Notice board If Oct 7 was a ‘9/11’, what is the ongoing slaughter?
l The next cross-party Scottish Republican Socialist Movement meeting is at 1.30pm on Sunday at the Old Burnt Barns in Glasgow (corner of London Road and Ross Street). New members welcome.
l The Bruce, a new cathedral opera written for the 750th anniversary of the birth of Robert the Bruce by composer and pianist Rakhat-Bi Tolegenuly Abdyssagin, from Kazakhstan, will be performed at 5pm on Sunday at Dunfermline Abbey. See www.trybooking.com to book.
l Free Highlight Talks continue in the Robertson Room at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway at 2.30pm on Wednesday, March 6. Author L Bruce Keith will present Bridgescape, based on his book of the same title – a journey through Scotland celebrating the country’s bridge-building heritage with references to and quotations from Robert Burns. Booking a free place via Eventbrite is advised.
l Lesley Riddoch is touring with her new film Denmark: The State of Happiness. There are screenings at 7pm on Friday, March 15 at Adelaide Baptist Church in Glasgow; and 6.30pm on Thursday, March 28 at Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh. Lesley will be doing Q&A sessions after the screenings. For full tour dates and to book see lesleyriddoch.com/events.
l Bill Hare will give a talk about his new book, Scottish Art and Artists in Historical and Contemporary Context, at 6.30pm on Tuesday, March 19 at Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. From body politics to the Athenian way to Scottish artists in Venice, the book reveals the importance and intellectual power a generation of Scottish artists have had over decades through a compilation of in-depth essays and interviews. See www.ticketsource.co.uk to book a free ticket.
DECENT people around the world have been horrified by the events in Israel and Gaza these past few months. Millions of us have marched in protest at both the murder of 1300 innocent Israelis on October 7 and the indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza that has seen 30,000 equally innocent Palestinians killed.
The Israeli government described the massacre on October 7th as their “9/11” and calculates that, comparing the population of Israel to that of the USA, the equivalent number killed in the United States that infamous September day in 2001 would have been 65,000 – ie ten times higher than the actual figure.
Prime Minister Netanyahu insists Israel “has the right to defend itself” in justifying the indiscriminate bombardment and siege of Gaza. But few would accept that Israel has the right to kill and starve innocent civilians. Wars must be fought between combatants, that is the clear legal/military principle. Yet over the past few weeks Israeli Defence Force missiles have killed 30,000 innocent men, women and children! On their pro rata basis that’s the 9/11 equivalent of 2.2 million American fatalities, as it were.
The sympathy Israel warranted and garnered after October 7 is in danger of being lessened by the slaughter of innocents in Gaza.
Scottish Socialist Party activists have been present on all the protests since October urging an end to the bloodshed. And at our weekly campaign stalls on Princes Street in Edinburgh we have been heartened by the public’s support for an end to the killing. Our petition demands a ceasefire to allow the talks aimed at ending the war and the occupation of the Palestinian territories to begin. We urge everyone to sign.
Colin Fox
National spokesman, Scottish Socialist Party
I HAVE just listened to an item on the Radio 4 6pm news.
The newscaster said that starving Palestinians posed a threat to the IDF so they shot them. What kind of threat can starving people pose to the Israeli army? The IDF have already murdered 30,000 civilians. How much longer is the world going to watch this genocide? How much longer is Starmer going to buy votes by ignoring the calls for a ceasefire? We don’t want a pause, we want the murderers in Israel to be prevented from killing another human being.
Watch my lips: “stop the murder”. Any future hope of security for