Opportunities for Solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation Struggle
This pamphlet is a joint project of the Jimmy Reid Foundation and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), although views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Jimmy Reid Foundation or its affiliates.
It is launched as Israel’s attempt at ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has reached new levels of atrocity – genocide in Gaza, escalating settler violence in the West Bank. Scottish trade unions can point to some significant actions of international solidarity. This year, the Scottish Trades Union Congress published policy and guidelines for its affiliate trades unions to take solidarity action in support of Palestinian rights. This pamphlet builds on this initiative and argues that the Scottish trade union movement has the opportunity to go a lot further and, crucially at the time of publication, use its industrial and political strength to contribute to an end to Israel’s settler colonial apartheid and support for Palestinian liberation.
The paper recognises that Scottish trade unions have a legacy of internationalism — from Chile to South Africa to Palestine. It argues that such solidarity must be practical: in contracts, pension board decisions, workplace disruption, and political campaigning. The tools are in our hands. What’s needed is courage, persistence, and collective action. Palestinian workers have made their requests clear. The legacy of Scottish internationalism demands that we respond — boldly, collectively, and effectively.