Mick Napier

2012 Justice for Palestine Festival in Dundee - Mick Napier from Scottish PSC

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• published: 11 Jun 2012
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Mick Napier from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign was one of the speakers at the Justice for Palestine Festival held in Dundee, Tayside on 9th June 2012. The festival was held to highlight and make people aware about the Palestinian situation and let folk know what they can do to make a difference such as getting involved in the boycott campaign. The festival was also a cultural event and there were several musical acts and an artistic display. The highlight of the outdoor festival was the Palestinian youth dance troupe who are from the refugee camp in Aida in Bethlehem who are touring Britain just now. There were several speakers who have travelled to Palestine and seen the horrors the Palestinians have to put up with and who campaign tirelessly for Palestine. One such speaker was Mick and this is the video of his speech. He commented on his delight to have seen the dance group perform and said the message of the dance is that they are not going to disappear and let their homes and farms and country be taken over by colonists from Europe or America or wherever. He said the Zionist plan for the Palestinians is that they should disappear, become demoralised and come to believe they are inferior and make way for a superior colonising project. These methods have been used by colonisers throughout history and several tribes and peoples such as the Cheyenne or the Arapaho have been practically or actually wiped out like the people of Tasmania who were completely disappeared by the British. The methods the Zionists use on a daily basis is killing, wounding, kidnapping, pouring raw sewage from the illegal colonisers' settlements on Palestinian farms. Despite this and this is the message today in Dundee, the children and grandchildren of the Palestinians who have fought back are brave as well and will not become demoralised or end the struggle. They will not be wiped out and their history will not be erased. The mainstream UK media particularly the BBC is complicit in trying to keep quiet or misinform people about the Palestinian situation. This is why a group of students occupied the BBC in protest in Glasgow a few weeks ago. Mick is happy to be in Dundee because it was Dundee who forged the way in supporting Palestine 31 years ago at a time when it was particularly difficult to do so because of the lack of knowledge about the situation and it was difficult to argue that the the zionists were the murders and thieves and the Palestinians were the victims. At that time when it was unpopular to do so Dundonians flew the Palestinian flag before the rest of the world were prepared to do so. He said that to be ahead of everyone else in the game was an honourable position to be in but that the news is everyone else is now catching up! The STUC voted unanimously again to support the students in their struggle against Israeli apartheid. They voted to support those people flying into Palestine who were jailed by Israel and they voted to support the people of Palestine in their struggle. The Church of Scotland is now also supporting the Palestinians and basically said that they are aware of what the zionists will say but they don't care because they are committed to supporting Palestinian human rights. So Scotland is really forging ahead in terms of organising international boycott. And Mick had some news: an advisory organisation to the Israeli government was warning them about the power of the boycott and how it will constrain their ability to torture and kill at will. For example South African dockers do not allow ANY Israeli goods into South African ports. As soon as they discover any Israeli goods in a container on any ship whatever country it is from it is turned away without being unloaded. An international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign had helped to end apartheid in South Africa and it is having an effect on the regime in Israel too. Although the regime continues to brutalise the Palestinians, and he mentions Rich Wiles' book about what life is like for the refugees in Aida camp with its description of the murderous barbarity of the Israeli death squads who make frequent incursions into the camp to torture and kill, that same regime needs to be able to export goods so the international boycott is extremely important. Mick then goes on to mention the complicity of the British government. "Last year they changed the rules specifically to allow Israeli war criminals to travel in Britain unimpeded." Cops were waiting at Heathrow airport with handcuffs to arrest one particular war criminal but the UK government changed the rules so that this could not happen again. Other things the government is doing is working very hard to thwart the Palestinian application to the UN and UNESCO. So it is ultimately up to ordinary people to help the Palestinians as virtually all the world's governments including Arab dictatorships will not help. Protest Scotland-Israel football match Tynecastle, Edinburgh 16/06/12