Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have targeted the Scottish Labour conference on Saturday, accusing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of supporting a genocide in Gaza.
Activists gathered outside the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, with some dressed in black veils as they pushed prams holding pictures of children killed by Israel during its war with Hamas.
Protesters chanted slogans, including: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, and: “Keir Starmer you can’t hide – you support the genocide.”
The war in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7 2023 and killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, with around 250 others held captive.
The Hamas-run health ministry puts the death toll for Palestinians at around 37,000, while a study in the Lancet medical journal found it could be at least double that.
Angela McCormick, an anti-war campaigner and trade unionist, told the PA news agency she wanted the UK Government to end arms sales to Israel.
She said: “People cannot see what we’ve seen over the past few months and not speak out.
“The politicians, particularly those in power in Westminster, must be held to account for what is happening.
“They are complicit. At every turn they have had opportunities to bring peace, to end genocide, to say no to it, and they haven’t.
“Far from it, they’ve encouraged it, they’ve supported it, they’ve excused it and they’ve even denied the word ‘genocide’ in Parliament.”
Ellie Gomersall, an activist and member of the Scottish Green Party, said while a ceasefire was currently in force between Israel and Hamas, “the threat to Palestinian people is still extraordinarily high”.
“This Labour Government and this Labour Party is complicit and enough has to be enough,” she said.
“We need to see a total end of any arms sales to Israel and we need to see a total condemnation of the actions of the state of Israel by the UK Government.
“There is an arrest warrant out for Benjamin Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court and the UK needs to show its support for that.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has previously spoken out in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza and has called for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
The protest follows a demonstration on Friday by Unite the union in which workers placed 400 hard hats outside the Scottish Event Campus to represent every job set to be lost at the oil refinery.
Waspi women, LGBT campaigners, anti-Rosebank protesters and pro-independence activists also staged protests.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We are aware of people gathered outside the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow.
“Officers are in attendance and a proportionate policing plan is in place.”
