the Gaza HOPES field readiness hub in Dundee, which will unlock $15 million for a deployable field hospital; and £600,000 to the UNOCHA-led humanitarian fund for the occupied Palestinian territories. We are also preparing to welcome up to 20 injured children from Gaza for treatment in Scottish hospitals. The children have endured unimaginable trauma, and Scotland will offer them care, dignity and hope. That is what it means to be a good global citizen—not just to speak but to act.
Turning to our pressure on the UK Government, Scotland is using its voice to demand accountability. We are calling on the UK Government to unconditionally and irreversibly recognise the state of Palestine as a first step towards a two-state solution. Recognition is not a gift; it is a right, and it is long overdue. The Conservative amendment says that recognition should happen “at the appropriate time”, but this Scottish Government believes that now is an appropriate time—indeed, we are far beyond the appropriate time. For that reason, we are not supporting the Conservative amendment.
We urge the UK to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice and to commit to implementing any arrest warrants that are issued by the International Criminal Court. We also call for sanctions on Israeli ministers who are complicit in illegal settlements and military actions that target civilians. Scotland will not be complicit, and we will not be silent.
This debate is a test of our values. A defining tragedy of this century is occurring before our eyes. We are witnessing a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions. Over 63,000 Gazans have been killed. Famine has been declared. Hospitals have been bombed. Journalists have been targeted. Children are dying from malnutrition and contaminated water.
I will reflect on some of the comments made by colleagues during the debate. As always, the contributions from Pauline McNeill and Humza Yousaf were significant, and they talked about the real impact that the tragedy is having on individuals in Gaza and, as Pauline McNeill identified, in the West Bank. To anyone who says that, if Hamas were not there, this would not be happening, I say that we just need to look at what is happening in the West Bank, where Hamas is not present.
I note the near unanimity of support for the actions that have been proposed by the Scottish Government. I do not think that a single member has spoken against those measures. That is hugely welcome, and it talks of the considerable work that has been undertaken to get us to this place, with a well-crafted package of measures. It is testament to the leadership of the First Minister, who has been hugely involved in that work over the past days and weeks.
I listened with incredulity to Brian Whittle’s contribution. That aid is not being provided is exclusively the fault of the Israeli Government and the Israeli military. That is not just a matter of fact on the ground; it is also the case that, under international law, it is the responsibility of the occupying power to ensure the supply of essentials to the civilian population. We should be in no doubt about that. That is particularly profound, given that we have seen the deliberate targeting and execution of aid workers on the ground by the Israeli military.
I also want to comment on Jackson Carlaw’s contribution. To be honest, I found his summing up to be helpful, but I will comment on some of what he said in his opening speech. Humza Yousaf made the point that one of the defining characteristics of genocide is that there is never a shortage of those who deny that it is happening or who look the other way at the time. To be honest, I found Jackson Carlaw’s opening speech to consist of deflection, denial and obfuscation, and it was a masterclass in whataboutery.
There is no justification for genocide. The responsibility lies with the Israeli Government in law and in practice. History will judge us, as it does in all genocides, on how we respond today to those events. “Never again” means never again for anyone, and that needs to be recognised.
I was not going to comment on John Mason’s contribution, but I will make two points of fact. The phrase “from the river to the sea” originally appeared in the 1977 manifesto of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. That is where that comes from. Jimmy Carter, whom John Mason talked glowingly about, was very clear that what was happening in Israel, even back then, was apartheid.
We were all horrified by the attacks on Israel by Hamas in October 2023. They caused the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. We must not underestimate the trauma that that caused to the people of Israel and to Jews globally. Hamas must release all hostages immediately and fully engage in peace. However, the actions of the Israeli military at the behest of the Netanyahu Government in Gaza have gone far beyond a legitimate response.
We will not be a bystander in this crisis. To those in this crisis who are suffering, I say that we stand with you. We stand for a future where Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side in peace and security. Scotland’s actions are not just about policy; they are about principle. We are guided by our values, compassion, justice and the belief in the equal worth of every human life.
In the face of mass suffering, neutrality is not an option. We must act, and we are acting, because—I say it again—history will remember those who chose to speak and those who remained silent. Let it be said today that Scotland spoke.
Thank you. That concludes the debate on Palestine.
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