Chamber and committees

I thank the minister for his encouraging words in support of the work of Belmont Community Cinema Ltd, and I add Labour’s support for that endeavour.

I ask the cabinet secretary to outline exactly how much funding will be allocated to the reopening of the Belmont cinema. I hear him talking about additional funding going to the culture budget, with £2 million being set aside for Screen Scotland, but is he able to give a figure for what the Government will provide to support the Belmont cinema?

Five young activists are currently serving sentences in Scottish prisons for taking part in a non-violent Palestine solidarity protest at the Thales weapons factory in Glasgow. It is rare for activists to be imprisoned in Scotland, and a different policing approach seems to have been taken to protests at the Leonardo weapons factory in Edinburgh.

What discussions has the Scottish Government had with the chief constable of Police Scotland regarding the policing of protests at weapons factories, and on any apparent discrepancies in the approach to them? Does the minister recognise the right to protest and its importance in a democratic society?

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers has highlighted that more than 200,000 jobs have already been lost across the offshore oil and gas industry in the past decade. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will agree that we need offshore workers in the north-east for our green energy transition—we need their experience, knowledge and skills. Does she agree that we cannot expect those workers to pay the cost of the transition? If so, can she tell those workers how the new hub will remove the cost to them of retraining and skills passporting to the green transition?

The minister will be aware that NatureScot estimates that an increase of 50,000 in the national cull of deer each year will be needed to meet the targets in the Scottish biodiversity strategy. What discussions has she or the Government had with supermarkets about bringing that abundant resource from our natural larder to the Scottish public?

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to develop a wealth tax. (S6O-02873)

In September, the First Minister said that he would consider a wealth tax, but his Government has already had 16 years in power and wealth remains concentrated in the hands of a few. Can the minister confirm what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the Scottish Trades Union Congress about its wealth tax proposals and when the First Minister’s consideration will turn into real action on a wealth tax? [Interruption.]

I thank Kaukab Stewart for securing the debate to enable us, as a Parliament, to mark the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is 75 years since the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet to this day, human rights abuses are being committed around the world. In Palestine, Israeli authorities carry out inhumane acts against Palestinians, seemingly with impunity. According to Human Rights Watch, those acts include sweeping movement restrictions such as the siege of Gaza, the erection of a separation barrier on Palestinian land and hundreds of checkpoints across the West Bank, as well as land confiscation, forcible transfer, denial of residency rights and suspension of civil rights.

However, that is not news. The reality is that Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza have been denied basic rights for decades. Now, as the eyes of the world are once more on what was Mandatory Palestine under British administration, we must take every opportunity to hold the UK Government to account for its role in the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine from then to this day. That means supporting an immediate ceasefire, stopping the arms trade with Israel and ending the illegal occupation, the siege and the settlements.

Since Israel began its latest offensive on Gaza, 18,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 7,000 of them children. That has led to the UN secretary general describing Gaza as

“becoming a graveyard for children.”

Each life is mourned by that person’s family, each life is a loss to the world and each life is entitled to the human rights that we should be celebrating today.

However, too many lives are being swept into statistics. The organisation We Are Not Numbers was set up to pair aspiring Palestinian writers with mentors around the world. It was co-founded by Professor Alareer, a Palestinian academic and poet who was killed last week in an Israeli air strike on Gaza. I would like to take some time to share one of his poems with the chamber. This is “If I Must Die”, by Refaat Alareer:

“If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale”.

Palestinians are not numbers—no human being is a number. Palestinians are not nameless or faceless—none of us is. Their humanity is our humanity and Israel’s assault on their human rights is an assault on all of our rights.

So, when we see a people massacred, we must name it genocide; when we see a people displaced and forced from their land, we must name it ethnic cleansing; and when we see a people dominated and oppressed, we must name it apartheid. That is because if we allow a people to be stripped of their rights, to be described as “unhuman” and to be treated inhumanely, we concede our own humanity, and it is because human rights can be described as such only if they apply to all of us—every single one of us—equally.

The Kingsway in Dundee goes through several of the most deprived communities in the city, and it is used by thousands of vehicles each day. That exposes residents to high levels of air pollution. Transport Scotland’s assessment of a potential bypass suggested that the project would have a positive impact on air quality by taking away 50 per cent of the traffic on the Kingsway. Does the minister recognise the health and environmental benefits that that project could bring to Dundee?

Constituents who work in modern languages at the University of Aberdeen have contacted me about the university management’s plans to withdraw honours degrees in languages, cultures and societies. Given the Scottish Government’s commitment to improving language learning in schools and the existing shortage of language teachers in the North East Scotland region, does the First Minister agree that Scotland cannot afford Aberdeen losing those languages degrees?

Does the Scottish Government know how many of Scotland’s 1,125 rural estates are accredited living wage employers? Will the cabinet secretary join me in calling on any estates that are not yet accredited to register today?