Glasgow City Council expresses doubts over reports of 'cancelled' conference due to Palestinian flag waving
Glasgow City Council (GCC) has expressed doubts over media reports that an international conference had been cancelled due to its decision to fly a Palestinian flag at the City Chambers yesterday (18 August).
Palestinian flag over Glasgow city chambers
The story, which first appeared in the Scottish Daily Express before being picked up by other papers yesterday, claimed that an American businessman had scrapped the planned event saying: “Having read your statement endorsing Hamas and its leadership due to the number of Muslims in your city, I have decided to cancel all plans for our trip.”
GCC sources told The Drum yesterday that they "had doubts" that the conference had been cancelled for the reasons reported.
A GCC spokesman issued the following statement today: "We have no record of anyone planning a trip of this nature. It is likely that we would have heard if such a trip were being planned. However we can't say with confidence whether or not this is accurate."
The businessman quoted in the Daily Express, named as Richard Cassini, claimed to be vice president of a “Fortune 500” company. However there appears to be no listing of anyone of that name in connection with an events company or any evidence that the proposed conference had ever been organised.
Contacted by the Drum Glasgow’s major conference venue, the SECC, confirmed it had received no cancellations as a result of the council’s action.
The Drum understands that the purported event organiser contacted a number of Scottish media outlets via a free webmail address, and after informing them about the supposed cancellation said: “Hopefully, the Muslim population that you so sincerely endorse will have the spending power of the very people you have chased away.”
The Daily Express and Scotsman were contacted by The Drum for comment on Monday evening, but had not yet responded by the time of this article's publication. The Herald declined to comment.
The decision to fly the Palestinian flag was criticised by the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council president, Paul Morron, who said he was "angered and hurt" by the council's decision.
However the veracity of Cassini’s claims and his alleged boycott still remain in doubt. A spokeswoman for Glasgow city council said that while they could not comment on Cassini's claims she could confirm that they received more than 1,500 emails phone calls and online forms about the issue and were responding to each.