Campaigners will gather in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Thousands in Scotland are expected to join the pro-Palestinian demonstration in Edinburgh ahead of the one-year anniversary of the ongoing Gaza genocide and Israel’s mounting military attacks across the Middle East.
Israel’s bombardment - with support from Western governments - has resulted in the near destruction of Gaza.
Under the auspices of self-defence, it has heavily damaged or destroyed homes and almost every water, sanitation, health and education facility, leaving millions of Palestinians homeless and at risk of starvation and disease.
The UN’s most senior human rights official, Volker Türk, said that Israel bore significant blame for the crisis in Gaza, and there was a "plausible" case that it was using starvation as a weapon of war.
Maree Shepherd of Show Israel the Red Card, a campaign group calling for Israel to be suspended from world sports and events, said: “A year on from one of the most brutal onslaughts on a people we have ever seen, it should be of no surprise that millions of people across the world will again take to the streets to protest Israel’s military campaign and well-documented war crimes.
“We will also hear calls from world leaders for the release of Israeli hostages; they should be released.
“But why do we never hear calls for the release of Palestinian men, women and children who languish in Israeli jails under ‘administrative detention’ meaning held indefinitely without charge or trial?
“The conflict did not start on October 7. It began in 1948 when Palestinians were violently ethnically cleansed to create the state of Israel. Those allowed to remain live under military occupation and apartheid rule or in the case of Gazans under a crippling 17-year closure and blockade imposed by Israel, which even before the recent conflict amounted to collective punishment.
“Like apartheid South Africa, we call on governments to defund Israel. To suspend it from world forums until it can respect international law and value all life as equal."
Israel’s deadly military campaign has not been limited to Gaza where Hamas operates but has intensified in the occupied West Bank and against neighbouring nations.
This week, after months of terror attacks on Iranian and Lebanese soil followed by Israel’s declaration of the invasion of Lebanon, Iran finally retaliated with Ballistic Missiles on military targets in Israel.
This saw strong condemnation from the UK, US and EU for Iran but no halt in their provision of arms and political support to Israel, allowing its military offensive across the region to expand.
David Myles, Scottish Friends of Palestine, said: “Israel has finally succeeded in pulling Iran into the conflict.
"What is next? Who is next?
“Political leaders in Holyrood, Westminster and around the world cannot claim to be working towards peace while they actively arm and support Israel - an illegal occupation and the longest in modern history - that stands accused by the International Court of Justice of plausible genocide.
“By doing so, they are giving the green light for a repeat of the bloodbath and destruction of nations in the Middle East that the world has so harrowingly witnessed for months in Gaza.
“The reason pro-Palestinian protests have continued to grow in the UK and worldwide and show no sign of slowing down is because governments are out of step with the demands of the public.
“While we call for peace, a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, governments have responded with increased funding and support for Israel and its military action. This must stop.”
