WarSclerotic

Hundreds of US businesspeople have scrapped plans to visit Glasgow after the Scottish city decided to fly the Palestinian flag during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

The visitors represented major US corporations such as Wal-Mart, ExxonMobil, and Coca-Cola, and were expected to visit Glasgow as a reward for investing millions into its economy.

The vice president of a leading Fortune 500 company, Richard Cassini, organized the delegation of 600 CEOs and business leaders.

However, after the Glasgow City Council’s decision to fly the Palestinian flag over its city chambers as a sign of solidarity with Gaza, Cassini wrote to Glasgow’s Lord Provost, Sadie Docherty and canceled the planned event.

“We were scheduling six days in Glasgow, three for business and three for leisure time,” Cassini wrote. “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. We are a Fortune 500 Company, so costs were really not a serious consideration, location was,” Cassini said.

“Hopefully, the Muslim population that you so sincerely endorse will have the spending power of the very people you have chased away so well.” Cassini added.

While Glasgow City Council has acknowledged receiving the email, it has not responded “because of the volume” of emails relating to the council’s decision to fly the Palestinian flag.

“The council has received more than 1,500 emails/calls/online forms, etc., about the flag and is responding to each” of them, a council spokeswoman said to RT.

The council sparked controversy when it decided to raise the Palestinian flag in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, which started in July.

In a letter to the Mayor of Bethlehem, Israel, Docherty offered her “heartfelt sympathy” to the people of Gaza.

“Glasgow is home to many friends of Palestine and this is a deeply distressing time for them. They represent a variety of ethnicities, political persuasions, faiths and none. However, they are united by a common desire to support the Palestinian people,” Docherty said.

The council’s decision was met with criticism from a number of Jewish representative groups, including the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, which referred to the act as “the worst kind of gesture politics.”

It “does nothing to alleviate the suffering on either side of the conflict,” the council added.

Cassini insisted that his decision to abandon the business leaders’ trip to Glasgow would not be reversed.