DOZENS of activists picketed Aberdeen-based energy barons Wood Group’s AGM yesterday demanding that the firm pull the plug on its tacit support of Israeli apartheid.

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign supporters lobbied shareholders over a contract to build a power station in Ashkelon, Israel, which many fear will be used to supply electricity to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Wood Group has denied owning, operating or using energy created at the power plant. 

But demonstrator Dave Black said companies like Wood Group could not claim to be socially responsible while ignoring their clients’ activities.

“It has massive implications in terms of healthcare, the viability of businesses and that kind of thing.

“Anyone that’s involved in business with Israel should be aware that there’s a very good chance they’ll be involved in human rights abuses.”

“We want to make it clear to companies here that there is a cost to investing in apartheid,” he said.

Energy union Unite general secretary Len McLuskey also threw his weight behind the picket.

“Wood Group’s claims that this is only the start of its projects in Israel also allows us to conclude that the company is putting profit before the human suffering of the Palestinian people,” he said.

“We remain steadfast in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they suffer under the occupation of their land.”