A ROW has broken out over the continued “exclusion by default” of pro-Palestine groups from a major anti-racism march in Glasgow.

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) and the Scottish Palestinian Society (SPS) have both urged Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) to ban Glasgow Friends of Israel (GFOI) from the march set to take place on Saturday.

The group – which describes itself as pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian and pro-peace – has always been welcome to partake in the march but since the first iteration of the event in 2017, their presence has led to a growing number of pro-Palestine organisations dropping out.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have now been killed since the start of Israel’s bombardment last October.

Wael Shawish of SPS  – a group for Palestinians residing in Scotland – said it is “painful” for him and the organisation not to be able to join the march because of the Israeli flag being flown during it.

He told the Sunday National: “We can’t even dream of joining such a march with the Israeli flag being waved over our heads.

“We are oppressed by that flag. We are not independent, we are not free and that flag represents that. Yet the march wants me to be standing there with that flag behind me.

“It’s very painful [not to take part] because it’s an opportunity for us as a minority group in Scotland to be part of something big and we feel we are excluded by default.”

GFOI has said it does not intend to fly the flag during the event. The chair has claimed the group will not be marching in support of Israel, adding there should not be any national flags allowed on the march, including those of Palestine.

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Shawish said he has raised concerns with GFOI’s presence on the march multiple times with SUTR over the years but to no avail.

He added: “I have had individual meetings with them [SUTR] and have tried to come to a point where we can mutually agree on an arrangement where we can attend, but what we’ve found is they seem to be terrified of being called antisemitic if they tell people with Israeli flags they are not welcome, not because of who they are but because of the flag they represent.

“They tell us they don’t want GFOI to be attending, but they’re not prepared to make an announcement to say that the Israeli flag is not welcome on an anti-racist march.”

Gerry Coutts, of the SPSC, explained how his group in recent years have handed out leaflets at the start of the march explaining why they are not participating.

He believes that awareness-raising may have caused more people to boycott the event as he insisted numbers have dwindled over time.

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He said: “I think 2017 was the first march and it was a shock the Israeli flags appeared.

“It’s quite a big step for us to take as an anti-racist organisation to protest an anti-racist march, so we decided we weren’t going to have a big banner or shout at them, we decided to leaflet the march, engage with individuals before when they are congregating and tell them why we are not marching.

“Some people do shout and it’s become a bit of a spectacle each year now.

“In the years gone by where groups do turn up and they protest the SUTR march, it can be quite  heated and I think the numbers will be multiplied this time. There’s a kind of worry that the protesters may outnumber the marchers.

“As long as Israel remains an apartheid state, SPSC is calling for GFOI to be banned from future SUTR marches as their presence is incompatible with the march's intention of celebrating International Day For the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.”

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The march is organised in conjunction with the Scottish Trade Union Congress and is for “all those who want to oppose the Westminster government’s attacks on the right to asylum and on wider refugee rights”, organisers say.

STUR Scotland has said it is an "unrealisable demand" for it to ban certain groups from participating in the march, insisting “it is in the interests of all to stand united against racism and fascism”.

Talat Ahmed, SUTR Scotland convener and STUC Black Workers' Committee member said: “As a campaign, we do not and cannot enforce pre-emptive bans. This is an unrealisable demand and we have urged those making it to reconsider it. It is in the interests of all to stand united against racism and fascism.

“The organisers of the demonstration in Glasgow wholeheartedly welcome all members of the Palestinian diaspora, Palestinian activists and their organisations and supporters into the demonstration and we hope to see many of them.”

Sammy Stein, chair of GFOI, said: “We do not intend to fly the Israeli flag and have advised SUTR of this fact in the past and therefore the reason stated by these organisations for not willing to march is just a smokescreen.

“We march to demonstrate against racism in general and antisemitism in particular. We are not marching in support of Israel.

 “The SUTR march is about racism, not politics. For that reason, there should not be any national flags in the procession - but the organisers seem to be quite happy to allow Palestinian flags.”