Culture and Tourism Industries (Ethnic Discrimination)
(Glasgow Provan)
(SNP): To ask the Scottish Government what its position
is on organisations in the culture and tourism industries that
discriminate on the basis of ethnicity operating in Scotland.
(S5O-02181)
The Minister for International Development and Europe (Dr
Alasdair Allan): Equality is at the heart of the
Scottish Government’s ambitions for a prosperous and fairer
Scotland and is critical to how we meet the challenges and seize
the opportunities that will allow us to thrive in the 21st
century. We published the race equality action plan in December
2017, which outlines more than 120 actions that we will take over
the course of this parliamentary session to secure better
outcomes for ethnic minorities in Scotland.
: The minister may be
aware that Israeli airline Israir is commencing flights from
Edinburgh to Tel Aviv shortly. Unfortunately, millions of people
living in the area that the airline serves will be unable to
board those flights at Edinburgh airport, solely on the basis of
their ethnicity, because Palestinians living in the West Bank are
not allowed to fly through Ben Gurion airport, unlike Jewish
Israelis living in settlements next door to them.
Does the minister agree that such
discrimination on the basis of ethnicity has no place in modern
Scotland?
Dr Allan: The Scottish Government would clearly
deplore and condemn any institution or business that
discriminated against its customers on the basis of their
ethnicity, religion or nationality.
It is up to the United Kingdom
Government to decide which airlines fly to the UK, but the
Scottish Government’s views about the rights of the people of
Palestine are a matter of record, and they are views that are
widely shared across the chamber.
