Why Scotland must stop North Sea oil fields, like Rosebank, from being used to exploit Gaza citizens
Humza Yousaf, the former first minister, argues against allowing Ithaca Energy’s owners to press ahead with Rosebank in the North Sea.
“We survived.” That is the message we wait for every morning from Sally, my wife Nadia’s cousin, who lives in Gaza with her husband and four young children.
I say “live”, but in reality, their daily goal is simply to survive the barbaric Israeli onslaught that has so far claimed the lives of over 50,000 Gazans, including around 17,000 children. That is before we are even able to begin counting the bodies trapped under rubble.
There are no words left to describe the scale of inhumanity we are witnessing in Gaza. Many seasoned diplomats and humanitarian workers who have been to numerous conflict zones over the decades all, to a man and woman, say the same thing; Gaza is the worst humanitarian catastrophe they have ever seen – and of course it is entirely man-made.
The situation is now beyond urgent. Tom Fletcher, UN humanitarian chief last week warned that thousands of babies in Gaza could die if more aid is not allowed in. And he asked the question to world leaders and all of us - are we ‘doing all we can’ to stop the suffering?
We have heard stronger language from the UK government, with the Foreign Secretary calling Israel’s actions “monstrous” and “intolerable” in a recent Commons statement. However, what we need, and more importantly the people of Gaza need, is to ensure that rhetoric transforms into meaningful action that will hopefully stop the scale of devastation we are witnessing.
The most immediate, and probably effective step the UK government could take is to stop all arms sales to Israel. How on earth can the UK government continue to legally, let alone morally, justify selling arms to a government headed by a man wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity?
While responsibility for arms export licenses lies with the UK government, we can also use whatever influence and power we have in Scotland to oppose the onslaught faced by the people of Gaza, at the hands of the Israeli Government.
It is easy to feel powerless, but we can start by looking at the role this country – and our resources – are playing in funding the suffering the people of Gaza are facing.
Profits from Scotland’s oil and gas reserves are right now flowing to a company linked to human rights violations in Palestine, and hundreds of millions of pounds more could follow in the near future.
Few have heard of Ithaca Energy, but it is on track to become the largest North Sea oil and gas producer. It holds stakes in seven out of ten of the basin’s largest fields and is part of the two largest, most controversial undeveloped fields in the basin: the Rosebank and Cambo oil fields off the west coast of Shetland.
When I publicly opposed the UK government’s approval of the Rosebank oil field as first minister, I did so for environmental reasons and the impact continuing to develop new oil and gas fields will have on our climate. And of course, these concerns remain. However, information about Ithaca Energy’s owners, Delek Group, only give further rise to concerns I have.
Ithaca is majority-owned by the Israeli fuel conglomerate, Delek Group, which has been flagged by the UN for human rights violations in Palestine. Delek operates in illegal Israeli settlements across the Palestinian West Bank and is known to provide fuel to the Israel Defense Forces, via a subsidiary.
There is near-universal agreement across the world that settlements are illegal under international law. We have, over the past 19 months, seen an increase in settler violence against innocent Palestinians.
By their very nature, settlements are a tool used by the Israeli state to occupy more and more Palestinian land. This is why countries like Ireland are now taking steps to ban trade with Israeli businesses in occupied territories.
We also know Delek’s activities in illegal settlements was one of the reasons Norway’s largest pension fund, KLP, divested from Delek Group in 2021 citing an “unacceptable risk of the company contributing to or being responsible for serious breaches of ethical norms”.
A company that is cited by the UN for possible human rights violations, and which has a contract with the IDF who are responsible for the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of children in Gaza, should not be allowed to profit from Scotland’s resources.
If the UK government allows the development of the Rosebank oil field, it’s estimated it will see more than a quarter of a billion pounds in profit flow to Delek.
If Ithaca is allowed to continue to expand in the North Sea by developing Rosebank, the answer to the question posed by Tom Fletcher - ‘are we doing all we can?’ - would be an emphatic no.
We cannot allow oil fields signed off in Westminster to be used to bankroll injustice across the world.
I am certain that one day those who are responsible for the war crimes we are witnessing in Gaza will be held to account. We must ensure we are in no way complicit; Scotland must not allow our natural resources to become a revenue stream for companies tied to the oppression of the Palestinian people.
- Humza Yousaf is the former first minister and SNP leader, and is the MSP for Glasgow Pollok.
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