RISHI Sunak’s surprise air strikes on Yemen is yet another example of how Scotland are tied to Westminster’s “disgusting” foreign policy, according to Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer.
He also accused the UK Government of “gaslighting” voters in its response to claims that Israel has committed war crimes and has genocidal aims in its assault on Gaza.
Speaking to the Sunday National, Greer said the Tory response to the conflict in the Middle East did not reflect public opinion in Scotland.
“It’s yet another example where, if Scotland had its own voice at the international table, we would clearly be acting differently to the way the UK is,” he said.
“If Scotland were an independent nation with our own seat at the table then I would like to think we would be working with the likes of Spain and other countries that have called for a ceasefire, as well as working with South Africa on the case against Israel at the ICJ (International Court of Justice).”
Last week, the UK and the US launched a wave of air strikes against dozens of Houthis targets in Yemen following Houthi attacks on commercial tankers passing through the Red Sea. The attacks began in November in protest at the Israeli assault on Gaza. However, the UK’s surprise attacks sparked anger because the House of Commons had not been consulted on military action.
Ross said it was “mad” to believe the conflict in Israel and Palestine could be stopped by bombing one of the poorest countries on earth hundreds of kilometres away.
“There is not a route to peace that involves opening up another front in the war, especially without the approval either of the House of Commons or the US Congress and the most revealing comment about it was what Biden said, which was that the airstrikes against the Houthis were not working but were going to continue anyway,” said Ross.
“That is really telling because I think it gets to the root cause of why the UK and the US are now bombing Yemen. It’s not about bringing an end to the conflict in Gaza or regional stability at all. Our governments are quite happy – not just to sit on their hands – but to actively support Israel as it kills tens of thousands of people.
“However, the second the international flow of trade is threatened, suddenly it is completely different and both of our governments are willing to intervene directly.
“That says a lot about what the priorities of our governments are. It is not about protecting life and building peace – it’s fundamentally about protecting the profits of the businesses that support them. It’s about protecting the international capitalist order rather than protecting people.”
READ MORE: Ex-Labour MP labels Keir Starmer 'shameful' over Gaza ceasefire stance
Greer said the South African case against Israel at the ICJ had laid out in “upsetting” detail the extent of Israel’s “genocidal actions”, yet voters in the UK were basically being “gaslit” by Sunak’s government.
“They’ve tried to brush it off as the comments of fringe figures in Israel but it was the president who said there are basically no innocent civilians in Gaza and the national security minister has explicitly and repeatedly called for outright ethnic cleansing and the permanent expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine,” said Greer. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has said there will be no Palestinian state even after the current conflict with Hamas is over.
“These are not fringe figures and they are fundamentally not interested in peace. The entire Israeli political establishment does not want peace. Their objective is the destruction and expulsion of the Palestinian people.”
Greer said this is a “categorical war crime” and yet the UK Government is actively supporting the Israelis.
He said: “There is nothing particularly new there, given Britain’s history in the Middle East but it makes it no less disgusting, especially when you look at the hypocrisy compared to our response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Our response to Ukraine was clearly right but the point is that the response to Israel’s assault on Gaza should be the same and yet it is not. A lot of people can’t help but wonder if the response would be quite different if Palestinians were white.”
Ross said an independent Scotland could work towards a Europe-wide arms embargo against Israel.
“I would like to think and hope that as an independent nation, we would be pushing for any company found by the UN to be complicit in the illegal occupation to be banned from operating in Europe at all,” said Ross.
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