Hansard

Like so many others, I will never forget the morning of 7 October. Nadia and I woke to messages from my mother-in-law, Elizabeth, who was in Gaza and who was clearly in distress at the unfolding situation. On a call, my mother-in-law described to me the scenes that she was witnessing that very morning: rockets being fired from Gaza towards Israel. She was watching news reports that militants had entered southern Israel and were carrying out attacks, murder and even hostage taking. The fear in her voice was palpable. There was no jubilation in the streets of their neighbourhood; just fear of the inevitable retaliation that would be forthcoming.

All of us who were watching the scenes unfold on 7 October did so in horror. Members of the Scottish Parliament are unified in their resolute condemnation of Hamas’s abhorrent terrorist attacks. The vicious and calculated killing of innocent people and the kidnapping of men, women, children and the elderly in Israel cannot be condoned.

I hope that members are also unified in their resolute condemnation of the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in Gaza. The killing of innocent men, women and children in Gaza who have nothing to do with Hamas also cannot be justified.

Those two positions are not at odds with each other—in fact, quite the opposite. They recognise that all human life is equal. The life of a Palestinian is worth no less than the life of an Israeli, and vice versa. Both Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace and security.

We might be thousands of miles away from Israel and Gaza, but, unfortunately, the brutal reality of the conflict has been brought all too close to home. It has been reported that more than 1,200 Israelis were killed during Hamas’s atrocious terror attack. It was the single biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. Among them was Bernard Cowan, who was originally from East Renfrewshire, where many members of his family still live. Bernard was a husband, a father and a grandfather. When I met his mother, Irene, in Giffnock shul during a service of prayer, she told me of the grief that can be felt only by a parent who has had to mourn the loss of their child.

The events of 7 October have deeply scarred our Jewish community in Scotland and those around the world. It is a community in mourning and, now, many are living in fear. Many families in Israel, such as the family of 13-year-old Yagel Yaakov, who has been taken hostage by militants, are in a state of despair, worrying about their loved ones and not knowing whether they are alive or dead. That is why this Government and, I am certain, this Parliament are unequivocal in our demands that hostages be released so that they can be reunited with those whom they love.

The grief, sorrow and despair that are felt by many people in our Israeli communities in Scotland are also felt by our Palestinian communities here, too, who have lost their families. I take the example of Dr Ibrahim Khadra, a senior academic at the University of Strathclyde, whom I see in the gallery today. I met Dr Khadra last week. He told me the devastating news that 70 members of his extended family in Gaza had been killed. The pain was indescribable as he fought back tears and told me of the dreams of his little nieces and nephews that were no more.

In that one example alone, there should be a lesson for all of humanity the world over. One of the oldest lies that is ever told of war is that people can be collateral damage. Let me be clear about this. Babies are not collateral damage. Children are not collateral damage. The elderly are not collateral damage. Innocent men, women and children are not collateral damage. They are human beings who deserve to live and grow old and not to be killed for the crimes of others.

The Scottish Government has repeatedly made it clear that Israel, like any other country in the world, has a right to protect its citizens from terror. However, no country, Israel included, has a right to ignore international humanitarian law. That is why this Government has repeatedly called for an end to the 16-year blockade and siege of Gaza. It is why this Government is unequivocal in its condemnation of the Israeli Government cutting off water, food, fuel and supplies to the entire population of Gaza at the beginning of this latest cycle of violence. Collective punishment can never be justified.

The Scottish Government supports whole-heartedly the International Criminal Court investigating reports of any breaches of international law. I have written to the United Kingdom Government, urging it to back the ICC in its investigation of war crimes being committed by any party during the conflict.

The suffering in Gaza has shaken the world. More than 13,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israel’s offensive, two thirds of them women and children. To put that into some perspective, that is the equivalent of more than 300,000 people being killed in the United Kingdom. At least 1.7 million people are currently internally displaced within Gaza and are struggling to find safety and access to food and water.

In the past week, the situation in Gaza’s hospitals has deteriorated dramatically. On Sunday, the World Health Organization described Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital as “a death zone”. To save lives, doctors such as my own brother-in-law Mohammed are forced to practise medieval medicine, reportedly amputating limbs, stitching up serious wounds and even performing caesarean sections without sufficient anaesthetic. That cruelty cannot be allowed to continue. There is no moral justification—none—for the bombing of medical facilities or of United Nations schools that are being used as shelters. Humanitarian organisations and medical facilities must be given special protections under international law and must be allowed to deliver life-saving services to those in need.

The people of Gaza are living in fear not only of missiles: they are at grave risk of starvation, dehydration and infection. According to the UN World Food Programme, supplies of food and water are “practically non-existent”. The entire population is being deprived of the basic means of survival, and the ability of humanitarian agencies to safely provide those essentials has been severely curtailed by the lack of access to fuel and the loss of humanitarian workers and medical personnel.

The Scottish Government’s position remains consistent: in the face of such destruction, death and inhumanity, an immediate ceasefire, agreed by all sides, is needed to ensure the protection of innocent civilians and the delivery of essential supplies, including food, fuel, water and medical provisions.

Some people have suggested that we should be seeking to achieve a humanitarian pause. Do we want simply to pause the killing of innocent men, women and children, only to resume a few hours later? Surely we must, and can, strive for better. For the sake of the people of Gaza, who are living in a nightmare of unimaginable terror, and for that of the Israeli hostages who remain captive, this Parliament and the international community must unite in calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Let me be clear: Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and, whatever its future, it must remain under their control. No one has the right to expel Gazans from their land. Many Palestinians will wish to remain in Gaza, because it is their land, and it is right that the current focus is on calls for a ceasefire and on providing humanitarian aid.

However, an estimated 50 per cent of buildings in northern Gaza have been turned into rubble, and the dropping of more than 10,000 bombs, missiles and projectiles on one of the most densely populated areas in the world has caused complete devastation. Should there be a need to provide sanctuary for refugees, we have called on the UK Government to use existing resettlement schemes to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to establish a route to safety for the most vulnerable Gazans.

As I have reiterated, Scotland is ready to play its part in any such scheme and in the medical evacuation of injured citizens from Gaza, and of Israeli citizens if that is required, through activation of the UK medical evacuation scheme. Just as hospitals in the United Arab Emirates have helped to treat injured Gazans, Scottish hospitals are ready to treat injured civilians when we can.

This Parliament stands as one and asserts that the horrors in Israel and Palestine can never justify expressions of antisemitism, of Islamophobia, or of racial or religious hatred of any kind, in Scotland or elsewhere.

I have never hidden the fact that I am Muslim—indeed, I am very proud of it. My faith is intertwined in history and theology with our Jewish friends, and we are of the Abrahamic tradition, alongside Christians. In Scotland, the Muslim and Jewish communities have enjoyed decades of friendship and decades of shared humanity and faith. Nowhere is that more evident than in East Renfrewshire, which is home to Scotland’s largest Jewish community and a significant Muslim population, who have lived side by side in harmony for many years. We cannot be complacent. We must all be proactive in rooting out any hint of Islamophobia or antisemitism wherever it occurs.

Even though it feels impossible to look past the current horrors of war, we must ensure that the perpetual cycle of violence that we see far too often finally ends, once and for all, in a peaceful resolution. To that end, there must be a renewed and serious international effort towards a two-state solution—Israeli and Palestinian states that can co-exist in safety and security and with equal rights for all of their citizens.

Unfortunately, the world has not kept its promise to the Palestinian people. They have not been given a free sovereign state following the 1967 borders, as they were promised. It is quite the opposite: the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is not only illegal, but works against a peaceful resolution.

It is simply no longer enough to pay lip service to a two-state solution. We must take steps to turn that into a reality. To that end, I have written to the Prime Minister and Sir Keir Starmer, urging them to immediately take steps to ensure that the UK recognises the state of Palestine. It is only with full recognition of Palestine as a state in its own right that we can truly move towards a two-state solution.

To prevent further deaths, the bombs and rockets must stop. The Scottish Government continues to call for an immediate ceasefire, for the safe release of all hostages, for an end to the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza, for an end to the siege of Gaza and for all parties to abide by international law. The UK Government and the international community must use their influence to prevent the further loss of innocent life. Every child, the world over, deserves to grow old. The children of Gaza and Israel deserve nothing less. It is our moral obligation to act. Let us hope, even in the darkest of times, that humanity prevails.

I move,

That the Parliament unequivocally condemns in the strongest possible terms Hamas’s barbaric and unjustifiable terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens on 7 October 2023, and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; agrees that all human life is equal, abhors the loss of innocent lives, and affirms the right of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security; further agrees that the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza, including women and children who have been besieged by Israeli forces, must stop; associates itself with the United Nations Secretary-General’s statements that there must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow civilians to escape harm, for hostages to be released, for humanitarian aid to reach those in need, and affirming that international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, must be upheld; reiterates its solidarity with Scotland’s Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian communities and condemns antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other form of hatred; welcomes the Scottish Government’s contribution of £750,000 towards the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East’s flash appeal for Gaza, and the humanitarian assistance announced by the UK Government; reaffirms that a credible, lasting and sustainable peace can only be based on the two-state solution through reinvigorated diplomatic and political efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, and agrees with many in the international community that all parties must agree to an immediate ceasefire.