That is an important follow-up question. I wish to give Evelyn Tweed confidence that the Government, together with the sector, is considering all those challenges. We want people of all backgrounds—especially the majority of people in Scotland, who are women—to have a fair crack of the whip in filling leadership positions in the culture and arts sector. I can point to a great many women who run some of our most important cultural institutions, and I wish there to be many more.

I have been asked a follow-up question about the approach of the Scottish Government to tackling occupational segregation and I am—

I answered that in reply to Evelyn Tweed’s question. I would be happy to write to the member about the issue that she raises, but I echo the points that I made to her front-bench spokesman on the issue. It is—[Interruption.]

It is not the place of a Scottish Government cabinet secretary to micromanage the culture sector, which is why we have arm’s-length relations with our funding and cultural organisations. The member’s point is on the record, as is my commitment to freedom of speech.

I meet the chair and chief executive of Creative Scotland quarterly. We have discussed in depth the successful delivery of the multiyear funding programme, including how Creative Scotland is supporting organisations such as Cumbernauld theatre. I also met the chair of Cumbernauld theatre on 26 March, when we discussed the steps that it is taking following its unsuccessful application for multiyear funding. The chair of Cumbernauld theatre wrote to me on 10 September, highlighting its current challenges, and I have now replied, offering to meet to discuss the situation.

Freedom of expression is vital to the culture sector, in which the exploration of new ideas and debate are key to innovation. It is for individual artists and cultural organisations to engage with others in debate and discussion as they see fit. Therefore, Creative Scotland does not include conditions relating to freedom of expression in its funding terms and conditions. Clearly, though, all organisations, whether they are publicly funded or not, must operate within the wider framework of the law.

The record has been put very straight on the issue that Mr Ewing asked of me, but I am sure that he would acknowledge that there are long-standing examples of freedom of expression in our national and cultural life, as well as issues of controversy—this is not new. I am a strong supporter of freedom of expression but also of recognising the arm’s-length relationship between Creative Scotland and ministers, which is for very good reasons.

Mr Ewing will be aware that a review of Creative Scotland is on-going. I will look closely at any recommendations that it makes in relation to Mr Ewing’s question. Indeed, he will no doubt have made a submission to that review, and I will be happy if he wishes to forward it to me.

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?

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.

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.