The Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee met on June 22, 2005 to consider, among other items, a public petition to congratulate the Israeli traitor Mordechai Vanunu on his election as Rector of Glasgow University proposed by Mick Napier of the anti-Israel extremist group Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

It apparently only took a few minutes for the committee of six (6), four (4) of whom had signed previous parliamentary motion(s) on Israel/PA and two (2) of whom belong to the Cross-Party Group on Palestine, to agree that any further action, as requested in the petition, would be a waste of parliamentary time, and the petition was closed. (See below)

The outcome was not surprising, given that amongst his many dubious and inaccurate statements, Mick Napier claims on the SPSC website that First Minister, Mr Jack McConnell, intends to take up his cause with the UK government, a fact recently denied by Mr McConnell.

SG

Public Petitions Committee Official Report 22 June 2005.

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Scottish Parliament

Public Petitions Committee

Wednesday 22 June 2005

[THE CONVENER opened the meeting at 10:01]

New Petitions

Mordechai Vanunu (PE864)

The Convener: Petition PE864 by Mick Napier calls on the Scottish Parliament to congratulate Mordechai Vanunu on his election as the 119^th rector of the University of Glasgow on a platform of support for Palestinian human rights and opposition to all weapons of mass destruction in the middle east and to call on the British Government to exert pressure on Israel to release Mr Vanunu to allow him to visit Scotland and perform his duties as the democratically elected student rector at the University of Glasgow.

Before being lodged, the petition was hosted on the e-petition site, where it gathered 1,045 signatures. The usual e-petition briefing has been circulated for members' information.

Mordechai Vanunu was jailed in Israel in 1986 for 18 years. He was released from prison on 21 April 2004, with restrictions placed on him, including bans on travel outside the country and on discussing nuclear secrets. In April 2005, Israel extended the travel ban on Vanunu for another year, which means that he cannot leave Israel until at least 19 April 2006. In December 2004, the University of Glasgow elected Mr Vanunu as rector. Students said that they voted for him to show their support for human rights and opposition to nuclear weapons.

Do members have any ideas about what we can do with the petition?

Ms White: I signed the petition and various relevant motions. I support fully the university students and congratulate them on doing what they did. Four or five debates have taken place on the subject, which has been well covered. The students had the support of most people who spoke. The petition has served its purpose and should be closed. We have all been made aware of the situation.

Mike Watson: I agree with Sandra White. The six motions that members have lodged on the subject have been supported by a broad spread of members from most parties. Only the

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Conservative party's members have not supported at least one motion. A clear majority in the Parliament is for the view that the petition expresses. We cannot do much else. I am very much in favour of the petition's sentiments, but the Parliament's view has been clearly stated in motions, to which we can add not much else.

The Convener:I am not unhappy about petitions being lodged to raise the profile of an issue. If that was the petitioner's intention, he has achieved it. I congratulate him on the petition, which we will close, if members are agreed.

Members indicated agreement.

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