For Gary Fraser

Israel has always been a controversial issue for the left. Kevin Connor from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign argues that one of the ways in which Israel can be held to account for human rights abuses against the Palestinian people is to call for a boycott, disinvestment and sanctions against the Israeli state.

Gaza has been under siege for around 2 ½ years now; the Israeli massacres that razed large areas of this tiny strip of land to the ground early this year mean that many people are now aware of the extreme shortages and hardships imposed on its population.

The extent of the massacres shocked the world; the death toll (1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis) reflected a power imbalance that the British media had done a great job of concealing over many years. We were supposed to believe the Israel/Palestine conflict was between two relatively equal parties, with Israel portrayed as the civilised party, with right on its side.

Despite the preparedness of the well-oiled Israeli propaganda machine that had ambassadors and slick spokespersons parked outside television studios worldwide ready to twist the truth—with the full complicity of an obedient media—perceptions have changed. The mood to punish Israel until it understands that human rights are universal is widespread.

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) has been focused on campaigning for boycott of Israel since the call came from Palestine back in 2005. As Naomi Klein put it, It's time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.

In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era." The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions -- BDS for short -- was born.

The campaign to Boycott Israel has now taken off, and Israel knows it. So too does the British state.

Back in August 2008, 5 members of the SPSC were arrested and charged with Breach of the Peace after disrupting a concert by the Jerusalem Quartet, four state-sponsored cultural ambassadors of Israel. We had stood up one at a time and made comments such as “End the Siege of Gaza”, and “Boycott Israel”.

Months later, in the wake of the Gaza massacres, and one week before our trial, the Procurator Fiscal (PF) moved in court to drop the BOP charges in favour of “racially aggravated conduct”. Because of the massacres, many naïve observers had predicted that the Crown would drop the case in order to avoid looking ridiculous. Instead, it appears as though the British state has become aware of the potential for the Boycott campaign as well.

We received legal advice that if we opposed this motion, given that all parties were prepared for the following week’s trial, the Crown motion is unlikely to have been granted (by the Sheriff). However, we felt that this attempt to criminalise the boycott movement had to be fought, so we did not oppose it.

Currently, we are awaiting the outcome of a legal challenge to the actual charge itself, the wording of which amounts to nothing less than thought crime, that certain criticisms of the Israeli State constitute anti-Semitism.

If the case ever does go to trial, we will be joined in the dock by a growing body of fellow boycotters. These include the STUC which recently lent its considerable weight to the boycott campaign. South African activists who fought against apartheid for many years are prepared to testify to the importance of the boycott for their successful campaign. Israelis who fight for universal human rights will also be there for us.

Last week, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on the biggest success to date of the boycott campaign. French company, Veolia, has pulled out of a major tram project that would have linked West Jerusalem with illegal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Boycott pressure has resulted in the loss of around $7bn of contracts for Veolia in Europe alone. They are also due in a French court because French law allows for the prosecution of companies that break international law, even if in another country. It is doubtful that Veolia ever had any ideological fondness for Israel; like any multinational corporation, their ideology is one of profit. They have pulled out of the tram project because it became unprofitable to remain.

The Palestinians too have had enough, but they are not pulling out. They are demanding freedom, and after many long years of injustice, there is real hope within Palestine that the Boycott campaign is making a difference. Israel is becoming increasingly isolated, and the greater the international solidarity, the closer we get to a level playing field.

Our job over here is to make it untenable for the British state to continue its support for Israel. We have to ensure that companies operating here are not furthering the illegal occupation and colonisation of Palestine. We have to increase awareness of the reality of Israel. But awareness is not enough; we need to demonstrate active solidarity with the people of Palestine, and for them, that means boycotting Israel.

Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the UK, said of our disruption of the concert: "We must not give in to the attempts to sabotage the marketing of Israeli art and culture in Britain. The audience in Edinburgh insisted on getting the opportunity to listen to the concert and, with the determined help of the festival director, they got just that. The show must go on, and with the assistance of art-lovers in the UK, it will."

It’s up to each of us to ensure that “the show must go on” no longer!