Meeting of the Parliament 17 June 2025
I do not doubt the passion and the sincerity with which Bill Kidd has spoken today. I read his motion very carefully. Some motions that we have debated in the chamber about Palestine have gone further than Bill Kidd’s; however, I felt that there was a lack of balance in it, and I will use my time to look at the situation without diminishing in any way the atrocities that we have seen in Gaza and the impact that they are having on a daily basis.
We must also acknowledge what happened on 7 October—the terrorist attack that saw women raped, mutilated and murdered and countless people across Israel killed, with many still held hostage. Their families across the world are waiting for news, but they are not hearing a single thing. Outside our Parliament, on almost a weekly basis—and, I know, in Glasgow on a weekly basis—we see people, including families, worried about their loved ones in Israel whom they have not heard from since 7 October. We cannot allow that to be forgotten.
Although the motion echoes the UN concerns about addressing the broader context, it fails to mention the terrorist attack by Hamas. It seems to call for an oversimplification of the issues that we have in front of us. Some of the atrocities on 7 October were filmed on dashcams and mobile phones by the terrorists themselves. There might be disagreements in the chamber, but I implore MSPs to watch a 47-minute film of footage that was pieced together, to properly understand the sheer evil that was witnessed by many on 7 October.
Humanitarian aid has been mentioned quite a lot during the debate, and it is part of the motion that we are debating. However, we know that there are issues with Hamas continuing to misappropriate humanitarian aid supplies, using aid as a vital tool to preserve its own influence and control over Gazans. The new model of aid distribution that has been introduced with the support of the US, which involves the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation providing aid directly to Gazan families, is to ensure that that aid reaches the civilians who need it and is not repurposed for violence.
The international community has been clear that Hamas should play no future role—