Holyrood slated over Israeli exhibition

Published on Tuesday 23 March 2010 22:21

THE Scottish Parliament has been condemned by a group of leading doctors for staging an exhibition celebrating "Israeli technology" in the wake of the country's bombing campaign in Gaza.

The medics have demanded the cancellation of the exhibition in the public lobby of the parliament next month.

The controversial display, sponsored by Labour MSP Ken MacIntosh, has also prompted plans for a mass protest outside Holyrood.

An open letter by a dozen doctors says celebrating Israeli technology is a "shameless PR exercise" coming so soon after its bombardment of Gaza last January, in which an estimated 1,400 Palestinian civilians were killed. Thirteen Israelis died.

The UN Human Rights Council condemned the Israeli attacks as war crimes after an investigation highlighted the bombing of hospitals, farms and other civilian targets.

The letter, seen by The Scotsman, says: "Hosting this exhibition in the Scottish Parliament potentially implicates all of us in a whitewashing of Israeli crimes. Cancellation will send a clear message that Scots oppose the heinous crimes of Israel."

Among those who have signed the letter are Dr Kaye Alston, Dr Jock McDougal and Dr Mohammad Al-Ashqar from Edinburgh, Glasgow-based Dr Alan Mackinnon and Dr Ali Syed MBE from Giffnock. A petition on the Scottish Parliament website opposing the exhibition has attracted more than 100 names.

Holyrood authorities insisted that the Israeli exhibition was "non-political" and would go ahead despite the objections.