PALESTINE’S allies in Scotland were on tenterhooks last night following talk that the Church of Scotland may join the boycott of Israel.

Supporters told the Morning Star yesterday that the visiting Archbishop of Sebastia Atallah Hanna — a beloved figure for Palestinian Christians — was preparing a “dramatic” joint statement with leaders in the Church of Scotland and the Iona Community as we went to press.

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign chair Mick Napier said there was reason to believe the statement could even extend to public support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which seeks to force a change of Israeli policy out of economic necessity.

“We’re very excited about it. I just hope we won’t be disappointed,” he said.

The talks follow a Church of Scotland vote last year which insisted that the Kirk “should not be supporting any claims by Jewish or any other people to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory.”