If you are being asked to ditch Labour for Tories and Lib-Dems, you should surely be asking questions of the people asking.

It is an indictment of the depths today’s politics have sunk to that people can bizarrely display banners and t-shirts claiming Jeremy Corbyn is a racist despite 40 years of hard evidence - publicly available - that he is not.

It is even more bizarre that the same people appear to be telling us that the positive alternative is Johnson - someone who has amassed a host of publicly available evidence over the years of racially charged sound-bites drooling off his tongue at will.

Gaza: 'We march for three things. The children, the children, the children.'

Princes St Edinburgh (c) John Stevenson

#Gaza Edinburgh’s Princes Street came to a halt again this week when marchers stopped and sat for two minutes silence to remember the dead in Gaza. Even onlookers respected the silence and applauded as the demonstrators set off again for Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland.

On the 90 minute march, people carried a card, each with the name of one of the 2,000 Palestinians, almost 400 of them children, killed by Israeli forces. It was a poignant and powerful way of highlighting the human cost.

Support for Palestine does not equate to anti-semitism

First published in the Morning Star on 23 July 2014 https://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-c9a5-support-for-palestine-does-not-equate-to-anti-semitism-1

We're caught up in our internal debate in Scotland as to whether independence or devolution is the best strategy to deliver social justice at home. 

 

Whatever the result, the world outside will be the same and, especially at times like these, we must resist looking inwards at the expense of our long and proud history of internationalism.

'Momentous occasion' as Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists meet

Mike Kirby

UNISON's Mike Kirby hosted 'momentous' meetings at the STUC bringing together reps from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and the Israeli Histadrut trade union federation http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/siu/aprmay06/4.html

"It is a momentous occasion to have representatives of the Histradut and the PGFTU together at the STUC", Mike told the congress in Perth.

UNISON Scotland had given financial support to make the dialogue possible and hosted a fringe meeting on workers' rights in Palestine, the Occupied Territories and Israel.

Palestine - time to act on the real message of Christmas

'Greetings from the Holy City of Jerusalem', read the Christmas card to us from Mohammad Aruri of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU). http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/siu/dec04/2.html

A message of peace from a far from peaceful part of the world. A message of hope at a time of despair for Palestinians. And a message of respect for other's traditions, religions and cultures that is tragically missing at home and abroad.

Removing the causes of terror more effective than all the tanks and bombs

John McFadden

Grave concerns about the international situation were heightened at the STUC as continuing reports of the attacks on Palestine came through first hand from trade unionists. http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/siu/siumay02.html#5 

A few weeks ago, John McFadden, Scottish NEC member, and union President Veronica Dunn, were on a UNISON delegation to the Middle East where they met both Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists.