A PALESTINIAN diplomat has spoken out on Scottish Government grants to arms firms supplying Israel.
The Scottish Government has been under fire over the grants, which have totalled around £3 million since 2023 and been given to the likes of BAE Systems, Raytheon Systems, and Leonardo – which manufactures parts for the F-35 fighter jets Israel uses in Gaza.
Now, Husam Zumlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told The National that the grants were a decision for the Scottish Government, but said they must "make sure that any funding must not be diverted in any way or shape to the practice of war crimes and crimes against humanity and violations of human rights".
He added: “It could not be more clear and, if they don't, the responsibility and the onus will be completely on them.”
It comes after charity Amnesty International – in the wake of a major new report which concluded that there is a genocide taking place in Gaza – also called on the Scottish Government to end the funding.
To continue with the grants risked “complicity with the most serious of international humanitarian law violations”, Amnesty International’s Scotland programme director Neil Cowan told The National.
The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, through which the grants are administered, have previously insisted the grants are for research, training, and apprenticeships.
And Angus Robertson also defended the grants, saying that they are not "direct funding for the manufacture of weapons".
A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise said: “Our support for companies is consistent with Scottish and UK Government policies, and our Human Rights Due Diligence checks are fully compliant with Scottish Government guidance. These checks were used to assess companies we support currently and will be applied to future funding decisions.
“We take our Human Rights Due Diligence checks seriously, review the procedure regularly and update it as guidance evolves. For example, an updated Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ database of companies active in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was recently added to the list of independent resources used to perform our checks.
“We also continue to make it clear to companies, through legally binding contracts, that our funding and support can only be used to deliver agreed projects in Scotland. None of the projects we support involve the manufacture of munitions or weaponry.”
