Members of Scottish PSC accused of ‘racially aggravated conduct’

Five members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign are charged with ‘racially aggravated conduct’ following a protest against the Israeli siege of Gaza. They interrupted a performance during the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival by an Israeli musical ensemble, the Jerusalem Quartet, whose admirers had written of them that, ‘holding a rifle in one hand and a violin in the other is the ultimate Zionist statement’. The four enjoyed the double official status of ‘Cultural Ambassadors’ of the State of Israel and ‘Distinguished IDF Musicians’

The five accused interrupted the performance of the Jerusalem string quartet on August 29th 2008 during the Edinburgh International Festival.

Here is how the` Scotsman` newspaper reported the incident after a hearing in March this year:
 http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Palestinian--protesters--face.5030906.jp

What was the charge? The original charge was `Breach of the peace` but this was changed to `racially aggravated conduct`.

On Friday August 7th there was a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court when three of the five were present – Mick Napier, Vanesa Fuertes and Kevin Connor. The other two defendants were unable to attend – Sofiah MacLeod was in Bilin in Palestine and Niel Forbes was unavailable.

Sheriff John Horsburgh, presiding, said that the trial was significant and had serious implications for the right to protest.

The trial date was carried over – postponed – until Thursday the 1st of October 2009 at 10.00am.

Sofiah is currently in Bil’in in the occupied West Bank about 7 miles from Ramallah – SPSC spokesman Mick Napier pointed out that she will be coming back from opposing racism to stand trial for being a racist.