You are here

Home » press » SACC Statement on SUTR's rejection of pro-Israel groups

SACC Statement on SUTR's rejection of pro-Israel groups

21 July 2025 - SACC

SACC welcomes the statement issued by the Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) Scotland Steering Committee on 17 July that Glasgow Friends of Israel (GFI) and the Confederation of Friends of Israel Scotland (COFIS) are not welcome at SUTR Scotland events.

We have been pressing SUTR to make such a statement since 2018, when we presented a resolution to that effect to the SUTR Scotland Steering Committee. Our representations to SUTR Scotland were prompted by the unexpected (to us) participation of GFI and SUTR in the anti-racism march held by SUTR Scotland in Glasgow in March 2017. GFI and COFIS have participated in every one of SUTR's annual marches since that date. No march was held this year.

GFI and COFIS are uncritical supporters of Israel and give their support to Israeli policies that make it an apartheid state and to Israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. These positions are racist and are incompatible with the principles and aims of SUTR.

We particularly welcome the recognition in SUTR Scotland's recent statement that Israel is an apartheid state and is carrying out genocide in Gaza. SUTR Scotland has not previously expressed a public view on these matters.

SUTR Scotland's rejection of GFI and COFIS comes very late in the day, but it clears the way to build an anti-racist movement that truly stands against all forms of racism. We look forward to seeing banners and placards opposing Israeli apartheid and genocide at anti-racist events of all kinds.

SACC continues to welcome anti-racists of all ethnic groups and of all faiths and none at our own events. We continue to oppose fascism and all forms of racism, including Islamophobia and anti-semitism. And we continue to place particular emphasis on opposing the UK's anti-terrorism laws, which have for a quarter of a century embedded racism and Islamophobia in the UK's policing and justice systems and are now being used to criminalise non-violent direct action and peaceful political protest.

Photo: COFIS walking behind the “apartheid wall” created by West Dunbartonshire Supports the People of Palestine during the march organised by SUTR Scotland to mark Anti-Racism Day 2018.

Notes

  1. The statement by Stand Up to Racism Scotland declaring GFI and COFIS to be unwelcome was published on the SUTR Glasgow Instagram account on 17 July and was reported in The Herald and The National. The full text of the SUTR Scotland statement can be read here.
  2. SACC's resolution declaring GFI and COFIS unwelcome, put before the SUTR Scotland Steering Committee in 2018, can be read here. The resolution was rejected.
  3. For more information about COFIS and GFI, read Richard Haley's article "Who are Friends of Israel?"
  4. SACC's statement on the SUTR Scotland march to mark Anti-Racism Day 2024 can be read here. It follows similar statements issued in previous years.
  5. SACC's letter to the STUC, in response to a joint STUC/SUTR Scotland statement issued in 2024, can be read here.
  6. For an account of the events surrounding SUTR Scotland's refusal in 2018 to declare COFIS and GFI unwelcome, see Richard Haley's article "The Use and Abuse of Unity".