HUNDREDS of people have gathered at a solidarity event in Glasgow’s East End and raised more than £10,000 in aid of the Palestinian people.
Unite Hospitality members put their expertise to work on Monday night, hosting a benefit gig at St Luke’s, a venue on the edge of the city’s Barras market, for Islamic Relief’s humanitarian work in Palestine.
Part of the union’s Serve Solidarity campaign, set up in response to Palestinian unions’ call for worldwide solidarity action, the gig had a fundraising target of £7,000, which was shattered as more than 600 tickets were sold, filling the venue to capacity.
The event featured performances by musicians Declan Welsh and the Decadent West, Theo Bleak and Tina Sandwich as well as comedians Frankie Boyle and Josie Long.
Mr Welsh visited Palestine in 2017, playing in Bethlehem, and said of his experience that “if you see it, it changes your life.”
He added: “People in our exact same positions in Gaza are being denied rights to freedom, happiness and life itself and we have the power to do something about it because the entire sector is complicit.”
“You can feel powerless, like there’s nothing you can do.
“We are here to say we have the power to make business not go on as usual and we need to exercise it more.
“There’s one thing we all automatically have, by virtue of living in this system that makes things get done, and that’s our labour power.
“Whether you’re a musician, whether you’re a hospitality worker, whether you’re anything in between, you have the power to organise and make an impact directly.”
After the gig, Ms Long told the Morning Star: “It was a privilege to perform on this bill and, in particular, listening to Declan speak about politics and Palestine felt like the tonic I needed to reinvigorate my commitment to activism and to keep the faith that, united, we can achieve anything.”
Talking to the Star about the Serve Solidarity campaign, Unite rep Nick Troy said: “The aim is to build worker-led boycotts of Israeli produce, BDS-listed produce, in Glasgow’s hospitality spaces.
“We’ve had immediate success with that with The Stand — in fact, all three venues of the Stand across the UK now.
“The ruling class uses culture to its own ends all the time, to exclude, to profit and exploit. What we have to do is develop and use culture to take them on and, in some small way, this is what it looks like.”
