“Victory to the intifada” chanted by protesters blocking anti-racism march in Glasgow
“Victory to the intifada” was chanted by protesters at the annual Stand up to Racism march in Glasgow on Saturday. One of the stated aims of the march was to oppose antisemitism and the Confederation of Friends of Israel in Scotland (COFIS) joined the march to rally against antisemitism holding stating that “Antisemitism is racism” and “Antisemitism is a crime.”
The march quickly descended into an anti-Israel demonstration though, according to the Herald Scotland, which reported that a far-left direct action group took action to block COFIS from participating, by marching in front of them extremely slowly. The direct action group known as Red Front Republic boasted that it was their balaclava-clad members who blocked the COFIS marchers.
Footage, with commentary by Mick Napier, posted on the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign Facebook page shows demonstrators chanting: “Victory to the intifada” 14 minutes into the video, referring to violent Palestinian campaign of terrorism which included suicide bombings at Israeli Jewish civilians. Protesters also reportedly chanted “From Glasgow to Gaza, intifada.”
Two minutes into another video, demonstrators can be heard chanting: “From the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, Palestine will be free”, a chant that only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with a Palestinian state. Under the International Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the UK Government, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” is antisemitic.
Some vicious comments were posted on the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Facebook page regarding the march, including: “Zionists are racists, pure and simple, and their policy regarding the Palestinians consists of ethnic cleansing, genocide and eventual extermination.” Another comment compared the Zionist marchers to the Ku Klux Klan: “We might as well have the Ku Klux Klan taking part in the march. Same thing.”
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign has previously been exposed over many of its supporters’ extremely antisemitic views. Mick Napier has a conviction for aggravated trespass over his protests against Israel. We commend the brave demonstrators who marched against racism. It is disgraceful that they were blocked at all, and even more so that some of those blocking their path lauded terrorist attacks against Jews.
