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ANTI-APARTHEID campaigners have hit out at Glasgow’s Chamber of Commerce after inviting speakers from companies profiting from the occupied West Bank and Israeli military manufacturers to their Cop26 fringe.
Palestine activists have called for invitations extended to a number of companies to be withdrawn.
As part of events this week, the chamber has invited a number of Israeli companies, including Adama, the ICL Group and the Manufacturers Association of Israel.
ICL chemicals are used for farming across the occupied West Bank, while the Manufacturers Association of Israel defends the interests of businesses profiting from apartheid in the region.
Adama has also been criticised for partnering with an aeronautics company to develop aircraft for the Israeli military.
Campaigners said these companies are all part of the country’s “crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution,” accusing Glasgow Chamber of Commerce of turning a blind eye to these atrocities.
A Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign spokeswoman said: “It is shameful that Glasgow Chamber of Commerce is hosting apartheid Israel’s Cop26 delegates.
“An apology is meaningless given Israel’s grave crimes against the Palestinian people. Glasgow Chamber of Commerce must refuse to provide a platform for Israeli apartheid.”
Scottish Friends of Palestine also hit out at the chamber, claiming the invitation gives recognition to an “apartheid, racist state, whose well-honed image is an inversion of its reality.”
The chamber’s invitation is also in violation of calls for a system of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
A spokeswoman for the BDS movement said: “They profit from the system of oppression.
“By inviting these companies to participate in Cop26 the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce has aligned itself not only with the oppressors instead of the oppressed but with a regime that actively harms our planet.”
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce declined to comment. Adama, ICL and the Manufacturers Association of Israel were approached for comment.
