Latest news with #FriendsofPalestine
The National
5 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Donald Trump is sure to receive a beelin' welcome from Scots
FIRST Minister John Swinney is facing calls from within the SNP to confront US President Donald Trump when the work-dodging president takes yet another golfing break, this time to visit the golf courses in Scotland which he acquired with funding from sources of which have never been properly explained. Since returning to the presidency in January this year, Trump has gone golfing for 43 days out of the 186 days since his second inauguration – 23.1% of his entire presidency. This is the man who repeatedly attacked his predecessor Barack Obama for going golfing and promised prior to his election in 2016 that he would give up golf for the duration of his presidency. An analysis by American broadcaster CNN in May 2020 found that up to that date, Trump had spent 266 days playing golf compared to the 98 days Obama had spent golfing at the same point in his presidency. Buoyed up by the political impregnability granted to him by the MAGA cultists of the US Republican party, Trump looks set to spend well over 300 days of his second term golfing. It looks like Trump lied. I know, I'm as shocked as you are. READ MORE: If I was John Swinney, here's what I would say to Donald Trump Trump arrives in Scotland tomorrow for a scheduled four-day visit. The main purpose of the trip is for Trump to go golfing and to open a new course on his estate at Menie in Aberdeenshire, the one with the lovely view of majestic offshore wind turbines. Trump will, however, squeeze in a couple of meetings with Keir Starmer, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray, and of course First Minister John Swinney. Nadia El-Nakla, SNP councillor and the wife of the former First Minister Humza Yousaf, is also the convener of the SNP's Friends of Palestine group. She herself is of Palestinian descent and this week, together with her husband issued a video statement describing how her family is facing starvation in Gaza. She has called on the First Minister to "demand" during his meeting with the US President that Trump should 'compel' Israel to end the suffering of Palestinians. Together with her husband, she said that they and the SNP Friends of Palestine Group agree that whilst the First Minister meets with Trump, he must use the meeting to put pressure on Trump to end the suffering in Gaza. She said: 'Of course, the first minister should meet with President Trump. This is a critical opportunity to raise, directly and unequivocally, the ongoing genocide in Gaza. 'Time is not on the side of the people there. As I speak, my family — like millions of others — is starving. The First Minister must demand that Trump use his influence to compel Israel to end the starvation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.' The crisis in Gaza has now become a man-made famine. Food, water, and medical supplies are piled up just a couple of kilometres from where they are needed. Palestinians in Gaza are starving to death while Israel continues to block their entry into the besieged territory, and Israeli spokespeople deny that mass starvation is taking place. This week, more than 100 aid organisations have warned of 'mass starvation' in Gaza. More than two million people are facing critical shortages of food, water and medical supplies after 21 months of brutal bombardment, forced displacements and blockade by Israel. Just this week, health authorities in Gaza recorded 43 deaths from starvation, on top of the 68 deaths attributed to starvation which were recorded over the preceding three weeks. READ MORE: Timings of Donald Trump visit to Scotland revealed as flight restrictions in place Trump is unlikely to be swayed by entreaties from the Scottish First Minister. He has repeatedly demonstrated that he doesn't care about human suffering. All Trump cares about is himself. Trump is deeply unpopular in Scotland – he is more unpopular here than he is in the rest of the UK, where he's not exactly loved either. A poll by IPSOS in February found that 71% of Scots had an unfavourable opinion of Trump, compared to 57% in the UK as a whole. His visit is likely to be met by large protests. The Stop Trump Coalition has organised events in Aberdeen in the city centre as well as outside the US consulate in Edinburgh on Saturday at midday. Protests are also expected in Glasgow, as well as close to Trump's golf courses at Turnberry in South Ayrshire and Menie in [[Aberdeen]]shire. Trump's previous visits to Scotland attracted thousands of protestors. Police Scotland have geared up for a major operation over the four days that Trump plans to spend on his golfing holiday. Ian Murray's BBC interview Speaking on BBC Scotland's Good Morning programme on Thursday, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray was asked whether he'd be meeting Trump. He replied: "Well, it's expected, but not fully confirmed as yet. The details are obviously being worked out. "My predecessor, the Secretary of State David Mundell, met with the president when he last landed in Scotland. "It's a duty for us to make sure that we are welcoming foreign dignitaries to Scotland in the right way, particularly one that's our closest and nearest ally, both economically and defence and security, and there's lots to talk about, of course.' The BBC journalist interviewing him seemed to be very eager to get Murray to say that Trump would receive a "warm welcome". Murray was repeatedly interrupted and asked whether Scotland should be welcoming Trump "with open arms'. He was asked for a third time: "I just wanted to ask again, is it a warm welcome? Is it a welcome with open arms?" For reasons best known to itself, [[BBC Scotland]], the state broadcaster in a country where a large majority of people disapprove of Donald Trump, seems extremely keen to ensure Trump will get a warm welcome. I'm sure the welcome he gets from ordinary Scots will be more than warm – it will be beelin'.
The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
SNP group calls on John Swinney to confront Donald Trump about Gaza
It comes ahead of the US president's visit to Scotland this week, where he is set to visit his golf courses as well as meet with the First Minister and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Nadia El-Nakla, SNP councillor and the wife of the former first minister Humza Yousaf, is also the convener of the party's Friends of Palestine group ([[SNP]] FOP). READ MORE: Keir Starmer panned for 'fuelling far-right' with new asylum seeker crackdown Now, she has told The Times that Swinney should 'demand' that Trump 'compel' Israel to end the suffering of Palestinians. El-Nakla (below with Yousaf) said that, while SNP FOP agrees with Swinney meeting with Trump, it must be used to put pressure on the US president. (Image: @HumzaYousaf, via Twitter/X) 'Of course, the first minister should meet with President Trump. This is a critical opportunity to raise, directly and unequivocally, the ongoing genocide in Gaza.,' she said. 'Time is not on the side of the people there. As I speak, my family — like millions of others — is starving. The first minister must demand that Trump use his influence to compel Israel to end the starvation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.'
Al Jazeera
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
In Keir Starmer's constituency, tensions flare over pro-Palestine activism
London, United Kingdom – Outraged by the onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza, a group of volunteers in the fashionable London borough of Camden urged the local council last year to stop investing in companies with ties to Israel. The petition, led by the Camden Friends of Palestine group and signed by more than 4,200 residents, was an act of grassroots activism in one of the most symbolic constituencies in the country. During last year's general election, Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, held onto his seat of Holborn and St Pancras, a Labour Party stronghold which includes most of Camden. Ultimately, the petition to divest the council's pension funds failed to achieve its goal. After a debate, the council referred the issue of 'responsible investment' to a so-called Pension Committee, according to minutes of the meeting. Weeks ago, tensions flared further, as the council moved to ban banners, placards, signs, and flags in council meetings – a measure understood to be aimed at taming the local pro-Palestine movement since posters reading phrases such as 'Stop Genocide' have previously been raised at the Town Hall. Sara, a Camden Friends of Palestine campaigner, told Al Jazeera that in her view, the move reflected the 'undemocratic and authoritarian measures by Camden Council [which] are designed to shield them from criticism and evade accountability to their residents'. 'This is not the end,' she said. 'Our solidarity with the people of Palestine is limitless, and we will continue to demand divestment from the Israeli war machine,' Sara said. Camden Council told Al Jazeera that while petitions 'must be on matters which significantly impact the borough', delegations concerning the council's investments are 'not automatically excluded as these are matters which do potentially impact the borough'. For more than a year, members of Camden Friends of Palestine have been meeting at a local arts and community centre every Thursday to discuss their campaigns and introduce new volunteers to their network. A spokesperson for the group alleged that their attempts to engage with the council had been met with 'extreme hostility … whether through calling police on residents, cancelling meetings [or] closing the public gallery in the council for five months'. In May last year, the group held a meeting in front of an official building to mark Nakba Day, a commemoration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, after the public gallery was closed. In October, Fitzrovia News, a local news outlet, reported that as Camden Friends of Palestine activists held their 'Stop Genocide' signs in the public gallery in a silent protest, police were called in to remove them. In June 2024, the group organised a week of action aimed at raising awareness about Israel's onslaught on Gaza, the most recent of which has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians. Israel's latest war on Gaza began in October, 2023, following the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel during which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 taken captive. As part of its Gaza Week initiative, speeches were given outside Kentish Town Station. Archie, a volunteer, said their events often draw counterprotesters including 'Islamophobic, sort of football hooligan types that you'd see at fascist mobilisations going back years and years'. 'Although there has been resistance, I don't think it's particularly representative of any larger feeling in the community,' he explained. 'People really enjoy being a part of it … they're coming back to the meetings as much as anything because it's a positive social space in a society where I think people are increasingly atomised and alienated.' But fearing backlash from some counterprotesters, Sara and Archie requested Al Jazeera withhold their surnames. Undeterred by the council's response to its petition, the group has joined a London-wide campaign called 'Shake the Civ' which focuses on pushing councils to divest from unethical companies. Paul Bagguley, a political sociology professor at the University of Leeds, told Al Jazeera that pressuring local councils on global issues is a trend dating back to the 1980s. 'There [were] a lot of local protests to get councils to declare their areas nuclear-free zones as a kind of protest against nuclear weapons. So in many ways, it's following a kind of similar sort of pattern to other kinds of protests over several decades,' he explained. While local councils could express support for Palestinians or criticise Israeli policy, there's 'little that they can do substantively in terms of policy', he said. 'Quite often, the consequences are really kind of symbolic. So they're about communicating people's feelings to national-level government. So that's another kind of, if you like, level or form of political communication,' he said. About seven miles northeast of Camden, activists in the borough of Waltham Forest have also taken their pro-Palestine movement to the local council. In November 2023, residents belonging to the newly formed Waltham Forest for a Free Palestine (WFFP) group called on their MP at the time, Labour's John Cryer, to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. In 2024, the group launched a divestment campaign akin to the Camden petition – and was successful. In July, the council announced that it was 'updating its ethical investment policy so that we can divest our pension funds from companies involved in the arms trade' – becoming the first municipality in the United Kingdom to agree to divest from arms companies that supply weapons to Israel. 'As we launched our local divestment campaign, our reach and support grew massively. We have a community of hundreds of people who have turned up to an action, written to a councillor, door-knocked, made food for meetings [and] organised outreach sessions … and over 3,500 people signed our petition within three months last year,' Jade, 31, a WFFP organiser, told Al Jazeera. 'The community of people who live, work and study in Waltham Forest has been hugely supportive. We built community power to challenge the bureaucratic violence and inaction of local politicians on key issues like ethical divestment and naming a genocide.'
