ACTIVISTS across Scotland have demanded that the Gaza ceasefire be the first step to freedom and justice for the Palestinian people and an end to Israeli apartheid.

As their comrades marched in London on Saturday, activists marched through the streets of Glasgow and once again picketed the offices of Barclays Bank in Edinburgh, while in Aberdeen they took the message of solidarity into its commercial heart.

Campaigners rallied outside the city’s Bon Accord shopping centre, before marching and festooning its atrium with Palestine flags. 

Addressing the action, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Kate Ramsden said: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine suffering genocide in Gaza and brutal occupation in the West Bank. 

“We welcome the ceasefire, but we call on all governments of the world to ensure it continues and leads to meaningful negotiations for freedom and justice for the Palestinian people.”

Calling for shoppers to make their own stand, she added: “We call on all you here, in the name of humanity, to boycott Israeli goods to bring pressure on Israel to end the genocide, apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian people. Free Palestine!”

Aberdeen Trade Union Council president Tommy Campbell told the Star: “It was good to witness the shoppers’ support inside the Bon Accord centre and to see the large attendance at the Palestine solidarity rally outside.”

Echoing the calls to continue the pickets, protest and solidarity actions beyond the truce, he added: “Now is the time to keep up the pressure on the apartheid state of Israel to secure an end to the occupation and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire that leads to a free and equal Palestine.”