THOUSANDS of people have marched on the Scottish Labour conference to call for the UK Government to take action against Israel over its illegal actions in Palestine.
Legal observers estimated that as many as 2000 people joined the rally which began in Glasgow’s George Square before marching along the Clyde to the SEC event space. Police put the numbers at somewhere between 1500-1800.
Police formed a barrier between the rally and the Scottish Labour conference as protesters held signs calling for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to face legal repercussions for being “party to the genocide”.
NEW: A huge pro-Palestine protest has marched on the Scottish Labour conference calling for action on Israel pic.twitter.com/SofUSRUxJi
— The National (@ScotNational) February 22, 2025
The protest came after Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, told a fringe event at the Labour conference that the UK Government had to recognise Palestinian statehood, put a full embargo on weapon sales to Israel, and sanction settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank.
Bilal, a member of the Glasgow branch of the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee, told The National that protesters were making similar calls to Zomlot.
“We’re here because Keir Starmer has supported the genocide since day one. You’ll recall he said Israel has the right to cut off electricity and water to the Palestinians.
“We are here to give a loud message to Keir Starmer. We don’t support genocide. We want the British Government to stop supplying arms and weapons to Israel. We would like sanctions, boycotts, and divestment from Israel because it is killing people en masse.
“At this moment in time, Britain is complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine.”
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer was also among the crowd of protesters. He told The National: “We have joined the protest because we want to hold the Prime Minister accountable for the Labour party’s complicity in Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestine. A genocidal assault that is still going on.
“There might be a ceasefire in Gaza, but Palestinian children in the West Bank are still being murdered by Israeli soldiers, Palestinian families are being burned out of their homes by Israeli terrorists – who are euphemistically referred to as settlers.
“The UK Government has enabled Israel’s actions, under Labour they have continued the Tory policy of selling arms to Israel. They have refused to sanction Israel’s political and military leaders. They are providing cover for the crimes that Israel is committing.”
Israel is accused of committing a genocide in Gaza, where some 1.9 million people have been displaced since a full siege of the occupied territory began in late 2023.
The UK Labour Government has suspended around 30 out of 350 weapon export licences to Israel amid concerns that they would be used to breach international law.
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.”
